Impact of Loss Snowflakes
Suggested Groups: Young/Middle/Teen
Purpose: To encourage the discussion of loss and change, especially during the holiday season. To have a chance to think about the death and subsequent losses and changes as well as their size and intensity
Task/need: Acknowledging the reality of the loss, living on the grief spiral, relate the loss to a context of meaning
Activity Setup Ideas:
- Construct one to two snowflakes ahead of time to use in your introduction. Introduce activity by talking about how snowflakes from a distance look alike, but each is different when looked at individually.
- Explain that like snowflakes, although we all have the similar experience of loss, our individual experiences and impact of the loss makes us each different.
Materials:
- Paper
- Scissors
- Glue (optional)
- Glitter (optional)
- Decorative hole punches (optional)
Description: Give each child a piece of square paper to use to create snowflake and then demonstrate how best to fold the paper to create a snowflake that will stay intact. Give the direction to cut and/or punch (using optional hole punches) the snowflake thinking for each cut of the loss or a change in your life that it might represent. The snowflake remains whole (resilience after the loss), yet each has its different shape from those created by other members of the group (uniqueness of grief experiences). Encourage the children to share their thoughts on the differences and similarities in the snowflakes produced by the group. In a previous session, one child observed "...a great analogy of people…we still have meaningful beautiful lives."
Questions:
- If you experience the loss of a mother and another kid in your school loses a mother, do you think that you have exactly the same thoughts, feelings and experiences? Will you find a snowflake just like yours?
- Do you think that there are some common experiences that you are likely to have?
- What do you think that this activity shows us about our grief?
Activity Wrap-Up Ideas:
- Have group members share their snowflakes and the meanings of the cuts in their snowflakes.
- Look for similarities and differences across all group members.
