Grief Journey in Blocks
Suggested Group(s): Middle/Teen
Purpose: To create an opportunity to "tell their story," "make sense of what has happened to them," "reflect on their journey," and "note sources and times of support."
Task/need: Living on the grief spiral, relate the loss to a context of meaning, experience continued support
Activity Setup Ideas:
- Begin with a discussion of the concept of a journey, which might not be familiar to the younger children. An example that you might be able to use is their journey to the Caring Place today.
- Draw the ups and downs of a journey on the board to illustrate how a journey looks. (example — I woke up early this morning, and I'm a morning person, so my journey started on a high note. Then I stubbed my toe on my dresser so my journey took a down turn. Etc.)
Introduction: Tell the children that they are going to use blocks to illustrate their grief journey that brings them to the Caring Place. Say, "When thinking of all you have shared during your weeks at The Caring Place, the terrible loss you experienced, the ups and downs, the times that were really hard, the times where things felt a little better — I get this picture of a long road, a journey — a road with maybe ups and downs, bumps, maybe bridges over scary water, places along the way that felt comfortable and safe. I think, how did your road look before the person died? How did the road change when the person was sick, or died? How did the road look after that? Where might The Caring Place fit in? Does it fit in? Can you use blocks and other material to tell what shape your road is?"
Materials:
- Wood Blocks (as many as are available)
- All sorts of arts & craft materials
- Toy people or figurines
Description: This activity is best done towards the end of a session, or with an ongoing group, when sufficient time has passed to be able to reflect on their grief journey.
Provide the group with wooden blocks, and any other materials that they would like to use to represent their individual grief journey. Children have used everything from the cars and people from the preschool Play Mobile sets to Popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, play dough and other items to represent their journeys. Encourage them to be as creative as they would like to include the ups and downs, supports, turning points of their grief experiences.
Activity Wrap Up Ideas:
- At the end of the activity, allow each child to share his or her creation with the group and describe the features of his/her grief journey.
Suggestions: This activity can be done on paper as a drawing of the journey if blocks are not available or desirable when conducting the activity.
