My Story
Suggested Group(s): Young/Middle
Purpose: Reinforce a sense of self identity and investigate their feelings and experiences.
Task/need: Living on the grief spiral, developing a new self-identity, relating the loss to a context of meaning
Activity Setup Ideas:
- Begin by sharing a copy of an autobiography (preferably written by or for a young reader) and ask the group if they know what an autobiography is. Explain that it is a story that a person writes about himself/herself. Let them know that everybody has a story and each person's story is unique to his or her experiences.
- "In today’s activity, we are going to write (or draw) stories about ourselves."
Materials:
- Pages with the "My Story" headings (see next page)
- Markers
- Art Materials
- Stapler
Description: Duplicate the pages for each child on acid free paper. Staple each set into a booklet for the child to complete. The children can add drawings and other artwork to personalize.
*If using this activity with younger children you may need a "scribe" to help them write down and read the responses. Therefore, you need plenty of time and volunteers to do this with younger children.
Activity Wrap Up Ideas:
- Encourage the group members to share their stories with other group members.
- Remind them that as we have new experiences, our stories continue to change. Encourage group members to take them home and keep adding to them.
My Story Page Headings:
Cover: | My Story |
Page #1: | My Family |
Page #2: | The people who I loved that died |
Page #3: |
|
Page #4: | The things you miss most about the person who died |
Page #5: | What I remember about being told about the death |
Page #6: | People die because |
Page #7: | I would like to ask someone |
Page #8: | What I would like my family to know about me |
Page #9: | Changes in my live |
Page #10: | Things that make me:
|
Page #11: | Things that I worry about |
Page #12: | People I can talk with |
Page #13: | Things I’ll remember about the Caring Place |
Page #14: | People at the Caring Place |