By Susan Franco
What we have observed is that many children living in a post COVID world has not been easy. For many children the COVID pandemic has identified that they have experienced unprecedented disruption, and this has been demonstrated through varying degrees of emotional regulation, increased clinginess, anxiety, levels of stress and worsening behaviour and moods.
But how do you go about creating stability and connection when many families are still experiencing stress and that children will require additional support as they readjust to changing routines?
Through weekly (10 week) Soulful art class we engaged an Art Therapist to support our educators with creative and inviting ways to support our children to identify big and small emotions, communicating their world using their potential, strengths and languages to overcome any obstacle presented, be this from home, community or within their learning environment.
It became an opportunity to strengthen our relationships with children. To think a little differently, to engage our own hands, hearts and minds and provide a restorative foundation within our curriculum. Sparked by Nick Ortner’s book “My Magic Breath”, our pre-schoolers were introduced to breath work, mindfulness, self-awareness, and balance and how we can deal with big and small emotions throughout the day: important concepts even for adults.
Soulful art involved self-portraits, colour exploration, music and more. This became a deliberate and sustained part of our curriculum as a way of honouring children’s voices. Our weekly soulful art classes were planned within our curriculum with the aim of slowing things down – connecting children with their minds, bodies, emotions, and their breath.
This experience transformed our preschool room. From a room that demonstrated a high level of emotional stress to a calm and serene space where children became more engaged and more capable in explaining and sharing their feelings.
This project captured our children’s imagination. It also reminded us to slow our pedagogy and practice. “Children bring their whole world into our care each day, their experiences, their feelings, their happiness, their sadness, their hope, and their pleasure” (Malaguzzi, 1994).
As a privately owned long day care service we are often ineligible for many grants. This was a project that we really wanted to explore with our preschool children and it involved working with an Art Therapist over a 10 week project. It has proven to be an invaluable project supporting not only the children but also our team of educators in terms of finding ways to engage all children in creative art as a way of self-expression.