Brave Art for Youth- for Kids aged 8-16 years
Are you a parent who wants to support and connect more deeply with their kids while exploring mindfulness and creativity ?
The Brave Art for Youth program is perfect if you want to help your kids (aged 10-16 approx) become less stressed out and process feelings with art. and are designed to help bring drawing and painting skills to the next level while learning about mindfulness. You’ll see their creativity flourish and they will learn new life skills that will last a lifetime.
An introduction to the benefits of a meditation practice and contemplations to inspire new conversations, could open up a whole new aspect of your relationship to your child, deepening trust and mutual understanding. Understanding how their inner workings affect their moods, they can empower themselves making it that much more impactful in one’s life.
Perhaps you’ve been unable to talk your child out of worrying and you’ve tried positive reinforcement without any luck.
The Brave Art Workbook Journal serves as the backbone of the program where kids learn to process their feelings by drawing or writing about their day-to-day experiences.
The Five Day Lesson Sequence.
Each lesson consists of watching: a “Contemplation and Art” demonstration plus a short meditation while reading the correlating pages in the workbook journal. Then it is art-making time! Take time after each session to consider what was the most important thing you learned and liked most about your art.
Lesson #1 – Mindful Heart, Mindful Life “What is Mindfulness, We are Energy, My Body is Smart.”
In this lesson the skill-building topics are: self-reflection, meditation, self-awareness and intention setting. I introduce the concept of learning to watch in awareness all the feelings and thoughts and how sensitive your physical bodies are and how they respond to energy in their environments.
The art portion of this lesson introduces a project called “Star of Balance” in which you will explore abstract art effects with collage, scrapers, stamping with toilet paper rolls, bubble wrap and drips to honour and place the words that came up in the Bubbles Meditation.
Lesson #2 – Mindful Heart, Mindful Life “Kindness and Compassion”
In lesson #2, you’ll read about anxiety, self-kindness and making sure that we love ourselves, even on bad hair days. A talk on self-kindness and compassion and the empowering, “Mountain Meditation.”
The art project for this lesson will be “Drawing the Self-Portrait” of which the video tutorial will be introduced. You may even choose to do a funny self-portrait or you have the option to just continue with abstract art using words in the theme of self kindness. There is a ten page “BAFY Inspirational Quotes” PDF and a “Funny Faces” images PDF . These can be used for the rest of the week.
In this lesson the skill-building topics are: communication, inner-conflict resolution, setting good intentions.
Lesson #3 – Mindful Heart, Mindful Life “Being Courageous when Faced With Bullying, Selfie Culture”
In lesson #3 The importance of setting boundaries when on the internet and the negative consequences if one is not posting/responding responsibly. You’ll read about being courageous when faced with bullying and selfie culture and the value of self-empowerment.
The art project for this lesson will be learning how to draw a Superhero. You will learn to build up the human form by drawing loose circles, noticing shapes and using navigation points to reference from. You also have the option to just continue with your abstract art using words and quotes to cultivate empowerment and confidence.
In this lesson the skill-building topics are: Responsible decision-making, confidence, empowerment. The healing Bubbles Meditation is the meditation of the day.
Lesson #4 – Mindful Heart, Mindful Life “Communicating Heartfully”
In lesson #4, the skill-building topics will be self-management and social skills. You’ll learn more about communicating heartfully, sensitively and confidently and watch a video titled “Mindful Communication” which will set the tone for the art project. The healing Bubbles Meditation is the meditation of the day.
The art project and art tutorial video for this lesson is learning how to “Draw and Paint Elephants” or you have the option to just continue with your own artwork ideas using words of confidence building.
Lesson #5 – Mindful Heart, Mindful Life “Gratitude, Setting Intentions, What Next?”
In the final lesson, we will talk about gratitude, self-management, social awareness and patience. You’ll read from the workbook on the topics of meditation, gratitude, setting intentions and determining one’s life path. You’ll also watch a contemplation video titled “Be Kind, Be Grateful” and the meditation of the day will be the “Mountain Meditation.”
The final art demonstration will be “Planning and Completing a Composition.” This will be the largest art project of the program as it is encouraged that students work on a 16 x 20 or so sized canvas for their “Inspiration Board.” We will help you choose harmonious colours, placing and designing sentiments, glazing, stencil making and more.
To finish up the week, review the last page of the workbook journal titled, “What Next?” which suggests ways to take the teachings of the program into your homes and lives.
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