The end of the year is approaching fast and what a year it has been!! No matter where we are in the world our day to day life has been impacted at some point with COVID-19. So with this in mind I wanted to make my last blog post of 2020 is a fun post.
I want to share how we can bring a smile to each other’s face by just carrying out one small activity together.
Are you ready?
This started as an exercise in the promotion of self-worth, I worked with one of my students to come up with some ideas of what we might look like if we were superheroes. This was inspired by Dr Karen Treisman and her activity book “Binnie the Baboon, Anxiety and stress” where Binnie’s friends talk to her about how she can chase her worries away using superpowers.
It was not an easy task at first! If you have low self-esteem then finding positive strengths in yourself is not an easy thing to do. I tried to help by making some comparisons of superheroes we already know about. Then, I had a lightbulb moment... I thought about the routine from Dr Pooky Knightsmith of #3goodthings where you reflect on your day and find 3 positive things to promote good feelings. This proved to be an excellent springboard for our ideas and soon we were both designing ourselves based on three strengths that we have.
I would like to share what I might look like if I was a superhero.
As we discussed what strengths of mine could be superpowers my student came up with; Kind, Strong and Clever. We mulled over what I might look like if I was kind and she said that a heart came to mind. So, my body was the shape of a heart. I thought if I had to be strong then I might need strong hands. My student laughed as I drew large hands attached to my heart-shaped body. I added some eyes and then asked: “What would my mouth look like if I was kind?” The reply was fast, “Smiling of course”.
As my student went about designing herself as a superhero she added striped legs because she was lucky. I stole this idea and added striped legs too. She asked me why I did that and my reply was simple. I liked that she drew striped legs and I am clever so I drew that too. We had so much fun designing ourselves as superheroes and the positive feelings this activity brought to the student and I are still making me smile today.
Go on... you know you want to!
Just draw yourself as a superhero and have a wonderful end to the year.
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