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Express Yourself Through Art!

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Jennifer Figueroa Hogan

Tier 1

Lesson Plan

Express Yourself Through Art!

Students will be able to identify and express emotions through various art mediums, and understand how art can be a tool for self-regulation and social connection.

This lesson helps students develop emotional literacy, a crucial life skill for navigating challenges, building healthy relationships, and managing stress. Art provides a safe, non-verbal outlet for complex feelings.

Audience

6th-8th Grade Students

Time

90 Minutes

Approach

Hands-on art creation, guided reflection, and collaborative sharing.

Materials

Whiteboard or projector, Express Yourself Slide Deck, Various art supplies (e.g., paper, markers, colored pencils, pastels, clay, paint), Emotion Wheel Worksheet, My Emotional Landscape Activity Guide, and Collaborative Mural Project Guide

Prep

Prepare Materials & Review

30 Minutes

  • Review the Express Yourself Slide Deck and familiarize yourself with the content.
    * Gather a variety of art supplies, ensuring enough for all students to choose from (e.g., paper, markers, colored pencils, pastels, small amounts of clay, tempera paints).
    * Print copies of the Emotion Wheel Worksheet for each student.
    * Prepare the My Emotional Landscape Activity Guide materials.
    * Set up a large shared space or individual tables for the Collaborative Mural Project Guide.
    * Ensure projector/whiteboard is ready for presentation.

Step 1

Introduction & Hook (10 min)

10 Minutes

  • Begin by displaying the title slide of the Express Yourself Slide Deck.
    * Ask students: “How do you usually show how you’re feeling? Is it always easy?” (Allow for a few responses).
    * Introduce the idea of art as a powerful way to express emotions, even when words are difficult. Briefly explain what art therapy is.
    * Transition to the main activity:

Step 2

Emotion Exploration & Warm-up (20 min)

20 Minutes

  • Distribute the Emotion Wheel Worksheet.
    * Using the Express Yourself Slide Deck, guide students through the Emotion Wheel, discussing different feelings and their nuances.
    * Instruct students to spend 10 minutes on the worksheet, identifying emotions and reflecting on how they feel physically.
    * Facilitate a brief class discussion on their observations, emphasizing that there's no right or wrong way to feel. Keep it light and focused on recognition, not deep sharing at this stage.

Step 3

My Emotional Landscape (30 min)

30 Minutes

  • Introduce the My Emotional Landscape Activity Guide.
    * Explain that students will create a piece of art representing how they feel right now, or how they've felt recently. Emphasize using colors, shapes, and textures to convey emotion, rather than drawing specific objects.
    * Distribute chosen art supplies.
    * Provide 20 minutes for students to create their individual 'emotional landscapes'. Play calm, instrumental music if appropriate.
    * Circulate, offering encouraging words and gentle prompts if students seem stuck (e.g.,

Step 4

Collaborative Expression (20 min)

20 Minutes

  • Introduce the Collaborative Mural Project Guide.
    * Explain that students will now contribute to a class mural, visually representing a collective feeling or a shared experience (e.g., 'What does our classroom feel like today?'). This encourages social interaction and empathy.
    * Assign small groups or pairs to specific sections of a large paper or whiteboard. They can build upon each other's work or create complementary sections.
    * Provide 15 minutes for collaborative creation.
    * Emphasize positive collaboration and respectful sharing of space/materials.

Step 5

Share & Reflect (10 min)

10 Minutes

  • Bring the class together. Display the completed individual 'emotional landscapes' and the collaborative mural.
    * Invite a few volunteers to briefly share their individual art and explain how it represents their emotions, or discuss their experience creating the mural. (Focus on their process and choices, not forcing personal disclosures).
    * Reinforce the idea that art is a powerful tool for self-understanding and connecting with others. Ask: “What did you learn about expressing feelings without words?”
    * Conclude by thanking them for their creativity and openness.
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Slide Deck

Express Yourself Through Art!

Finding Your Inner Rainbow of Feelings

(Yes, even the stormy ones!)

Welcome students and introduce the lesson title. Ask a warm-up question: 'How do you usually show how you’re feeling? Is it always easy?' Allow for a few responses to get them thinking about emotional expression.

What is Art Therapy?

It's like talking without words!

  • Using art to explore your feelings.
  • No right or wrong way to do it.
  • Helps you understand yourself better.
  • A way to deal with stress, big emotions, or just have fun!

Explain what art therapy is in simple terms. Emphasize that it's about expressing feelings, not making a 'perfect' picture. It's a safe space to explore.

The Emotion Wheel

A Map for Your Feelings

  • Helps us name and understand different emotions.
  • Emotions are complex – there are many shades!
  • Think about how these feelings show up in your body.

Introduce the Emotion Wheel. Distribute the Emotion Wheel Worksheet. Guide students through the wheel, pointing out primary emotions and how they branch out. Encourage them to think about how different emotions feel in their bodies.

Your Emotional Landscape

Create an artwork that shows how you are feeling right now, or how you have felt recently.

  • Use colors, shapes, and textures.
  • No need to draw objects – think abstract!
  • What colors feel like happiness? What shapes feel like anger? What textures feel like calm?

Introduce the individual art activity, My Emotional Landscape Activity Guide. Explain the goal: to represent current or recent feelings using colors, shapes, and textures. Provide examples like 'calm blues' or 'frustrated jagged lines'. Emphasize abstract representation.

Collaborative Mural

Let's build something together!

  • Work with your group/partner.
  • Create a mural that represents a shared feeling or our classroom's vibe today.
  • How can your art connect with others' art?

Introduce the group project, Collaborative Mural Project Guide. Explain that they will work together to create a mural that reflects a shared feeling or the general atmosphere of the classroom. Emphasize teamwork and respecting each other's contributions.

Reflect & Share

What did you learn about expressing feelings without words? How did it feel to create art with others?

  • Share your artwork (if you feel comfortable).
  • Describe your process.
  • What emotions did you explore today?

Facilitate sharing. Ask volunteers to briefly explain their individual artwork (focus on choices of color/shape, not personal story) or talk about their experience with the mural. Reinforce the power of art for expression and connection.

Keep Creating!

Art is a powerful tool for understanding yourself and connecting with others. Keep exploring and expressing!

Thank students for their participation and creativity. Remind them that art is always there as a tool for self-expression and emotional understanding.

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Worksheet

Emotion Wheel Worksheet: Exploring Your Inner World

Sometimes it's hard to put words to our feelings, but recognizing them is the first step to understanding ourselves better! This emotion wheel helps you see the many different feelings we can experience.

Part 1: Exploring the Wheel

Look at the Emotion Wheel (your teacher will display it or provide a handout). It starts with basic emotions in the center and branches out to more specific feelings. Choose two different emotions from the wheel (they can be from the center or the outer branches).

  1. Emotion 1: ____________________________

    • When have you felt this emotion before?


    • How did this emotion feel in your body? (e.g., tight chest, buzzing energy, light shoulders)





  2. Emotion 2: ____________________________

    • When have you felt this emotion before?


    • How did this emotion feel in your body? (e.g., tense jaw, relaxed muscles, butterflies in stomach)





Part 2: Your Current Feeling

Think about how you are feeling right now or how you have felt most of today. Find an emotion (or a few emotions!) on the wheel that best describes it.

  1. What emotion(s) are you feeling?


  2. Describe what that feeling (or feelings) feels like in your body. Be as specific as you can!










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lenny

Activity

My Emotional Landscape: A Guide to Expressing Your Feelings Through Art

Sometimes our feelings are like a landscape—they have hills, valleys, bright spots, and cloudy areas. Today, you're going to create your own emotional landscape using art!

Objective

To explore and express your current or recent emotions through abstract art, using colors, shapes, and textures.

Materials

  • Paper or canvas
  • Various art supplies (markers, colored pencils, crayons, pastels, paint, clay)

Instructions

  1. Find Your Feeling: Take a moment to check in with yourself. How are you feeling right now? Or, how have you been feeling most recently? It could be one strong feeling, or a mix of several.

  2. Choose Your Colors: What colors come to mind when you think of this feeling?

    • Example: Maybe bright yellows and oranges for joy, deep blues for calm, or stormy greys and reds for frustration.

  3. Select Your Shapes & Lines: What kinds of shapes or lines represent your emotion?

    • Example: Smooth, flowing lines for peace; jagged, sharp lines for anger; swirling shapes for confusion; small, tight shapes for anxiety.

  4. Consider Texture: If your feeling had a texture, what would it be? (You can create this illusion with your art supplies).

    • Example: Soft and fluffy, rough and bumpy, smooth and slippery, prickly.

  5. Create Your Landscape: Begin to create your artwork. Remember, you don't need to draw specific objects. This is about expressing the feeling itself. Let the colors, shapes, and lines guide you.

    • Think: Is your landscape a peaceful meadow, a wild forest, a stormy sea, or a bustling city?











Reflect and Prepare to Share

Once your emotional landscape is complete, take a moment to look at it.

  • What emotions did you intend to express?
  • How do the colors, shapes, and textures in your art represent those feelings?
  • What was it like to create art without a specific plan, just following your emotions?

Get ready to share your artwork (if you feel comfortable) and briefly explain your creative choices to the class.

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lenny

Project Guide

Collaborative Mural: Our Shared Feelings

Art can connect us! Today, we will work together to create a class mural that shows how we feel as a group or what our classroom feels like today.

Objective

To collaboratively create a visual representation of a collective emotion or shared classroom experience, fostering teamwork, communication, and empathy.

Materials

  • One large sheet of paper, poster board, or a section of a whiteboard/wall.
  • Shared art supplies (markers, paints, pastels, colored pencils).

Instructions

  1. Group Up! Your teacher will divide you into small groups or pairs, or assign you a section of the large mural space.

  2. Discuss Your Shared Feeling: As a group, talk about a collective feeling or experience you want to represent. It could be:
    *

lenny
lenny

Activity

My Emotional Landscape: A Guide to Expressing Your Feelings Through Art

Sometimes our feelings are like a landscape—they have hills, valleys, bright spots, and cloudy areas. Today, you're going to create your own

lenny
lenny