Designing a Dream House: Drawing & Thinking about a "Safe Place"

Issues: Powerlessness, insecurity.

Purpose: To help children design their dream house.

Materials: Crayons or markers, large construction paper, rulers, pencils, and a sample house plan.

Procedure: Discuss the importance of dreams and the ability to think about our dreams whenever we want to. Give each child paper, markers, and other materials necessary to design their dream house. Encourage the children to draw plans of a dream house that they can visit whenever they need to. Younger children can describe the floor plan to you. You can draw the floor plan. They can fill in the details.

Suggestions: Talk about safe places and how everyone needs such a place. Ask them how a safe place would feel to them. Then have them look at their dream house. Is there a safe place for them there? How could they change their plan to include such a place?

Source: Making it Better: Activities for Children living in a Stressful World, Barbara Oehlberg, Redleaf Press, 1996

Dream Family: Storytelling and Drawing

Issues: Lack of Empowerment or sense of control.

Purpose: To help children affirm their right to make choices and have dreams.

Materials: Crayons or paint and paper.

Procedure:  Explain what a foster or adoptive family is. Then tell a story of a child, Henry, from a land far away who traveled to a new city because his parents had died in an accident. Henry had been told he would live with the Cassidy family on Oak Street. But when he got to the house on Oak Street, no one named Cassidy lived there. So, the grown-ups in the city offered Henry the chance to choose the family of his dreams. Although Henry never forgot his first family, he found ways to be happy with his new family.

After the story, ask the children to consider what they would have selected if they had been Henry. Have them draw a picture of that dream family. Assure the children the meaning of their picture will remain personal and private to them.

Source: Making it Better: Activities for Children living in a Stressful World, Barbara Oehlberg, Redleaf Press, 1996

My Town

If an out-of-town visitor was coming to visit, where would you take your visitor? Describe the best places around your town and why they are so interesting. Write about parks, museums, lakes, stores, restaurants and other places you enjoy.

If I were President...

Best for ages 6-10

Survivor Writing Excercise

Survivor! (Any Age)