Bright Minds and Tall Tales workshops differ slightly when working with older children to younger children. With younger children, when concluding a session, we all discuss our learnings from the story as a group and talk about our thoughts and feelings.
Whereas when I’m working with older groups of children, I encourage them to put pen to paper and explore their feelings on the page first, before a group discussion is held. I do this for several reasons.
It gives young people the confidence to explore their thoughts and feelings creatively. This is usually through words, however if a child might struggle with this, then I might ask them to draw instead. It is all about creative self-expression.
The art of journaling is a mindfulness practice in itself, as it is encouraging the mind to be completely present in that moment. Journaling is powerful as it helps you to really connect with the emotions you are feeling by naming them and exploring how they make you feel. It encourages your brain to slow down, organise and connect with your thoughts. This practice not only builds children’s confidence on an emotional level as they begin to understand their feelings more, but it also gives them the confidence to write, explore and play with language in a free and visceral way.
Diary-like writings have existed for millennia, however the writing of personal diaries gained popularity in the 16th century, with the actual word “diary” emerging then too. This period saw a surge in diary writing as people wrote diaries for personal reflection, record keeping and as a form of spiritual practice. It seems people have recognised the healing and cathartic benefits of writing thoughts and feelings down on paper for centuries.
These days it is very easy to reach for a computer as a means to write and this is still hugely useful and beneficial. However, I personally believe that when we are exploring ourselves emotionally, the physical act of putting pen to paper, that mind to hand, hand to paper connection, is vitally important and helps us to physically process and experience our thoughts and feelings as we put them on the page.
In a world where everything is fast becoming all digital, it is refreshing to watch children writing on a page. Interestingly a recent paediatric report warned that children are finding it increasingly difficult to hold pens due to the excessive use of technology. Ros Wilson, founder of “Andrell Education’s Big Writing Model” for teaching writing, highlights the importance of handwriting, saying that it helps children to create a mental picture of the world, adding that computer processing does not create the same images or pictures in the brain. It has also been suggested that like other art forms such as music or art, handwriting improves children’s resilience, creativity and ability to interact socially, as they are more aware of their surroundings, rather than focussing on a screen.
Therefore, by encouraging children to write journals, we are not only helping them to engage with their thoughts and feelings, but we are also encouraging the mind and body to connect to improve language, writing and social skills through creativity.