The following activity is part of a series we’re creating to support students, teachers, and caregivers, during this unprecedented time. Read more about the project here. If you try this activity with your student(s), we’d love to see what you do. Share your journey via the #Inspired2Learn hashtag on your preferred social platform.

Created by:  Judy White and Kelly Kilcoyne
Discipline:  Art, Literacy
Age level: All
Time:  30-45 minutes
Materials:  Drawing and writing supplies 

In a moment where the world is especially fraught with change and uncertainty, we are all struggling to observe, name, and adjust to the flood of feelings around and within us. This activity was created in response to that reality.  

The joy and challenge for a child may be the discovery that the way they feel, the way they act, the ways others see them can be, and often is different.  It is interesting to think about, and to express these differences through art and also, to realize that this feeling – of feeling sometimes one way, then another, is in many ways a shared human experience. 

What to do: 

Draw two pictures of yourself. One: the way you look; two: the way you feel. Around the picture or on a separate piece of paper, explore these prompts and write or draw your answers. 

• If I were a color, outside my color  would be ______
  Inside, my color would be _________
• If I were an animal, outside I would be a _______
  Inside, I would be a __________
• If I were a musical instrument, outside I would be a __________
  Inside, I would be a_________________
• If I were the weather, outside I would be___________.
  Inside I would be____________
• If I were a noise, outside I would be______________
  Inside, I would be ____________
• If I were a character in a comic strip or book, outside I would be __________
  Inside, I would be _____________
• If I were a feeling, outside I would look like this:__________________
  Inside, I would feel like this:__________________

Inspired Teaching connection:  

An activity like this taps into each of the 4 I’s, Intellect, Inquiry, Imagination, and Integrity. Validating the feelings we have inside and the ways in which they make us human reinforces mutual respect between adults and children. In addition, the prompts situate students as experts with their lived experiences at the center of the activity.  

See our instructional model here.