when a Child saves an Adult

For our person, art therapy is an unplowed field. What is it, art therapy or, in other words, creative expression therapy?

Until recently, emotional conversations with friends over a cup of vodka - cheap and cheerful - passed for psychotherapy itself. And therapy by creative self-expression (within the framework of this approach) was understood, accordingly, as “dancing on drunken tables.” Cute. But, as the poet Arseny Tarkovsky wrote, this is not enough. For, as another sixties man sang, “Neither Verka nor vodka helped. Vodka gives you a hangover, but what can you take from Verka?”

Our people don't like to play. And he doesn't like jokes. We perceive a frivolous, playful, childish attitude towards life as an attack on our adult reputation. For as the archetypal Russian hero of the film “Pokrovsky Gate” said, in response to the sacramental question “What joy does this give you?” - “They live not for joy, but for conscience”...

But it’s in vain that we do this. Because only by laughing does humanity part with its past. So force an adult to engage in art therapy... But before we talk directly about the important thing - the topic of this article, I want to provide an equally important basis for it.

Many people already know the structure of the human personality as psychologist Eric Berne saw it. However, it would not be amiss to recall this well-functioning scheme once again. According to Bern, the human personality can be represented in the form of three virtual instances: Child (or Child), Parent, Adult. All these three personalities as a whole are what we all are, that is, I, a specific person. They just speak in different voices, like different things, and don’t always know how to negotiate with each other. Actually, it is the ability to negotiate, consensus between such different ones - the Child, Parent and Adult within us - that is the path to psychological health, personal harmony and prosperity.

The parent speaks in the nasty voice of a teacher, retells to us the threats and reproaches that we were fed in childhood, uses the same intonations that once bothered us. The parent teaches, warns, does not let you in, intimidates. Everything is always wrong for him, the corners of his lips are downturned. He's afraid that we'll catch a cold, overeat too much sweets, marry the wrong guy, and end up stuck on beans. He, the Parent, loves to disguise himself and hide - it is difficult to pull him out into the light of day by his tail. It is beneficial for him to sit, like Mashenka, in a box on the bear’s shoulders and mutter: “I sit high, I look far away”...

A child (or Child), as psychologists believe, following Berne, is the best thing in us. This is the one who makes the most spontaneous, but for some reason always the right decisions, who is not afraid to live because he trusts the World. A child is that part of us that the World easily carries in its arms. And the Child and only the Child is capable of creativity. This is a Genius, and he has every imaginable Talent. The child does not like to disguise himself or hide... But he was forced to do it. He was forbidden to play, indulge and explore the world. They explained to him that fairy tales were nonsense. They told him that they don’t dress like that. He was put at a desk to learn mathematics. And so it appeared...

Adult. An adult is that part of ourselves that has the knowledge, skills and abilities reflected in the diploma issued to us by the state. An adult can do it. The child wants. And the Parent supervises and punishes, checking whether the ears are washed clean.

When a person loses motivation, it is the Child who is “forbidden to want” who suffers inside him. Loss of motivation is both a loss of working capacity and a loss of professional skills, and in the worst case, when the Child is completely repressed, it is a total loss of motivation - a loss of motivation to live.

Don't leave the room, don't make a mistake.

Why do you need Space if you smoke Shipka?

Everything outside is meaningless. Especially the cry of happiness.

Just go to the restroom and come back right away.

Don't leave the room, consider yourself cold.

What's more interesting in the world than a wall and a chair?

The goal of any psychotherapy is to find our Child who is crying in a dark closet, to warm him up, to save him and to listen to his childish, naive words: “But the king is naked!”

Art therapy, in turn, is the best way to make peace with your inner child and accept yourself as the Creator created us.

But one of the best forms of art therapy for creative self-expression is sand therapy, very little known in our country and extremely popular abroad.

What is sand therapy?

The fact is that traditional art therapy deals with paper, pencils and paints - it forces a person to draw. Sometimes - sculpt. But not everyone has developed these skills. Sometimes art therapy makes you dance - many people have even more difficulties with this. Psychologists have come to the conclusion that drawing, modeling and dancing are the “ideal” space where our Parent can roam. As soon as we pick up a pencil or start moving our legs, the Parent jumps up and begins to “worry about us.” He hisses in our ears: “Listen to what the teacher told you! Other children can do it, but you’re the only one who can’t! Look how crookedly you draw! Everyone started with the right foot, and you’re the only one with the left!” All! No art therapy. Traditional art therapy is not always successful, because the Child who needs to be brought into the light of day is subjected to even greater mockery than when we simply forget about him in our adult lives.

It’s not at all like sand therapy. Playing with sand takes us back to that unconditionally happy childhood when we played in the sandbox and no one meticulously watched our progress in it. This is all too frivolous...

The room of an art therapist practicing sand therapy is a cozy room with two huge sandboxes filled with clean, beautiful light yellow sand. Only in one sandbox the sand is absolutely dry, and in the other it is wetted so that three-dimensional sand structures can be sculpted - castles. A sandbox is a box whose bottom is painted soft blue so that, by raking the sand to the bottom, you can “represent” the sky or water. The room is lined with shelves containing everything! Small, tiny figures of people, animals, monsters. Doll houses, trains, trees, temples and towers. On the shelves, in addition to these figures, there are also dried flowers, pieces of wood, beads, pebbles, coins and, in general, everything that is required to create your own Universe in the space of two sandboxes.

The art therapist’s room is at your disposal for an entire hour. There are no complexes about “I can’t do something” - in a personal sandbox, everyone is a king and a god.

Creative expression therapy begins here with your hands experiencing the most pleasant sensations for the first time in a long time. Sand awakens in them, the Memory of the Creator of Worlds awakens in them... Remember the very important shots from the cult film "Amelie". Amelie is a creature in whom the Child was never oppressed, and who easily helped others to call their Child out of the darkness of non-existence... The first thing she did was to save soldiers from someone else’s childhood, soldiers buried in a pencil case behind the baseboard. The second thing Amelie did was teach us all to experience contact with the Universe in the simplest and cheapest way - immerse our hands in a bag of bulk products and pass their dry current through our fingers. We combine the first with the second - newfound soldiers with loose sand - we get sand art therapy.

There is another important substance - water, which is only partially taken into account here - in the form of working with wet sand. Psychologists call this “dialogue of hands with sand and water.” This has an extraordinary healing effect.

As if spellbound, adults move toy rakes along the sandy surface, turning it into a rippling sea, equip their City, and populate it with characters. And the psychologist, each starting from his own methodology, with a camera in his hands, records what happens during the session in order to deal with the received material - with your internal state, splashed out without any obstacles or conditions - outside.

An hour later, the city built in the sandbox disappears, and the resulting effect exceeds all imaginable expectations. The child woke up, the Parent fell silent, the Adult began to deal with his problems.

How does science explain the magic that is inherent in this ritual?

Famous Russian psychotherapists M.E. Bruno and P.B. Gannushkin, as well as their Western colleagues - Ernst Kretschmer and others, believe that the main problem of a person is that he does not know himself, or rather, he is not familiar with his CHARACTER. What he knows is imposed on him is a big lie. But more than that! Every character is innate, laid down from the beginning. It is useless and pointless to try to change your character or fight it.

At an art therapy session, a person comes face to face with himself - only in the mildest possible form. Each lesson in creative self-expression gives a person the opportunity to understand which character is closest to him, to himself. And when a person comprehends his character, then two prerequisites for happiness and harmony appear:

1. It becomes easier for a person to understand the characters of those around him. He now knows what he can demand or expect from this or that person, and what he cannot.
2. A person begins to live a creative life, in its most diverse forms.

As the historian of psychiatry V. Rudnev writes about this: “A person joins social life, and the painful kinks of his own soul are slowly softened.”

We don't like art therapy, but art therapy has long gone far beyond the limits of receiving psychotherapists. Maybe some of you have seen the “Japanese Rock Garden” set on sale - a board game - a gift for managers tired of work. This is an exact copy of the psychotherapeutic sandbox I described above. The same sand, the same box, only everything is in miniature. Pebbles, toy trees, fences, rakes - mini-Japan. Zen meditation or sand art therapy - the names are different, but the essence is the same.

It is very difficult for a person to find words to express himself directly. “How can someone else understand you?” What eludes conscious perception is captured in free and uninhibited children's play. In the language of psychotherapy: “The trauma, spilling out, ceases to be a trauma.” She dies under the rays of daylight.

What other benefits do I see from art therapy? The fact is that the person doing it may not need the comments of a psychotherapist - in the process of work, the person himself deals with his chimeras, calms down and concentrates on what is important - which previously eluded his attention. This activity works on laying out Tarot cards - not for a mantic (fortune-telling) purpose, but with the goal of understanding the problem. The insight that comes then is often described with the key phrase: “Oh, that’s it! Well, of course, it’s spot on!”

And the main thing that distinguishes traditional psychotherapy from the “psychotherapy” of the Russian type (dancing on drunken tables) is that you feel good after it.

“The use of sand art therapy in correctional and developmental work with preschool children”

“The origins of children’s abilities and gifts are at their fingertips. From the fingers, figuratively speaking, come the finest threads - streams that feed the source of creative thought. In other words, the more skill in a child’s hand, the smarter the child.”

V.A. Sukhomlinsky

What is sand?

I think everyone can easily answer this simple question. In fact, sand is an amazing and mysterious material. It has the ability to attract and fascinate a person - with its malleability, the ability to take any form. It can be dry and light, wet and plastic.

Sand play is exciting for both adults and children. Remember how nice it is to join a game of Easter cakes, build a castle on the seashore, or just watch dry sand pour out of your palm.

Sand has the property of allowing water to pass through, and therefore it absorbs a person’s negative mental energy, interaction with it cleanses a person’s energy and stabilizes the emotional state. One way or another, observations and experience show that playing in the sand has a positive effect on the emotional well-being of children.

Today I want to introduce you to such a technique as sand art therapy.

The principle of “Sand Therapy” was proposed by psychotherapist and founder of analytical therapy Carl Jung. As you know, sand consists of tiny grains that, when combined, form a sand mass. Many psychologists see individual grains as a symbolic reflection of human autonomy, and the mass of sand as the embodiment of Life in the universe.

The purpose of such therapy– do not change and remake the child, do not teach him any special behavioral skills, but give the child the opportunity to be himself.

The sandbox is an excellent mediator for establishing contact with a child. And if he speaks poorly and cannot tell an adult about his experiences, then in such games with sand everything becomes possible. By playing out an exciting situation with the help of small figures, creating a picture of their sand, the child opens up, and adults get the opportunity to see the child’s inner world at the moment.

Playing in the sand with figures is especially significant when working with those children who find it difficult to express their feelings (children with low self-esteem, increased anxiety and shyness, unstable attention, aggressiveness).

Playing with sand helps preschoolers not be afraid of making mistakes, from which no one is safe. When working with sand, everything is simpler: if you do something wrong, run your palm over the sand and start over.

Playing with sand can be used as a developmental and psychoprophylactic tool.

This school year, our kindergarten teachers began to actively use educational games with sand, painting with colored sand, and painting with sand on special light tables in their work. This technique is amazing because it suggests using sand and sand painting techniques as a basis for creativity and self-knowledge.

Children are happy to attend such classes, because they help them realize their ideas in creativity, free themselves from tension and anxiety, and develop communication skills, that is, the ability to communicate.

Sand therapy classes under the guidance of a psychologist provide answers to many questions parents have regarding the inner emotional world of their child, allows you to uncover and see the true causes of conflicts, fears, and subsequently make corrections!

Having been to a sand class once, the children dream of coming back again, and more often than not they don’t want to leave at all.

Contraindications for use

sand therapy:

• Allergy to dust, sand;
• Violation of the skin of the hands;
• Negative attitude towards sand.

How can you play with sand?

Exercise "Fingerprints".

Prints, both bas-relief and high-relief, can be made on wet sand using molds. They use molds depicting animals, transport, geometric shapes of various sizes, etc. An adult and a child take turns making prints in the wet sand. Then the child, following verbal instructions or a plan drawn by an adult, makes a series of prints, commenting on the process.

"Magic fingerprints in the sand."

The teacher and the child leave fingerprints on the wet sand of their hands, and then complete them or add pebbles to create funny faces, fish, octopuses, birds, etc.

Funny palms: Make handprints on the light table and complete the images with your finger.

"Gold Diggers": scatter the pebbles on the sandy surface, hide them, look for “gold”, add them to the sieve.

“Chasing away anger”: make a large oval hill out of wet sand, make faces if desired - that’s all, the accumulated evil of a child. Then, loudly saying: “evil go, joy come,” destroy the sand hill.

Paintings on the sand: on a flat, damp surface, various images of animals, people, etc. are drawn with a stick or finger.

On a light table with dry sand, draw various scenes “My kindergarten”, “My family”, “my happiest day”, etc.

Experiments with sand: Task: pour dry sand into buckets, jars, funnels, molds. Questions: What kind of sand? (dry, flows well, rustles, etc.). What can be sculpted from dry sand? Try making a house.

You can carry out exercises to develop fine motor skills of the hands: fingers “go for a walk”, jump, perform zigzag movements, “play the piano”. Children are interested in leaving handprints, foot prints or shoe prints in the wet sand. They like to make prints of geometric shapes with their hands. At the same time, children better remember their names (circle, square, triangle) and size (large, small). Preschoolers enjoy building passages, labyrinths, and wells.

You can also draw on dry sand by breathing through a cocktail straw, and paint various images with colored sand.

Mimic gymnastics

We were walking along the sand and suddenly fell into a hole. We were covered with sand. The whole body was covered with sand, except for the head. A bee flies over your face. It must be blown off, but so that the sand does not get into the eyes

Relaxation exercise

Place your hands in the sand and make various movements with them to the music. After completing the exercise, talk about your feelings.

Game "Hello, sand!"

The teacher, on behalf of the Sandman, asks to say hello to the sand in different ways, i.e. There are different ways to touch the sand:
– alternately with the fingers of one hand, then of the other hand, then with all fingers at the same time;

– lightly (with tension) clench your fists with sand, then slowly pour it into the sandbox;

– touch the sand with your entire palm – the inside, then the back.

Thus, playing with sand allows you to:

-Stabilize the psycho-emotional state

Improve coordination of movements, finger motor skills

Stimulate the development of sensory, tactile-kinesthetic sensitivity

Develop communication and speech skills, spatial orientation

Stimulate cognitive interests and broaden horizons

Diversify ways to collaborate.

You can play simple games with sand not only in the office of a psychologist or other specialist, but also with your child in a regular sandbox. Think about what to tell your child during the game, what to draw his attention to, how to interest him in the process.

You know your child better, his interests, favorite toys that can take part in games.

Good luck to you!

Literature:

1. ON THE. Sankovich Sand playing technology. Games on the bridge. – St. Petersburg, 2006.
2. T.D. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva, T.M. Grabenko. Workshop on creative therapy. – M., 1999.

Sand. Our children, every single one, simply love to play with him. And some parents, watching their little ones making sand cakes, don’t even realize that in this way the kids relax, get rid of fears, balance their inner world, and develop their own creative “I” - original and unique. It turns out that sand - the same sand on which we love to sunbathe and which serves as a building material for our homes - can also be healing. It restores the nervous system of our children. Psychologists call the method of treating various nervous disorders in children sand - sand therapy. What is it?

What is sand therapy

Let's remember the beach now. What do we do when we first get there? We place our bare foot on the yellow sand, and then in fascination we look at its imprint among the billions of tiny particles of our planet. It’s as if we are declaring to the world: “ I am! And I'm here!“- we absorb the pleasant warmth of the sand with every cell. Feeling like an integral part of everything around you, merging with it and dissolving in it. Do you know these feelings? At least for most of us, yes.

And then water is added to the sand. We build castles, roads, wells, tunnels. We bury and dig up arms and legs – our own and others’. And at the same time, we don’t even think that in this way we are clearing our thoughts. We bury the negative ones in the sand, and dig up the clear and enlightened ones.

At their core, these actions are a reflection of our own mental history, of what is happening inside us. And many have noticed that after time spent on the shore of a reservoir, after sitting on its soft sandy shore, the soul somehow becomes lighter, calmer.

This sand, in combination, of course, with other natural components, helps us relieve tension, restore harmony, and find balance.

Sand can convey both plasticity and fluidity. It is able to maintain a given shape without losing it. This is the main feature of sand as matter, and as a material for creativity and self-realization.

Sand can come into contact with the entire surface of your body and relax it, as well as act on individual nerve endings (for example, on your fingers or feet). Sand can be dry, soft, flowing. Sand can be wet, plastic, and obedient.

Sand can, in combination with water, take on any shape and reflect any images that fill our subconscious. It was precisely these capabilities of sand that were taken into account. This is how it appeared psychological sandbox And sand therapy, as a method of psychotherapy within the framework of analytical psychology.

The English pediatrician Margaret Lowenfeld first used a sandbox with miniature figures in 1929. Her student Dora Kalff supplemented and generalized the practical experience of her mentor. And became the founder of " Worldbuilding techniques", based on " building free and protected space».

Sand therapy for children: psychology

Not always even we, adults, can express in verbal form what we feel, what our thoughts are full of, and what, sometimes, deprives us of peace and sleep. What about our kids who are in the pre-verbal phase of development or are they just learning to communicate through oral speech? How can they express their feelings?

After all, they, just like us, experience joy and sadness, elation and loneliness, self-confidence or, conversely, helplessness and fear. This has to find some way out. This is where sand can become a reliable assistant. All images living inside the consciousness of a little man become visible and tangible while playing with sand. Why does a child need this?

And then, that young children need a break from, which, of course, takes place in the process of a child’s development, his formation as a person. All his experiences, all images, one way or another imprinted in the subconscious, can materialize in his sandy world. And the most important thing is that once they take shape, they become manageable, controlled by their little creator. In practice it looks like this.

For example, a child is afraid of dogs. Or darkness. During a sand therapy session, he portrays these fears as he sees them, and then, in the process of a simple game, he fights them and, of course, defeats them. This victory is imprinted in his subconscious, which subsequently helps the baby cope with the real world. Thus, by playing and creating, you can resolve any situation in your baby’s life.

During a sand therapy session, the child lives a small life. Without prohibitions and without restrictions. Has the opportunity to feel what freedom is. Freedom of thought, freedom of action, freedom of choice.

Who needs children's sand therapy?

To the question: “ Which children need sand therapy?" - you can safely answer: " All!»

The pace of modern life is such that preschool children are overloaded with information enormously. This is why many children begin to speak only by the age of three or four. They are simply not ready to fully process the stream of new things that enter the child’s consciousness from the outside.

Hence hyperactivity in children, attention deficit disorder, and autism. All these difficulties can be treated quite successfully through sand therapy. Sand therapy is also recommended for children suffering from all kinds of fears and obsessive states, who have conflicts in relationships with others. And just after an active day, it wouldn’t hurt for any child to calm down a little before going to bed, to “sort out” their thoughts and feelings.

Feeling like the creator of his own world, the baby will always try to make it better, brighter, more comfortable. And provided that such actions are not subject to evaluation and criticism by adults, the baby’s self-esteem will rise significantly, he will become more independent and responsible in real life.

What is needed for sand therapy sessions

Do you think that sand therapy requires visiting a psychologist’s office? You are deeply mistaken! The beach, a children's sandbox, a pile of sand brought to the dacha for construction work, or a small box of sand right in your apartment are perfect for sessions. The main thing is that the baby feels comfortable during classes.

Psychological Sandbox Box

Separately, a few words about the box (or box, or tray) for sand therapy at home. It should be painted blue inside. This is the color of the sky, the color of water. Blue has a calming effect and serves as an excellent background for sand games. As for the size of the box, 70x50x8 cm are considered optimal. And it should be exactly half filled with sand.

Sand for sand therapy

You can buy sand for home sessions. It will already be completely suitable for creativity. Or you can bring it from the beach. Then it will need to be sifted first, then washed and dried. And it is also advisable, for disinfection, to ignite such sand in the oven after it has completely dried. After all, your baby will work with him.

It is very good to have several types of sand in your arsenal. For dry use, fine river sand is better suited - soft and free-flowing. You can buy it at any hardware store. It comes in different colors. Which will also be interesting for the baby. If the baby is going to sculpt from sand using water, he will need coarse sea sand. It holds its shape better and comes off easier from the molds.

Sand therapy: classes

What else do you need to practice sand therapy? Of course, water. And also everything that can symbolically reflect the real world.

• Figures of people

It is desirable that the little creator has at his disposal people of different ages and professions (builders, drivers, athletes, astronauts, doctors, firefighters, police officers, etc.). We also need all family representatives (mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, children of different ages). Fantastic characters are also not excluded (trolls, gnomes, elves, sorcerers, dragons, gods, angels, etc.).

• Animal figurines

These should be wild and domestic animals, as well as prehistoric, fantastic and cartoon.

• Aquatic life

Collect figurines of fish, crabs, shellfish, seahorses, octopuses, whales, walruses, etc. Don’t forget about the inhabitants of the deep sea from legends and fairy tales.

• Homes and furniture

At home, the baby should have both small and large ones at his disposal. This category also includes tents, pavilions, caves and urban infrastructure buildings. Complete this collection with all kinds of interior items and furniture.

• Products and household utensils

Everything we use in real life to prepare and eat food (pots, ladle, plates, knives, spoons, forks, etc.). And also the food itself (fruits, vegetables, meat, bread, cereals).

• Vegetation

Trees, flowers, grass. They can be used as toys or in the form of a personally collected and dried herbarium.

• Transport

Everything we drive, swim, fly. Cars for various purposes, rockets, planes, ships, bicycles...

• Habitat objects

These could be bridges, viaducts, fences, gates, water towers, television towers, etc.

• Natural materials

Pebbles, various minerals, seeds, chestnuts, acorns, feathers, shells...

• Additional accessories

This list can be endless. Depending on interests and... Coins, bolts, scraps of fabric, mirrors, buttons, beads, etc. Usually, the baby asks for everything he needs to create his own world during the game.

Are you ready for your sand therapy session? Then call the baby and give him complete freedom of action. Just watch for yourself. Imagine that you are wearing an invisibility hat. No comments or advice. Except for those cases when the child himself expresses a desire to involve you in his game.

All objects, all actions are chosen by the baby on a purely intuitive level. He plays with different objects. Some are buried, others are placed on high ground, and others are completely drowned. Some of the heroes chosen by the little ones will be good, some will be evil. One will fight, and the other will save the planet. Remember, you are not interfering. This is your child’s game, his world, and he is the rightful master in this inviolable universe.

And your goal is to give the baby peace and freedom, to allow his own big “I” to unfold. There is no need to scold the baby and draw any conclusions if something in the world he created does not correspond to your views and ideas. Just watch. Give your child the opportunity to be himself.

Sand therapy: video

If your child doesn’t know where to start playing with sand or has expressed a desire to have you as a partner in building his world, you can offer him several options for the development of events.

In order for a therapeutic effect to be achieved through playing in the sand, it is necessary, as psychologists say, to narrow the problem field. How to do it? Invite your child to choose 16 figurines from the collection you have prepared (4 figurines of people, 4 of animals, 4 of buildings and 4 of any other objects that are currently relevant to him). Next, recommend giving the world you are creating a name and coming up with a story about it.

1. Hide and seek. Let your child pick out several shapes that he would like to hide. Turn away. When the baby allows you to turn around, find the hidden figures one by one and ask the baby to tell you about them. You will learn a lot about how he relates to certain individuals in his environment. Or maybe he is afraid of someone or something? From his explanations you will understand why this or that figure was “honored” to be buried. You can also play this game in reverse. You hide figures that, in your opinion, are somehow connected with the baby’s experiences, and he finds them and talks about them.
2. Fairy tale. Recommend that your child choose a figure that will become the main character of his fairy tale and place it in a box of sand. Next, let the child come up with a story about this figurine, adding more and more new characters as the plot develops, surrounding them with more and more new objects. The story ends when all the objects “participate” in it. It is also possible to play the game in reverse. You tell an instructive story or a psychological fairy tale, and the child builds a plot in the sand. Children have very well developed imaginative thinking. By recreating the story “in roles,” the baby will better understand its essence and morality.
3. Family. Invite your child to recreate his own family in the sand. And then the kind of family he would like to see. It will be a pretty fun game. In an ideal family, someone’s mom and dad don’t go to work at all. And some are allowed to eat whole boxes of sweets. And someone sleeps with their mother, and not alone in their room. The essence of the problem is immediately outlined. All that remains is to find ways to solve it.

Children's sand therapy: accents

Sand therapy sessions usually include three stages:

• chaos;
• struggle;
• conflict resolution.

At the “chaos” stage, the child experiences his emotional state and gradually frees himself from it. You can see how he randomly grabs the figures, buries them, digs them up, accompanying his actions with rather emotional remarks. Over time, a clear plot begins to emerge and a real struggle breaks out.

Children transfer their fears, anxieties, grievances, aggression, and ailments to the sand world. A whole battle is unfolding on the sand. Heroes kill each other and destroy everything around them. But don't worry, it's not because your baby is cruel or bloodthirsty. This is how he gets rid of psycho-emotional stress and fights to find peace within himself.

When the time comes to resolve the conflict, a kind and brave hero appears who saves everyone and restores justice. Peace and quiet reign in the small sand world. Everything returns to normal. The figures begin to engage in everyday activities: going to work, raising children, having fun.

This suggests that the internal conflict has been resolved. Such stages, or phases, can last over several sessions. Or they can play out during one lesson. And only the child has the right to determine when the time comes to end the struggle and return the idyll to his sandy world.

During a children's sand therapy session, you are given the place of honor as an observer and student. Yes Yes. Precisely the student.

Try writing your own story on a sheet of sand in your spare time. What if it is there, among millions of grains of sand, that you, without expecting it, will find the only correct answers. The answers you've been looking for all your life?..

Happy child 21.04.2017

Dear readers, are you familiar with the concept of art therapy? It turns out that this relatively new area of ​​modern psychotherapy is actively used by specialists not only with adults, but also with children. Many exercises can be offered to your child at home with great success, while achieving several goals at once: having fun, and understanding what is bothering your baby, and helping him gently solve the difficulty that has arisen. After all, in art therapy for children it is not bitter pills and potions that are used, but what childhood is already rich and happy with - creative thinking, imagination, vivid images and the most favorite activities for children. Tell me, which of the kids will refuse to draw, dance, or play an interesting game one more time?

Today on the blog we will introduce you more closely to art therapy in working with children, and offer a selection of fun exercise games that you can use at home with your child.

I give the floor to the presenter of the column, Anna Kutyavina.

Hello, dear readers of Irina’s blog! When it comes to art therapy, I can't stop listing its many benefits. This is probably due to the fact that I myself am an art therapist, and I have years of working with children in this method. But still, every time I observe the new successes of the kids, their big and small discoveries, as well as extraordinary changes, I am amazed again and again. It would seem like just a drawing, a game in the sandbox, a dance, a fairy tale. But how thanks to them the world changes, both around and inside us!

But let’s first take a closer look at art therapy and find out what it is used with.

Art therapy in working with children and adults and its tasks

What is art therapy? This is a direction of psychotherapy that involves the creation and analysis of creative works. Literally, the word “art therapy” is translated as treatment with art. But for the purposes of art therapy it is not at all necessary to be a brilliant artist, musician or poet with a “profile” education. It’s enough just to pick up the tools necessary for this or that type of creativity, relax, let go of external vanity and worries, and immerse yourself in the process.

However, not all creativity can be classified as art therapy. Ordinary modeling, dancing, drawing are not yet treatment. But properly directed, coordinated creativity (not to be confused with special training in creativity - in comparison with it, art therapy is more spontaneous) can help:

• react to unlived emotions, get to the bottom of true feelings and thoughts;
• diagnose psychological problems;
• release aggression and other negative manifestations in an adequate form;
• facilitate the process of communication, establishing relationships with other people;
• increase self-esteem;
• learn to control your own internal state;
• cope with fears, anxiety, and many psychosomatic manifestations;
• acquire new, more constructive models of behavior in a given situation;
• enjoy self-expression.

It would seem “just” childish pranks. And what a huge influence they have on a person!

Art therapy also works great with adult “patients.” But she literally works wonders with kids! Maybe because it’s not so easy for us, great aunts and uncles, to turn off the controller and “supervisor” in ourselves and create without judgment?

Types and methods of art therapy in working with children

There are quite a few separate types and directions in art therapy. Moreover, something new appears all the time. But the main types of creative treatment include:

Isotherapy– treatment with the help of drawing and fine arts. Materials for such therapy are paper, brushes, paints, and less often - pencils, pens, crayons.

Sand therapy – classes using a specially organized sandbox. In addition to the sand box itself, small figures, natural materials, etc. are used in therapy.

Bibliotherapy– special work with text. So, you can read the text, select and write down the words you remember, compose sentences from them, etc.

Music therapy– classes by listening to music, creating your own rhythms, playing musical instruments.

Tissue therapy – by working with fabrics.

Color therapy– use of different color combinations and images for therapy.

Puppet therapy– it involves the creation of dolls from various materials, and further interaction with them: playing stories, composing plots, etc.

Mandalotherapy– activities with children by creating mandalas. They can be drawn on paper or sand, and created from different materials.

Phototherapy– creation of photographs and further therapeutic work with them;

POPPY– classes using metaphorical associative maps.

Testoplasty– therapy by influencing plasticine, dough, clay, and other plastic materials.

Collaging– treatment and filling with resources by creating collages.

Cinema therapy– therapy using films and videos.

Dance movement therapy – treatment through dance.

When working with children, especially young ones, isotherapy, fairytale therapy, sand therapy, testoplasty and doll therapy are most often used. Yes, yes, this is exactly what children love most in the world: drawing, reading fairy tales, sculpting, playing in the sandbox and with dolls. Magic Doctor Art therapy treats only what is pleasant and painless!

Exercises for doing art therapy with children

And now I suggest you play a little with the kids, and at the same time feel a little like an art therapist. To get acquainted with the method, let’s take what, in my opinion, are the simplest and fastest areas, as well as those that are very popular with children - isotherapy and sand therapy.

Isotherapy

In fact, all children love to draw. Why not work out with the kids? The following materials can be used for isotherapy: paper, brushes and paints, pencils, markers, pens, crayons. Everything you can draw with. To begin with, invite your child to choose what he would like to draw with now.

Scribble

A very simple and accessible exercise. Invite your baby to take pencils or paints and draw any lines. You can draw in any color, with any pressure, any shape and size. While drawing, try to find some image in the lines, and complete it with your child.

Or you don’t have to look for meaning in the scribbles, and just move a pencil over the paper, thus expressing yourself.

Hand drawing

A wonderful way to let your child experience incredible joy! After all, you usually can’t “get your hands dirty,” but suddenly you can! Invite your child to draw with his entire palm, fingertips, knuckles, and the edge of his palm, using gouache or special finger paints. There is no need to give any specific task. Just let your little one loosen up, applying sweeping, chaotic strokes, experiencing unusual tactile sensations and going beyond what is permitted.

With this exercise you can correct the state of fear, depression, and anxiety.

Drawing music

Offer your child paints, brushes, paper, and play a recording of classical music, for example, Mozart or Tchaikovsky. And ask him to draw the music he hears, using any lines and colors. The way he himself will feel.

Thanks to this exercise, the child learns to express his emotions and feelings on paper, and also develops his imagination.

Exercise "Flower"

An older child can be given an exercise "Flower". Give him paper, brushes and paints, pencils. Ask to close your eyes and imagine a wonderful flower. What is he like? What does it smell like? Where did he grow up? What's around him? Now let the child open his eyes and try to draw everything he just imagined.

Together with your child, come up with a story about a flower. What's his mood? What does he like? How is his day going, etc. If the story is sad, offer to complete the picture or change the story in a positive direction.

This exercise helps develop imagination and relieve emotional stress.

Now let's see how you can have fun with your children during modeling classes. What can we talk about, what children's crafts will tell us.

Sand art - therapy for children

Sand is a wonderful environment for developing a child’s skills and even for correcting and treating existing problems. The sand itself is pleasant to the touch, free-flowing, easily fills any shape, and children can play with it for hours. Just remember what happens on the banks of seas and rivers, as well as near large sandboxes in the yard. You can't tear your children away from the sand!

The “magical” properties of sand could not go unnoticed by specialists. The sandbox is actively used in the psychological and art therapeutic process. True, the psychological sandbox must have certain dimensions - 50 * 70 * 8 cm, and the inside is painted blue or light blue, as a symbol of sky and water.

But at home, we can also use improvised means - small trays, drawers, even plastic basins filled with sand. The main condition is that the sand must be safe for the child, that is, clean and disinfected. To do this, you can buy special sand, or take regular sand, rinse it and bake it in the oven.

Also for games you will need small figures - up to 8 cm high. These can be dolls, animal figures, trees, houses, interior items, natural materials. Psychologists usually have a whole collection of such toys. But at home it is enough to have at least a minimum set.

Getting to know the sand

At the very beginning, we invite the child to “get acquainted” with the sandbox:

“Say hello” to the sand (remember that playing in the sandbox is already the creation of a fairy tale, and in a fairy tale everything is alive).

Slide your palms along the sand in straight lines, in circular movements like snakes, or in a zigzag pattern. Then do the same with the edges of your palms.

Scoop sand into your palm or two at once and pour out in a thin stream.

Bury your palms in the sand, then “find” them, saying: “Where are our hands? Where did they hide?

Place your open palm in the sand and close your eyes. Then mom or dad pours sand on his finger, and the baby must guess which finger the sand landed on.

Leave footprints in the sand. You can invite your baby to jump with his toes in the sand like a bunny, walk like a big bear, or crawl like a snake.

Be sure to discuss with your child his feelings, the difference in impressions, and ask questions. You should not impose your opinion, listen to your child and help him without correcting or criticizing in any way. Be sure to praise for success.

Creation of a magical world

In order to get to know your child’s experiences and feelings better, you can offer him the following exercise. You need a sandbox and a set of small figures. The instructions for the task are as follows:

“Imagine that you are a real wizard. Before you is a fairyland. And you can fill it with whatever you want. Create any natural conditions, populate them with people, animals or other creatures. Arrange them the way you want."

Usually children begin to create with great joy and immediately immerse themselves in their world. Just by how a child begins “construction” and how he approaches the process, you can learn a lot about him. Did he build everything quickly, using large strokes? Or does he hesitate, ponder his decision for a long time, and cannot decide on a place for the figurine? Or maybe he rearranges some characters all the time, unable to find a place for them?

When the world is created and the baby says that he is finished, discuss the picture with him. Ask who lives in this magical land, what it is called, what the residents do, what happens to them. If a child voices some problem with the hero - for example, this tiger is very angry and feels bad - try to find a solution together. Maybe the tiger just needs a friend? Or should he do what he likes? “Follow” the child, continuing his thoughts. And you will be surprised how effective this exercise can be.

Similarly, you can invite your child to create a picture “My family”, “My friends”, and find out how the child sees his environment, what can be changed in this system for the better.

There are a great variety of art therapy exercises and techniques when working with children. They help develop imagination, motor skills, and realize creative abilities. But it is not at all necessary to follow any strict instructions at home when working with your baby.

Art therapy in many ways is spontaneity, based on instinct, the ability to see and accept another, to understand him without words, through art. When selecting techniques, take into account the child’s age and psycho-emotional state. After all, who, if not we, parents, are able to feel our child better than anyone?

Do not try to influence the result of creativity. The goal of art therapy is not the creation of masterpieces, but simple and accessible self-expression, an opportunity to get to know your inner world and help it become brighter, more cheerful, and brighter. Although, sometimes people discover amazing talents in themselves...

I sincerely wish you and your families health and happiness! Create for joy!

Anna Kutyavina, psychologist, storyteller, owner of the Fairytale World website

I thank Anya for her thoughts. Work with your children and be sure to develop yourself. After all, such methods can be very interesting for us adults too. Not long ago I discovered phototherapy for myself. I really enjoyed my experience. I wrote about it in the article Awakening yourself through phototherapy Photogenic “thorn” milk thistle

14 08.2015

14. 08.2015

Catherine's blog
Bogdanova

Good afternoon, readers and guests of the “Family and Childhood” website. We continue the conversation about and today we will look at one of the areas of art therapy: sand therapy for children. Art therapy literally means healing through art. This direction is a complex of methods of healing, as well as psychological correction through creativity and art.

It is worth noting that art therapy classes are not focused on the result, but directly on the creative process. Each participant in the process gets the opportunity for emotional release and self-expression. In addition, it brings incomparable pleasure.

Art therapy for children performs the following series of tasks:

1. Identification of psychological problems;
2. Development of creative abilities;
3. Increased self-esteem;
4. Formation of self-control;
5. Work on establishing social contacts;
6. Focusing on emotions and feelings;
7. Finding ways to release negativity and aggression.

Types of art therapy for children

The original traditional form of art therapy is drawing. However, to date, this direction has received widespread development, covering almost all areas of art and creativity. Over time, many types of art therapy for children and schoolchildren have appeared, among which the following stand out:

1. Drawing;
2. Music therapy or treatment with music;
3. Dance movement therapy;
4. or reading, listening, composing fairy tales by children;
5. Dramatherapy or acting out life situations;
6. Bibliotherapy or treatment with the help of books;
7. Game therapy;
8. Chromotherapy or color therapy - exposure using colors;
9. Sand therapy is exercises with sand, drawing in the sand;
10. Puppet therapy - making dolls, acting out scenes with the help of dolls;
11. Folding origami.

Each of the above types has its own strengths and is aimed at moral, intellectual development, treatment of psychological problems, expression of feelings and emotions, development of fine motor skills, relieving anxiety, tension and fatigue.

Sand therapy for children

Sand therapy is an excellent way to get rid of accumulated negativity and aggression, developing self-confidence and strength. The main goals of sand therapy are to identify the child’s personal characteristics, as well as to positively attune him to himself and his own “I” in everyday life and activities. In addition, in the process of sand therapy, children learn to create models of fantasies in the sand with their explanation, and the process of getting rid of fears and psychological trauma occurs.

The relevance of this technique is extremely high at the present time. It is thanks to sand that a child is able to fully experience primitive feelings. Moreover, for children, compared to adults, playing in the sand is doubly beneficial. In the sandbox, the baby develops his imagination, thinking and fine motor skills. All that is needed for sand therapy classes is a sandbox or box filled with sand.

Sand therapy classes

Sand therapy classes are conducted both in groups and individually. Before the start of the lesson, children are invited to familiarize themselves with all materials: toys, sand. Further, depending on the age of the baby, he is offered tasks of varying degrees of difficulty. The range of exercises for sand therapy includes the following:

1. Build your dream house, castle or even an entire city;
2. Draw a figure or picture in the sand;
3. Using toys, play out certain life situations that are most significant for the child;
4. Arrange a flood or flood and save toys;
5. Squeeze the sand in your hands as tightly as possible in order to develop fine motor skills and overcome aggression;
6. Give the child freedom of choice and allow him to create the compositions he wants. This exercise helps to better understand what is really bothering the child.

Sand therapy methods

A box of sand is placed in the center of the room where sandplay work is planned. The tray must be filled with high-quality and washed sand. It is advisable that the base of the tray be blue so that you can create the illusion of water at the bottom. If necessary, sand can be mixed with water to create a variety of wet landscapes.

In addition to everything, in the room where sand therapy is carried out, there should be a large number of figures of animals and people, plants and buildings, and vehicles. At the same time, manufacturing materials and colors can be any. As a rule, all items are located on special racks so that, if necessary, even a child can get them. This will allow the child to create his own world and design different situations. Each composition created by a child is a reflection of his soul.

In other words, during the game he transfers his inner world to the external space, beating it. Each new session allows the child to create a new world and new situations. It is worth saying that parents should not be present during sand therapy sessions.

There are no contraindications for sand therapy. Thanks to this modern method, a child can get to know not only himself, but also the world around him, develop communication skills and fine motor skills. At the same time, learning takes place in a simple and understandable play form for the child. Most parents note that after sand therapy their children become more sociable, open, talented and friendly.

And finally, watch the video “Sand therapy for children Fine motor skills”