Jane Steiner June
2008
Play
Techniques
6 Session
Interventions
Introduction:
The
following six small group guidance sessions are designed for students who need
to increase student success behaviors.
This particular population often has a difficult time following
directions, unpredictable work habits, and a negative relationship with school
and work performance. These
students often feel frustrated and anxious which can severely impact academic
learning gains.
Through
this group intervention, students will be able to build peer relations,
identify emotions, learn and apply coping skills, and gain insight into their
emotions and behaviors. Students
will also normalize their experiences by listening and sharing with other group
members. By learning how to deal
with difficult emotions, students will be more likely to achieve success in
school.
Using
play techniques will greatly benefit the group participants. The various chosen media will allow
students different venues in which to express themselves and relate experiences
to. This population of students
often does not perform up to their potential in the traditional classroom
setting. Using play techniques
will keep the students having fun, engaged, and motivated to learn.
Session
1:
Name of Activity: A Slice of Me; Art
Objective: For students to build rapport and group cohesion while
sharing information about themselves and learning about other group members
Materials: Precut paper in the shape of pizza slice for each
group member; whiteboard, marker, precut pizza toppings such as pepperonis,
onions, peppers, anchovies; tape; markers or crayons; glue sticks
Procedure: 1. Distribute one paper slice to each student with all
other materials in the middle to be shared
2. Instruct students they will be decorating a pizza
slice to represent themselves.
They can write their name on the crust and add toppings to represent
pieces of themselves. As each
topping is glued on the slice, it must be labeled with specific information
about them; Pepperonis are activities you like to do, onions are family
members, peppers are favorite places, and anchovies are favorite animals (write
topping categories on board)
3.
Students can decorate the rest of their pizza slice with crayons or markers any
way they wish
4.
After students have completed their slices. Instruct students to pair share their projects with person
next to them.
5. Take several volunteers to share their
project with group
6. Explain to group that the slices
together make a whole pie just like each group member together creates the
whole group. Each person has
something special to add to the experience.
7.
Tape each slice on board to show visual representation of whole pie
Processing Leads:
Activity/Experience:
a. What did you think about what we just did? What did you like? Dislike?
b. What did you think about when I asked you to create a
project that represents yourself?
What were you feeling when you were asked to share personal information
with a partner?
c. What were you thinking and/or feeling when your
partner was sharing their project and telling you about them?
LEAP:
a. Has there been a time when you have experienced these
same feelings?
b. IÕm wondering if this is what it is like when you meet
new classmates. What is that like?
Skills to be introduced: What can you do in situations like this? (Anticipated responses: smile, ask
questions about new person, share information about yourself, be helpful, nice)
Plans for practice and application: How can you use what you learned today? Can you think of a time coming up you
might use what we practiced today?
How might that go?
Tips: Facilitator should pre-cut all pizza toppings and
slices to save time
Session
2:
Name of Activity: Musical Emotions; Music and Movement
Objective: For students to build feeling words vocabulary and
normalize their emotions by sharing experiences
Materials: radio, 1 chair for each member, colored paper, magic
marker
Procedure: 1. Instruct members to gather around in a circle and
inform them we will be discussing emotions today. Hold up different pieces of colored paper while group comes
up with a feeling word that reminds them of the color. Write the feeling on
paper. As each colored is named, briefly discuss emotion and other words that
also describe the feeling. You
will need a different piece of paper for each chair. Examples: red=angry,
yellow=happy, blue=sad, green=relaxed, purple=confused, white=peaceful.
2. Set the chairs up back to back in a line formation
and tape a different piece of paper to each chair.
3.
Turn on music and instruct students to stand in front of a chair. Play music and have students walk
around chairs until music stops. Whatever chair they stop in front of the need
to sit in and read the emotion on the chair.
4.
Students are to think of a time they have experienced the emotion and pair
share it with a member next to them.
5.
Repeat musical chairs activity as much as time permits and turn off music when
students are in front of other emotion chairs.
Processing Leads:
Activity/Experience:
a. What did you think about what we just did? What did you like? Dislike?
b. What did you think about when we were brainstorming
different feeling words with colors? What were you feeling when you were asked
to share your personal experience with a partner?
c. What were you thinking/feelings when you were
listening to your partnerÕs experience?
LEAP:
a. Has there been a time when you have experienced these
same feelings?
b. IÕm wondering if this is what it is like when you feel
a strong emotion and are unsure what is happening. What is that like?
c. At those times, do you feel like you are the only
person who feels like this?
Skills to be introduced: What can you do in situations like this? (Anticipated responses: recognize you
are feeling an emotion and remember that this happens to other people, talk to
a trusted adult) Inform students that next session they will be learning
various ways to handle emotions
Plans for practice and application: How can you use what you learned today? Can you think of a time coming up you
might use what we practiced today?
How might that go?
Tips: Make sure space is large enough so students can move
easily and music can be played
Session 3:
Name of Activity: Relaxation Exercise to Help with Stress
and Anxiety; Imagery
Objective: To provide
the group with a coping mechanism that can be used to help reduce stress and
anxiety before peer presentations.
Materials: 1. Script
(following page)
2. Quiet environment
Procedure: 1. Introduce the activity by explaining
the benefits of relaxation: ÒEvidence suggests that we can speed up our
learning when our body and mind are relaxed and calm. Relaxation exercises also help people relax in stressful
situations or when they are feeling anxious.Ó
2. Read script
Processing Leads:
Activity/Experience:
a. What do you think about what we just
did? What did you like? Dislike? b. What were you thinking when I told you
to squeeze the lemon hard?
c. What were you feeling when I told you
to release the lemon?
d. What were you thinking when I told you
to tense up the other parts of your body?
e. What were you feeling when I told you
to release those parts?
f. What were you thinking/feeling when I
told you to open your eyes and wiggle your muscles around a little?
LEAP:
a. Has there been a time when you have
experienced stress and/or anxiety?
b. IÕm wondering if this is what it is
like when you were getting ready for your last
classroom presentation? What was
that like?
Skills to be introduced: What can you do in situations like
this/that? (anticipated response
– relaxation exercises)
Plans for practice and application: How can you
use what you learned today? Can
you think of a time coming up when you might feel stressed and/or anxious? How might the experience be different
if you use what we practiced today?
Tips: 1.
Facilitator may choose to have calming music or sounds in the background during
the relaxation exercise
2. Facilitator may choose to turn
the lights off during the exercise
3. Facilitator may choose to
shorten the activity by having the group do fewer tense/relax motions (e.g. 2
squeezes of lemon instead of 3).
Or, facilitator may choose to lengthen the exercise by adding the facial
muscles
4. Facilitator should be familiar
with the script before reading
Relaxation
Script:
A
RELAXATION TRAINING SCRIPT
INTRODUCTION
Today we're going to do
some special kinds of exercises called relaxation exercises. These exercises
help to learn how to relax when you're feeling up tight and help you get rid of
those butterflies-in-your-stomach kinds of feelings. They're also kind of neat
because you can do some of them in the classroom without anyone noticing.
In order for you to get
the best feelings from these exercises, there are some rules you must follow.
First, you must do exactly what I say, even if it seems kind of silly. Second,
you must try hard to do what I say. Third, you must pay attention to your body.
Throughout these exercises, pay attention to how your muscles feel when they
are tight and when they are loose and relaxed. And fourth, you must practice.
The more you practice, the more relaxed you can get. Does anyone have any
questions?
Are you ready to begin?
Okay, first, get as comfortable as you can in your chair. Sit back, get both
feet on the floor, and just let your arms hang loose. That's fine. Now close
your eyes and don't open them until I say to. Remember to follow my
instructions very carefully, try hard, and pay attention to your body. Here we
go.
HANDS AND ARMS
Pretend you have a whole
lemon in your left hand. Now squeeze it hard. Try to squeeze all the juice out.
Feel the tightness in your hand and arm as you squeeze. Now drop the lemon.
Notice how your muscles feel when they are relaxed. Take another lemon and
squeeze. Try to squeeze this one harder than you did the first one. That's
right. Real hard. Now drop the lemon and relax. See how much better your hand
and arm feel when they are relaxed. Once again, take a lemon in your left hand
and squeeze all the juice out. Don't leave a single drop. Squeeze hard. Good.
now relax and let the lemon fall from your hand. (Repeat the process for the
right hand and arm.)
ARMS AND SHOULDERS
Pretend you are a furry,
lazy cat. You want to stretch. Stretch your arms out in front of you. Raise
them up high over your head. Way back. Feel the pull in your shoulders. Stretch
higher. Now just let your arms drop back to your side. Okay, kittens, let's
stretch again. Stretch your arms out in front of you. Raise them over your
head. Pull them back, way back. Pull hard. Now let them drop quickly. Good.
Notice how your shoulders feel more relaxed. This time let's have a great big
stretch. Try to touch the ceiling. Stretch your arms way out in front of you.
Raise them way up high over your head. Push them way, way back. Notice the
tension and pull in your arms and shoulders. Hold tight, now. Great. Let them drop
very quickly and feel how good it is to be relaxed. It feels good and warm and
lazy.
STOMACH
Hey! Here comes a cute
baby elephant. But he's not watching where he's going. He doesn't see you lying
in the grass, and he's about to step on your stomach. Don't move. You don't
have time to get out of the way. Just get ready for him. Make your stomach very
hard. Tighten up your stomach muscles real tight. Hold it. It looks like he is
going the other way. You can relax now. Let your stomach go soft. Let it be as
relaxed as you can. That feels so much better. Oops, he's coming this way
again. Get Ready. Tighten up your stomach. Real hard. If he steps on you when
your stomach is hard, it won't hurt. Make your stomach into a rock. Okay, he's
moving away again. You can relax now. Kind of settle down, get comfortable, and
relax. Notice the difference between a tight stomach and a relaxed one. That's
how we want to feel---nice and loose and relaxed. You won't believe this, but
this time he's coming your way and no turning around. He's headed straight for
you. Tighten up. Tighten hard. Here he comes. This is really it. You've got to
hold on tight. He's stepping on you. He's stepped over you. Now he's gone for
good. You can relax completely. You're safe. Everything is okay, and you can
feel nice and relaxed.
This time imagine that
you want to squeeze through a narrow fence and the boards have splinters on
them. You'll have to make yourself very skinny if you're going to make it
through. Suck your stomach in. Try to squeeze it up against your backbone. Try
to be skinny as you can. You've got to be skinny now. Just relax and feel your
stomach being warm and loose. Okay, let's try to get through that fence now.
Squeeze up your stomach. Make it touch your backbone. Get it real small and
tight. Get it as skinny as you can. Hold tight, now. You've got to squeeze
through. You got through that narrow little fence and no splinters. You can
relax now. Settle back and let your stomach come back out where it belongs. You
can feel really good now. You've done fine.
LEGS AND FEET
Now pretend that you are
standing barefoot in a big, fat mud puddle. Squish your toes down deep into the
mud. Try to get your feet down to the bottom of the mud puddle. You'll probably
need your legs to help you push. Push down, spread your toes apart, feel the
mud squish up between your toes. Now step out of the mud puddle. Relax your
feet. Let your toes go loose and feel how nice that it feels to be relaxed.
Back into the mud puddle. Squish your toes down. Let your leg muscles help push
your feet down. Push your feet. Hard. Try to squeeze that puddle dry. Okay.
Come back out now. Relax your feet, relax your legs, relax your toes. It feels
so good to be relaxed. No tenseness anywhere. You feel kind of warm and tingly.
CONCLUSION
Stay as relaxed as you
can. Let your whole body go limp and feel all your muscles relaxed. In a few
minutes I will ask you to open your eyes, and that will be the end of this
session. As you go through the day, remember how good it feels to be relaxed.
Sometimes you have to make yourself tighter before you can be relaxed, just as
we did in these exercises. Practice these exercises everyday to get more and
more relaxed. A good time to practice is at night, after you have gone to bed
and the lights are out and you won't be disturbed. It will help you get to
sleep. Then, when you are really a good relaxer, you can help yourself relax
here at school. Just remember the elephant, or the jaw breaker, or the mud
puddle, and you can do our exercises and nobody will know. Today is a good day,
and you are ready to go back to class feeling very relaxed. You've worked hard
in here. and it feels good to work hard. very slowly, now, open your eyes and
wiggle your muscles around a little. Very good. You've done a good job. You're
going to be a super relaxer.
Note: The following
exercises can be added to the relaxation method before the conclusion. These
are useful to relax facial muscles.
JAW
You have a giant
jawbreaker bubble gum in your mouth. It's very hard to chew. Bite down on it.
Hard! Let your neck muscles help you. Now relax. Just let your jaw hang loose.
Notice that how good it feels just to let your jaw drop. Okay, let's tackle
that jawbreaker again now. Bite down. Hard! Try to squeeze it out between your
teeth. That's good. You're really tearing that gum up. Now relax again. Just
let your jaw drop off your face. It feels good just to let go and not have to
fight that bubble gum. Okay, one more time. We're really going to tear it up
this time. Bite down. Hard as you can. Harder. Oh, you're really working hard.
Good. Now relax. Try to relax your whole body. You've beaten that bubble gum.
Let yourself go as loose as you can.
FACE AND NOSE
Here comes a pesky old
fly. He has landed on your nose. Try to get him off without using your hands.
That's right, wrinkle up your nose. Make as many wrinkles in your nose as you
can. Scrunch your nose up real hard. Good. You've chased him away. Now you can
relax your nose. Oops, here he comes back again. Right back in the middle of
your nose. Wrinkle up your nose again. Shoo him off. Wrinkle it up hard. Hold
it just as tight as you can. Okay, he flew away. You can relax your face.
Notice that when you scrunch up your nose your cheeks and your mouth and your
forehead and your eyes all help you, and they get tight too. So when you relax
your nose, your whole body relaxes too, and that feels good. Oh-oh. This time
that old fly has come back, but this time he's on your forehead. Make lots of
wrinkles. Try to catch him between all those wrinkles. Hold it tight, now.
Okay, you can let go. He's gone for good. Now you can just relax. Let your face
go smooth, no wrinkles anywhere. Your face feels nice and smooth and relaxed.
Session 4:
Name of Activity: Sock Puppets Coping Skills
Application; Puppetry
Objective: For students to apply their coping
skills to frustrating events in the classroom while modeling and offering
feedback to each other
Materials: 1 white
athletic sock for each member; colored markers; table with tablecloth
Procedure: 1. Distribute socks and place markers in
the middle to share. Instruct
students to transform their sock into a puppet using markers to draw a face and
whatever else they choose
2. Once puppets are completed, break
students into 2 separate groups
3.
Have students think of a time they were frustrated in class and share
experience within their separate group.
4.
Instruct students to choose one of their groupÕs experiences and role-play
situation using effective coping skills using sock puppets. Inform students
they will be performing in front of whole group using the table as a puppet
stage.
5.
Have each group role play their frustrating classroom event in front of
group. Have students identify
coping skills used in role-play and offer other strategies that may also apply
Processing Leads:
Activity/Experience:
a. What do you think about what we just
did? What did you like? Dislike? b. What were you thinking when you shared
your frustrating classroom experience
with others? What were you feeling while acting out the role-play for the
class?
LEAP:
a. Has there been another time when you
have experienced frustration in school?
b. IÕm wondering if this is what it is
like when you are having difficulty completing
the work assigned? What is that like?
c.
How would you now handle that situation?
Skills to be introduced: What can you do in situations like
this/that? (anticipated response
– relaxation exercises, deep breathing, use positive self-talk, safe
place)
Plans for practice and application: How can you
use what you learned today? Can
you think of a time coming up when you might feel frustrated? How might the experience be different
if you use what we practiced today?
Tips: Facilitator
should not spend too much time making the puppets as the focus is on the use of
them
Session 5:
Name of Activity: Visualizing Testing Success
Objective: To provide students with skills to
use in boosting self-confidence in their testing abilities and outcomes
Materials: 1. Script (see attached)
2. Quiet environment
Procedure: 1. Instruct students to get in a
comfortable position in a chair or on
the floor
2. Read script verbatim
Processing Leads:
Activity/Experience:
d.
What did you think about what we just
did? What did you like? Dislike?
e.
What
were you thinking when the teacher placed the exam on your desk? What were you feeling when you were
told to begin?
f.
What
were you thinking and/or feeling when you came across a question you were
unsure of?
LEAP:
c.
Has
there been a time when you have experienced these same feelings?
d.
IÕm
wondering if this is what it was like when you took your last test?
e.
What
is it like to feel unsure of yourself and the outcome of your efforts?
Skills to be introduced: What can you do in situations like
this? (Anticipated responses: breathing, positive self-talk, safe
place, relaxation)
Plans for practice and application: How can you use what you learned
today? Can you think of a time
coming up you might use what we practiced today? How might that go?
Tips: When reading the script, facilitator
should use voice modulation when appropriate. Emphasis will be placed on key words typed in bold
print. The pace of speech is slow
and deliberate. Facilitator may
choose to turn off the lights.
Testing
Success Script:
Guided
Imagery: Visualizing Testing Success
Close your
eyes, get comfortable, and for a few moments allow yourself to take several
nice, long deep breaths. Notice
the cool air coming in, filling your lungs, and soothing warm air going
out. Let all your thoughts float
away as you bring your attention to your breathingÉin and out. Scan your body and notice if youÕre
holding any tension in your muscles.
If you are, gently let all that tension melt away with every
breathÉbring your attention to your breathing, in and outÉin and outÉlet
yourself feel more and more comfortable sitting where you are.
Imagine
yourself the morning of your important exam. You are sitting at your desk focused at the task at hand and
confident in your abilities. You
are about to demonstrate all of the knowledge you have acquired throughout the
school year. You know all of your
effort and hard work is about to pay offÉ
The teacher places the exam on your desk. You reach for your sharpened number 2 pencil and await the
teacherÕs instructions. You hear
the words Òyou may beginÓ. You
take a deep breath noticing the cool air coming in, filing your lungs, and
soothing warm air going out. You
are focused. You open the booklet
and begin your test. As you work
through the questions, you are feeling secure in your responsesÉ
You reach a
question you are unsure of. You
begin to question yourself.
Butterflies are fluttering in your stomach. You tell yourself ÒSTOP,
I am prepared and I can work through thisÓ. You take another deep breath and reread the question. You work through each possible answer
and make the best choiceÉ
As you turn
the page to the last question, you are relieved to see that you have more than
enough time to check your workÉ
The teacher announces that time is up. You close your test booklet and proudly hand it to the
teacher, self-assured you have performed your best.
For the next
2 weeks, you anxiously await your grade.
The day arrives and you are ECSTATIC
to see a BIG, RED ÒAÓ next to your
name. Open your eyes and pat
yourself on the back. YOU DID IT!
Session 6:
Name of Activity: Goodbye and Good Luck
Objective: To provide closure for the group
experience and hope in moving forward with newly acquired skills
Materials: 1. Script (see attached)
2. Quiet environment
Procedure: 1. Instruct members to get in a
comfortable position in a chair or on
the floor
2. Introduce the activity by saying ÒThis
is our last session together. Take
this time to reflect on your group experienceÓ
3. Read script verbatim
Processing Leads:
Activity/Experience:
g.
What
did you think about what we just did?
What did you like? Dislike?
h.
What
were you thinking when you reached your fellow group members? What were you feeling when you embraced
each member while remembering their contributions to the group?
i.
What
were you thinking and/or feeling when the group was on the other side of the
bridge waving farewell and good luck?
LEAP:
f.
Has
there been a time when you have experienced these same feelings?
g.
IÕm
wondering if this is what it was like the last time you felt torn between
moving into the future and letting go of the past.
h.
What
is it like to close one experience while anticipating the future with hope?
Skills to be introduced: What can you do in situations like
this? (Anticipated responses: positive imagery, positive self-talk)
Plans for practice and application: How can you use what you learned
today? Can you think of a time
coming up you might use what we practiced today? How might that go?
Tips: When reading the script, facilitator
should use voice modulation when appropriate. The pace of speech is slow and
deliberate. Facilitator may choose
to turn off the lights. Counselor may choose to have members share positive
affirmations with each other that originated from the imagery. Facilitator may
choose to have soothing sounds, such as running water, playing in the
background.
Closure
Script:
Guided Imagery: Closing Group
Session
Sit or lie down in a comfortable
position and close your eyes. Take
several slow, deep abdominal breaths.
Scan your body for any muscle tension. If you become aware of any tension, tense the muscles for a
couple of seconds and relax them.
You may imagine thoughts or concerns as puffs of smoke that rise into
the air and eventually disappear.
Now imagine that you are walking
down a path into a lush forest. As
you walk along the path you completely take in the sights, sounds, smells, and
feel of the place. All around you
are trees, grasses, ground cover, and fragrant flowers. You hear the soothing sounds of birds
chirping and the wind as it gently blows through the treetops. You smell the rich dampness of the
forest floor, the smells of rotting vegetation and new growth. Through gaps in the treetops you see
the sun high in a cloudless, blue sky.
The sun is dispersed through the canopy of the treetops and filters down
onto the forest floor, creating intricate patterns of light and shadow. With each breath you take in this place
you feel a deep sense of peace and relaxation.
You soon come to a clearing. There is a narrow, wooden bridge
ahead. A small stream runs
underneath it. You can see several
figures next to the bridge in the distance. As you slowly move forward, you can see all of your group
members smiling at you. They are
signaling you to move closer. You
feel the warmth of the sun and a gentle, light breeze through your hair and
across your skin. As you approach
the group, arms outstretch toward you and embrace you one by one. With each hug you recall one
contribution that person made to your experience in group. The group reluctantly turns away. They slowly make their way across the
bridge. When they reach the other
side, they look back at you as they wave goodbye and good luck.