top of page
Purpose: I chose this activity originally because I've always wanted to try it. I enjoyed doing it a lot and I wanted to modify it in a way so I could incorporate stigma and discrimination against mental health. The purpose of this activity is to understand a little more about the negative words surrounding stigma and discrimination and how they can hurt.
Age: This activity can work best for ages 12+.
Time Frame: This activity can be completed in 30 minutes.
Environment: This activity is best done in an open space. It can be done in any type of environment as long as it's inside and you have lots of space to get creative.
Preparation:
The following are the materials that will be needed in order to complete this activity:
-
White canvas board of any size
-
A pack of crayons
-
glue gun
-
glue sticks
-
black permanant marker
-
blow dryer
COLOURFUL CANVAS
Instructions:
-
Lay the white canvas on the area in which you decide to do the craft. A hard surface is always best and make sure there are newspapers in case of any drops from the hot crayon.
-
Write negative words that surround mental illness all over the board in black permanant marker. You can write as many words as you want. Example of words can be: Crazy, You're depressed, Psycho, Skitzo, etc.
-
Once your done step 2 take the crayons and arrange them in a line similar to the picture in any order you choose. Try and use only colours that you think are positive.
-
Take your glue gun and glue each crayon on the top of the canvas similar to the picture.
-
Once they are glued securely take the blow dryer and raise it over the crayons and hold it until it completley melts the crayons. You can choose to hold the blow dryer and melt the crayons for however long you want but the purpose is to completley go over the hurtful/negative words with the melted crayons.
-
Lastly, watch the melted crayons go over all of the hurtful/negative words and see that with positive thoughts (in this case positive colours) we can make a difference and stop stigmatizing and discriminating against mental health. Think before you speak because words hurt!
Discussion Questions:
1. How did you choose the words you wrote on your canvas?
2. How do you think being called these words would make you feel?
bottom of page