The Body Map!
(This body map example was done by a 4 year old expressing sadness about being away from his mama! How amazing is that expression?)
Tool Number Two is used for external processing of stated or explored emotions. It can be done a few different ways, by using a body outline (cut out or paper) with drawings, stickers, or homemade pieces.
Tool: Body Map/ginger-bread body/robot body blank laminate for use with dry erase markers
Prep work: Once you have discussed the ways that various emotions feel within the body and look like in the facial expressions and body language of various characters, use the body drawing map to allow your child to draw what his face and his insides feel like.
Examples: butterflies or “waves” in the belly with worries (waves seen in above photo), heart-beat with squiggles coming out with angry or worried feelings, lump in the throat with sad feelings.
There are no right or wrong answers, allow your child to use different colors and be abstract or creative in whatever way works for him or her! They can be fun, creative, colorful and artistic!
Practice and go through what the body might look like with all different emotions!!
Allow your child to practice doing body map drawings for the different emotions so that he or she gains an understanding of how each one may look. That way, when experiencing an emotion and asked to do a drawing, your child will have some understanding of what is occurring in his body and be better prepared to draw and process it.
In Use: The body map is to be used after the Feelings Thermometer (tool number 1) Once your child has shown you his feelings thermometer, ask him if he would like to do the gingerbread or robot body drawing. Give him various colored dry erase markers and ask him if he can draw what his insides are saying. Let him or her take his time.
Afterward, go over the various drawings on the body map and allow your child to tell you about them.
Empathize! This validates your child and frees them to further explore and express their feelings!
Empathize with the physical experiences and make reminders such as “when we have big feelings, our body talks to us” and “it sounds like your body is/was experiencing lots of sad feelings inside” and “when we listen to our body, it helps us understand how we might be feeling”.
Empathize with how overwhelming these experiences in our body can be, “It can make our bellies hurt a lot when we have worries”, or “when we are angry it can be hard to know what to do with the big energy we feel and we might feel like hitting or kicking”.
Utilizing the body mapping drawing allows for in-depth processing through internal and external (sensory) means. This allows your child to further get in touch with the somatic experience in their body and connect it to emotions. It also allows for a calming and cathartic experience to sit and draw or color, with the ability to express their experience and connect with their parent.
What are your thoughts? Do you think you could implement the body map with your litte?
Stay Tuned for Tool Number 3!!
