Social Emotional Arts Activities for Teachers and Students to Use in the Classroom - by Jessica Bianchi & Amber L Cromwell (Paperback)

About the Book

Support children's emotional development in your classroom using these 60 SEL art activities. Created by art therapists, the exercises in this book will help children to build their self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

Book Synopsis

Social and emotional skills are a vital part of children's development, and the classroom can be a key space for supporting their emotional growth. Between worry, navigating friendships, self-expression and self-esteem, teachers often need to support children's mental health and help them find tools to process their emotions in positive ways.

The activities in this book are designed in line with art therapy techniques to help young children develop their social and emotional skills to become happy, regulated adults. Each chapter focuses on one of the five social and emotional learning domains: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Activities are introduced with clear, child-friendly explanations of what each term means, why it's important, and how to make it a part of day-to-day life.

Review Quotes

Visually engaging. Concise. Meaningful. User friendly. This book checks all the boxes. It offers art therapy activities in the form of simple art recipes to address specific social-emotional needs. A game changer for any elementary classroom.--Ping Ho, MA, MPH, Founder and Director, Arts & Healing Initiative, Co-author of The Innovative Parent: Raising Connected, Happy, Successful Kids through Art

This book puts a smile on my face. The writing style and art activities are joyful, clear, and spark optimism. Bianchi and Cromwell do an outstanding job of offering engaging activities capable of inspiring a range of kid ages to learn and practice key social emotional skills. Truly inspiring and usable for classroom and clinical settings alike.--Erica Curtis, board-certified art therapist, author of "Working with Anger Creatively", "Art Therapy Activities for Kids", & "The Innovative Parent."

About the Author

Dr. Jessica Bianchi is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Board Certified Art therapist, Assistant Professor at Loyola Marymount University, and the Clinical Director of the Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic. Having received her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Social Justice as well as her master's in Marital and Family Therapy/Art Therapy from LMU, Jessica has developed a specialized skill set that integrates concepts from art therapy and education as a way to help communities access needed mental health services. Jessica thrives on collaboration and has facilitated therapeutic arts services in numerous contexts including residential group homes, outpatient clinics, K-high school settings, medical centers, and federal correctional institutions as well as providing consultation and professional development on the topics of art therapy, trauma informed educational practices, and arts and social emotional competencies. Additionally, Jessica also provides clinical services in her Echo Park private practice with adults, youth and couples experiencing anxiety, depression, life transitions, grief, and trauma.
Amber L Cromwell, LMFT ATR-BC is a board certified art therapist, arts educator and mental health advocate. Amber has a passion for arts equity and has collaborated with several non-profits to increase engagement with the healing arts. She recently followed her passions in advocacy to the realm of consulting with school districts to increase social and emotional learning by way of creative expression. Amber honed her clinical skills and her alliance to a social justice perspective working in a variety of settings including youth and teachers in LA Unified School District, community outpatient, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, residential treatment, and programs for incarcerated individuals and impacted friends and family. Amber is clinical supervisor in the Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic as well as the director of the clinic's Summer Arts Workshop. Amber maintains an online practice where she specializes in developing skills for emotional dysregulation.