Learn to appreciate your positive qualities by creating your own affirmations garland.
What you’ll need: Paper, scissors, a piece of thread or string, coloured pens or pencils, sellotape
What’s it for?
This activity will help you to discover and appreciate your positive qualities. Affirmations are like positive thoughts and statements about yourself that can change negative self-talk. When you focus on your positive qualities and repeat them to yourself regularly, your brain will believe what you tell it and this will help you feel more confident about yourself, and allow you to build even stronger relationships.
Check In:
Notice how you’re feeling right now. Close your eyes and notice what’s going on inside your mind and body.
How are you feeling?
What are you thinking?
How does your body feel?
Method:
Make a list of short and positive statements describing your positive traits, character, skills etc. Here are some examples for you:
I am kind
I am a good friend
I am good listener
I can make things happen
I ask for help when I need it
Mistakes help me learn and grow
I like to try new things
I am loving
I make people laugh
Hard things get better with practice
Think about a shape that can represent your positive qualities. This could be a heart, cloud, circle, triangle, square, oval, star or anything you would like it to be.
You can draw a shape first and then cut it out or get creative with the scissors and see what surprising shapes you can cut out. Make sure you are safe when using the scissors!
Cut out as many shapes as your listed affirmations and write them down separately on each shape.
You can decorate, draw or colour in the shapes using any resources you have available at home.
Now cut a piece of string or several pieces – depending on the number of shapes you created – and start securing the shapes on the string, leaving some spaces in between. You can do this by making a small hole in the shape with a hole-punch and threading the string through, or by sellotaping the shapes to the string.
You can write your name on one of the shapes and attach it to the top of the string.
When you’re happy with your garland, think about where you would like to place it.
You may want to hang your garland somewhere you can see it well to remind you of your positives qualities every day. This could be above your bed, desk or, perhaps best of all, on to a mirror you use regularly.
Extra Activity: If you created your garland with another person, you could take turns affirming one another, or come up with a song or dance incorporating your positive qualities. You could even make an affirmation garland for someone you care about, listing all their positive qualities, and giving it to them as a gift.
When you’ve finished, spend a moment reflecting on the activity and ask yourself the following questions:
Did you learn anything new about yourself while you did this activity?
Was it easy or hard to think of your positive qualities?
How do you feel about yourself after writing and saying your own affirmations?
If you worked with another person, did you discover any qualities that you share?
Where did you choose to place your garland?
If you showed your garland to your family, how did they react? How did it make you and them feel?
Conclusion:
This activity helps you to identify your positive qualities and repeating them helps to foster self-esteem, positive thinking and sense of wellbeing. This is an exercise sometimes used in positive psychology.
Take a moment to notice how you are feeling at the end of this activity. Did you discover anything surprising? What can you take away to make you feel better about yourself from this activity?
If you would like to, share something about your experience with this activity with someone you live with! Ask the person who looks after you to send us an email if you have any questions or comments about the activity, or would like to send us any pictures (info@catcorner.co.uk). Don't forget to subscribe for more fun CAT activities!
Created by Karolina Koman © April 2020
Creative Arts Used: Art, Creative Writing
Psychological Areas Explored: Self-Exploration, Self-Esteem, Emotional Wellbeing
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These activities could be done by children of all ages, but some may need the support of their parent or carer to read the instructions or complete the activity safely.
This website was made by CAT Corner to help you explore your feelings through fun creative arts activities. The people using the website and the people responsible for them need to make sure they stay safe (full disclaimer on About page).
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