The following proposal has been developed along with Eimear Campbell, Laura Coll, Gemma Haire, Blanca Mestre and Giulia Richeldi. Together we have decided to design and plan a field trip or camp with the students to work on emotions while being in contact with nature. Here I leave you with our proposal 😊
Emotions in nature
Our project is based on: La Granja. (2019). La Granja, Granja Escuela y Ability Training Center en Barcelona. Retrieved from: https://barcelona.lagranja.top/en/
With this proposal, our aim is to teach the pupils how to identify and deal with some of the different emotions they may feel while doing a field trip or camp which is surrounded by nature and a farm and this is why we searched for an adequate place in which they already work with emotions —La Granja (La Granja, 2019)—. Here you have the list of the emotions we would be working on:
1. Fear
2. Loneliness
3. Sadness
4. Anger
5. Patience
6. Happiness
More concretely, we want to teach students what these emotions mean and how to identify them, why they have them and how to manage them in a way which can help us to more freely express ourselves and to discover ways to deal with them in a more assertive manner or in a way in which they will not impede their ability to go on with their own lives.
Additionally, we believe that nature provides us with incredible resources and spaces in which we will have the opportunity to work on these emotions. Heike Freire says schools should not consider nature as a subject itself, but more of an axis of the whole educational curricula, since we do not know how the future jobs will be, but we do know that we will need good people, biologists to be able to recover the ecosystems we have destroyed, engineers who can create new technologies that respect the environment, among others. Furthermore, she says that nature provides us with experiences that can inspire us, especially during childhood. As she says, we should build a kinder society which is also more connected to the environment (Fresneda, 2018).
Our idea is to suggest several activities aimed at educating children on emotions so that they can identify and work on how to deal with them. Those activities will be carried out over the course of a week and will grant everyone an overview of matters related to feelings. Moreover, the whole grade would be divided into small groups that would be the ones that would perform and do the activities proposed below.
We would teach emotions through the following subjects:
1. Art (core subject)
2. Music
3. PE
4. Natural Sciences
5. Social Sciences
6. Language
7. Citizenship
General objective: To be able to identify and express our emotions in contact with nature
Specific objectives:
1. To use strategies to identify an emotion within oneself and within others.
2. To stop trying to avoid feeling emotions.
3. To be able to apply techniques to overcome these emotions.
4. To be aware of the therapeutic resources that nature provides for us.
Activities
We have made a list of different activities that could take place in La Granja (La Granja, 2019). We have proposed 3 activities to do for each emotion.
1. FEAR 😖
1. Labyrinth activity (Art, PE, Language, Citizenship)
The aim of this activity is to find all the ingredients needed to overcome fear. To do this the students would be split into 4 groups of 4-5 pupils, with each group creating their own name. While the pupils are occupied with this task, the teachers would be hiding some objects in a labyrinth or maze. These objects would be ones which were previously created by the pupil as the ingredients they believe are needed to overcome fear. These elements would symbolize the attitudes the pupils need to adopt when attempting to overcome fear. For example, there would be a shield to represent bravery, a sword to represent courage, a picture of a family to represent that we always count on our beloved ones (family, friends) and a scale to represent the identification of our strengths and weaknesses. The pupils and teachers would then go to the labyrinth and the pupils would take turns to walk into the labyrinth and find the hidden objects. They would need to work together as a team so that all of the group members have an equal level of participation. The pupils would be given 20-25 minutes to find the objects in the labyrinth and each group would have to find one of the different objects. A teacher could walk in with every group to guide the process and to make sure that students comply with the rules. The activity would finish when all groups have found an object so that everyone can reflect on the purpose of the task by linking the objects to the attitude they need to adopt. Overall, the activity would take 1 hour and 30 minutes and the subjects involved would be Art as the core one (creation of objects), PE (children would walk and run when searching for the objects), Language (they would develop their communicative skills in their mother tongue when communicating with peers and teachers) and Citizenship (they would apply values such as cooperation and respect).
2. Creating our monster of emotions (Art, Language and Natural Sciences)
The pupils would have the opportunity to participate in an art workshop, in which they would have to create a monster that would have the ability to eat all of their fears. The design and materials used would be chosen by the pupils. Once they had picked their materials they would be given a big space and plenty of freedom to develop all of their ideas. In this case they would have the option of either working individually or in groups based on how comfortable the pupils feel completing the activity. The teachers would provide all of the resources and materials but the pupils would also be given the opportunity to search for their own materials if they prefer. This option is particularly useful because it allows the pupils to incorporate different elements of the natural environment. The aim of this activity is to allow the pupils to let their imagination fly with the purpose of creating a tool that would help them to fight against their fears. Once the monsters are created the pupils would need to write down their fears on a piece of paper and then tear it up into pieces so that the monster can eat all of the pieces. The pupils would feel relieved when feeding the monster the pieces of paper as that would mean that they are totally capable of overcoming their most frightening fears. The pupils could also choose the format they prefer most to present their monster to their peers and teachers and explain how they fed their monsters their deepest fears. The timing of this activity would be 1 session of 2 hours and the subjects involved would be Art as the core subject (design and creation of the monster), Language (in terms of development of written and oral communicative skills) and Natural Sciences (when searching for elements of nature to create the monster).
3. The magic dice (Art, Music, PE and Natural Sciences)
This activity would consist of creating a huge dice collaboratively. To do this the pupils would use foam for the object of the dice and felt tip pens to write down the numbers from one to six. After having created the dice the pupils would be gathered in the woods to participate in a dynamic. The teachers would sing a song and suggest circle time to the pupils, with each pupil and teacher naming a fear that they have so that together they can come up with strategies to overcome them. Once they have come up with 6 different strategies, they would have to take turns to roll the dice and assign a number of times to each strategy. For example, if one strategy was to hug someone to overcome a fear and the dice showed the number 2 then students would need to hug each other twice. A different strategy could be to tell a joke to someone and it could be linked to number 1 of the dice so that students would need to tell 1 joke to each other to end up feeling fearless. This dynamic would be repeated several times and music could also be played in the background to create an adequately comfortable environment. We believe this activity would be significantly useful and would efficiently help the pupils to deal with their emotions. Regarding the timing, the whole activity could take 2 hours with the possibility of extending if necessary. The subjects involved would be Art (creation of the dice), Music (when listening to music while developing the different tasks), PE (development of motor skills when moving in the circle time) and Natural Sciences (the activity would be carried out in the natural environment so students would be familiarised with it).
2. LONELINESS 💔
1. Memories (Language, Art and Citizenship)
Students will be given a paper in which they will have the following sentence:
The moment I have been most lonely has been/ was when………………..
The pupils will have to fill in the rest of the statement and then draw or make a small sculpture with natural elements in order to represent what they have written. Once they have completed their sculpture, they will place them in different places in the wood so that they can all have a look at each other's artistic creations without knowing who owns each sculpture.
Regarding the timing, the whole activity could take 2 hours. In case that was not enough, there would be the possibility of extending it. The subjects involved would be Art as the core one (creation of drawings and sculptures), Language (they would have to write down their feelings too) and Citizenship (children would be respecting their classmates’ feelings).
2. On my own (PE)
We are going to make a relaxation activity that will consist of students laying down on the ground with their arms and legs open and their eyes closed. The teacher will instruct them to inhale and exhale and that they should conclude any conversations, as silence is important for reflecting. The pupils will listen to the birds, the air and other sounds around them by being on their own and being more conscious of their own bodies and the surrounding environment.
This activity would take 1 hour and in this case we would be working mainly on PE as we would make students more aware of their bodies.
3. “You’ve got a friend in me” (Art, Language and Citizenship)
The pupils will form a circle and will be asked to draw the students to their right. They will have to do a drawing that shows what they admire about the other person. If they want to or they believe that it is necessary they can put a sentence to accompany their image. When this is complete, they will give it to their partner to keep as a souvenir/ memento of their trip.
For this activity, students would have 1 hour and 30 minutes and the subjects involved would be: Art as the core one (creation of the drawings), Language (they would write down a sentence) and Citizenship (children would be respecting each other and seeing the good aspects of each other).
3. SADNESS 😭
1. Talking to my friend “The Diary” (Language and Art)
Since the pupils might miss their parents (feeling homesick) and become sad at night, they could have a diary in which they have to explain to their parents or the people they miss, what they have been doing and learning about each day, which would allow them to feel much more relieved about being away from their family, since they would be “getting in contact” with their parents through the diary and even have the opportunity to write “good night and I love you”. Through this activity, the pupils would feel free to express themselves in any way they want and by writing all the good things they have done that day, they could realise that it is alright to miss someone and feel sad that you are apart from that person, if you are able to enjoy new experiences and have fun doing them. Furthermore, they could write down all the things they have not enjoyed or moments in which they felt sad as well as explaining why they have felt like this. Therefore, the pupils may eventually understand what they were feeling and why by trying to explain how they felt through writing it down.
Here, students would have to use their linguistic competence (Language) and their ability to be creative and let oneself freely express what they are feeling (throughout Art). Concerning the timing, students would have between 15 and 20 minutes to do this activity each night.
2. Open oneself to others (Language and Art)
Sometimes the only feeling a person can be feeling is sadness, therefore, in order to work on this, a group dynamic or activity could be implemented. In order to do this the pupils would be placed in a circle in the woods, with their eyes closed, to listen to and smell the different aspects of the nature all around them. To allow the activity to work effectively the teachers or monitors should find a sheltered place in a humid area. They would stay in this state of silence for approximately 1 minute, before the teacher would ask them to share their feelings with the rest of the group, with one pupil sharing each time. They should explain what they are feeling and why they are feeling it. Once this discussion has been completed, the teacher would ask: What were you feeling before coming here? How do you feel now that you are here? Are these feelings impacted by anything you have heard, listened to or smelt during your time here? Why do you think this is? This questioning is important to help the pupils to search for understanding and recognition of what they are feeling and what it is that is making them feel that way. Additionally, once these questions have been asked the teacher could ask: What could you do to help make you feel better? to show them that they do have the ability to improve their own emotions. All of these questions would be asked while they have their eyes closed to create an environment in which no one can see the other pupils' reactions so that they will not feel judged. Therefore, the pupils will have the opportunity to freely express and explain their feelings in a secure manner. Finally, this would help the pupils to realise that sometimes sharing our feelings with others can help you to feel better. This activity is particularly important in relation to the feeling of loneliness, because when we are sad we often feel that we are alone in our sadness. Furthermore, through asking these questions and giving the pupils a safe environment to share their feelings, they will realise that it is always acceptable to ask for help when you need it because people will offer you the support you need.
For this activity, the pupils would have to use their communicative skills (Language) and other ways to express themselves (Art) in order to feel safe and understood. Overall, this activity would take around an hour/ hour and a half, depending on the number of kids.
3. Hugging the tree (Mainly Art, but it also involves some Language)
Another way to make oneself feel listened to and to feel connected to nature, is to create stick drawings, notes, or anything else which makes them feel sad. Once they have created these reflections, they could stick it to one of the trees in the woods and then hug the tree to feel that all of these problems have been listened to and resolved through the loving comfort of the hug. Through this activity, they would have to come up with different objects, phrases (Language) or any other things that transmit the feeling of sadness to them or is related to some situation or moment in which they have felt sad and use these emotions and thoughts to represent this emotion in different creative ways (Art). This activity would not have a specific time limit, since the pupils could do it at any moment during the day. However, this activity would be presented and introduced to them on the first day, so they know exactly what they have to do to complete it.
4. ANGER 😡
1. Who is angry and why? (Art)
Although anger is an emotion that everyone (children and adults) feels, it is always seen as the most negative feeling. However, as it is the most common emotion, it is important that we do not repress it and allow it to build up (how the majority of the people tend to do). On the contrary, it is essential that we work out a way to handle this emotion so that we can resolve any angry moments we may have in an acceptable manner. In order to achieve this we need to ask ourselves the question: Can everyone identify what anger is and when they are feeling it?
In this first activity the pupils will be taken to a big park and asked to think about and remember a situation that made them angry. Once they have decided which situation they are going to focus on they will be asked to create a drawing of the situation, putting particular attention on the (verbal and non-verbal) signals which help them to identify the emotion. In a similar manner, they will have to choose an animal (for example a pet) and draw what it looks like when it becomes angry or an element of nature (for example they could link an earthquake to the anger of the land). To display this anger they could choose different materials from the natural environment and use different drawing techniques, in order to best display how they can see the emotion of anger in these things and how it makes them feel. After each drawing, the pupils will have to turn the drawing over and write down the signals they have identified and recognise as signs of someone becoming angry and their reasons why they identify this signal with anger and not another emotion. Therefore, through this activity the pupils will have to put great focus on identifying the signs and signals of anger as well as reflecting on the reasons why someone might become angry in the first place.
On its whole the activity would take 2 hours, in order to let the students take their time to think about a situation related to the anger, do the drawing without rush and write signals and reasons; the subjects involved would be Art because they will have to draw being creative and original and using various stuff to do it.
2. Do you get angry? (Social Sciences)
For this activity every pupil would choose a friend to work with. They will then have to show each other their drawings and explain them, in order to see if they have any similar signals which they believe help to generate anger. After these reflections, remaining in pairs, the pupils will have to write a recipe for managing anger, they will have to talk about the ingredients which they believe are necessary to handle anger and how they can implement them to stop them feeling angry. Once they have completed the creation of their recipe they will have to put it into practice: each child, would create a scenario in which their partner would become angry and their partner has to implement the recipe to see if they can overcome their anger or not, thus showing if their recipe for anger is successful or not.
Through this activity, the pupils would see that anger is normal and it can be caused by anyone, including their friends. Furthermore, they would learn that it is not a bad thing as long as they can learn to control it.
On its whole the activity would take 1 hour and 30 minutes and the subjects involved would be Language (since children would develop their communicative skills in their mother tongue when communicating with peers), Citizenship (they would apply values such as cooperation and respect since they will work in pairs) and Social Sciences since what they will do is a kind of social experiment.
3. How do you imagine the anger? (Mainly Art, but it also involves some Language and Citizenship)
To conclude, the pairs from the previous activity would have to create a sculpture that represents anger, according to their ideas and what they have experienced in the previous activities. They will have to work together to create this sculpture using only natural materials, such as; leaves, branches, grass and anything else they can find in the surrounding woods or on the farm. During this activity, the pupils will have to work together in a harmonious way in order to find a common solution to their anger and to create a sculpture out of natural materials which accurately represents how they feel when they are angry
Overall, the activity would take 2 hours to allow the pupils to have enough time to think about how they would like to create their sculpture and thus make it. The subjects involved would be Art as the core one (creation of object), Language (children would develop their communicative skills in their mother tongue when communicating with mates) and Citizenship, since the would apply values such as cooperation, respect, taking into account friend’s opinions, in order to find a common idea for the subject of the creation and it realisation.
5. PATIENCE 🙏
1. Good things come to those who wait (Language)
At the beginning of the trip, perhaps even during the journey there, the children will share what their expectations are of the trip and what they are most looking forward to during the trip. They will write what this element of the trip is in the middle of a post-it note and will surround it with the adjectives they would use to explain how this thought makes them feel, for example ‘excited’, ‘fun’. After the children share these with the group, the teacher will collect them. This will help the children reflect on what is to come during the week and so will help them grow in patience as they must wait for their most favourable activity to happen. On the journey home from the trip, the children will be given their post-it note back from the teacher and will share if the trip fulfilled their expectations.
On its whole the activity would take 30 minutes and the subject involved would be Language (they would develop their communicative skills in their mother tongue when communicating with peers and teachers). The task will be individual at first with each child coming up with their own ideas and anticipations, but will then be completed in groups since the children will communicate their ideas to each other.
2. Memories Together (Mainly Art, but it also involves some PE and Citizenship)
The children will spend time each day working together to create a poster which reflects their time on the trip. Every day, they will draw or paint an image reflecting some experience they have had in nature. This could be a drawing of them taking part in another activity, or something they saw in nature like a leaf or an acorn. As the days go on, the children will continue to reflect on their days and create more small drawings or paintings. The teacher will, as the days go on, add these pieces of art together to gradually create a memorable poster which will only be presented on the final day of the trip to reflect on the experience they have had. The gradual creation of the poster will help the children learn to be patient because they will have to wait to see what the fruit of their work will be. The poster will also become a memorable display item for the group to return to in order to reflect on the trip.
On its whole the activity would take around 20 minutes every day and the subjects involved would be Art as the core one (creation of objects), PE (children would walk and run when searching for the objects) and Citizenship (children would apply values such as cooperation and respect).
3. The Best Part of Dinner (Music)
This activity will take advantage of the fact that the group will eat together daily. At dinner time, the activity ‘Best Part of Dinner’ will help teach the children in a light-hearted way about the importance of waiting for the ‘best part of dinner’- dessert. The children will form groups in their tables and sit in a circle. They will then be given a parcel which will contain a sweet treat like a chocolate bar for one child’s dessert, wrapped numerous times over. The teacher will play loud music, and the children will pass the parcel around the circle. The children will pass the parcel around the circle until the music stops. then, the child who is holding the parcel when the music stops will unwrap one layer of the parcel. Then, the music will re-commence and the same process will be repeated until eventually the parcel is unwrapped and one child can enjoy the treat. Then, another parcel will be added into the circle so that eventually each child will be able to enjoy their sweet treat. This will challenge students to remain patient throughout the whole game.
On its whole the activity would take 1 hour and the subject involved would be Music.
6. HAPPINES 😄
1. Happiness is all around (Language and Art)
Over the course of the six days the pupils will be tasked with producing comments each morning about what they think of the nature around them, making particular reference to how it and the way they have interacted with it has instilled the feeling of happiness within them. Once they have come up with the comment they would like to share they will then be given post-it notes which are inside shapes of leaves, trees or streams/ rivers; in order to truly capture how nature has affected their happiness. At this stage they could each then add their comments to a huge display board which would already have different drawings of nature and maybe even have some real leaves stuck to it so that at the end of the six days they will have a huge display of comments which they can reflect on at the end of their trip. In case the teacher would like to work on it some more when they are back in the classroom the teacher might like to either take the board of reflections back to the school with them or simply take a picture of the board which they could add to presentations or worksheets so that the pupils could work on it in greater detail.
On its whole the activity would take about 30 minutes each day and the subjects involved would be Art as the core one (creation of objects) and Language (they would develop their communicative skills in their mother tongue when communicating with peers and teachers). The task would be done individually so they can have as many responses at the end of the six days as possible. However, it is possible to discuss their ideas with the other pupils before making their contribution.
2. Positive Energy (Art, PE and Language)
For this activity the teacher would first take them out for a walk in the nature and let them interact with the different animals and wildlife which they can see all around them. After they have had some time to see all of the different things around them, the teacher will get the pupils to gather in a circle and they will each take a turn to say things which stop them from being happy or that make them sad. The teacher will then tell them that they will be creating a dream catcher out of nature materials which they will be able to use to catch all of these bad thoughts and feelings, so that they can release all of this bad energy and be happy that they are now able to freely and happily view the nature as well as being happy in everything that they do. In order to make the dream catcher the teacher will give them time to look around and collect all of the natural materials they would like to use to create their dream catcher. Once all of the materials have been collected, they will set up work stations outside which will have all of the different nature which they have collected e.g. twigs, leaves, moss etc. and other art materials which the teacher will provide e.g. pipe cleaners, paint and paint brushes etc. Finally, once all of the pupils have finished their dreamcatchers, they can each explain how they feel after all of their negative energy has been taken away and whether they believe dream catchers are a good way to promote happiness in nature or not.
On its whole the activity would take about 1 hour and 30 minutes with the majority of the time spent on the creation of the dreamcatcher. The subjects involved would be Art as the core one (the creation of the dreamcatcher), PE (children would walk and run when searching for the objects they need to create their dream catcher), Language (they would develop their communicative skills in their mother tongue when communicating their thoughts and feelings about nature to their peers and teachers). Despite being an individual task the pupils will be able to discuss ideas with each other and support anyone who might be struggling.
3. Capturing the moment (Language, Music, Art, PE and Citizenship)
For the final task the pupils will have to complete a short video documentary in groups of 4 or 5 which focuses on how nature brings them happiness and how they could use nature to make others happy. The pupils will be given a camera and five days to complete and edit their video, with the only restriction being that it should not be any longer than 3 minutes long and must include how nature makes each member of the group happy. Apart from these rules the pupils can make their videos any way they like and include any aspects of the natural environment which they would like. In their video they should choose aspects of the natural environment which reflect their feelings of happiness, an appropriate song which works well with the message of the video and spoken information from each member of the group about how they feel happy in nature. To make the creation of the video much easier, each pupil in the group should be given a different task which they have to complete e.g. camera person, video editor, project manager etc. Finally, they should make sure that they include footage of the nature where they are staying e.g. trees, flowers, streams, fields etc. On the final evening of the six day trip the pupils could watch each other's video documentaries and give feedback as well as voting for which one they think is the best.
The pupils would be given about 30 minutes each day to shoot, complete and edit their documentary as well as doing it in their free time if they wish. The subjects involved would be Art as the core one (creation of the documentary video), PE (children would walk and run when exploring the different aspects of nature within their video), Language (they would develop their communicative skills in their mother tongue when communicating their different thoughts, feelings and ideas with their peers and teachers through their video), Citizenship (children would apply values such as cooperation and respect when they are working together as a team) and Music (as the pupils have to pick an appropriate song based on the message of their video).
Evaluation of the activities
For the final evaluation, instead of being the teachers the ones assessing and evaluating the experience, it would be better for the pupils to assess their own work and experience.
At the end of the field trip, teachers could organize a meeting in a park on the farm where they would all sit down in a circle on the grass with the kids, so everyone could see everybody. Then, every child could say what they have learned, if they have liked the experience, which activity they have liked the most and why, which memories they will take home, among other aspects. Furthermore, we think it would be great if children could also have the opportunity to write down anonymously in a piece of paper other comments that maybe they did not want to say in front of everybody and put it in a box in order for teachers to have some feedback and consider it for next field trips.
Finally, although teachers would not directly assess the product or result of this field trip, they could assess the students’ attitude, behaviour and willingness to participate and open themselves to experiencing the emotions sought to be worked along the whole adventure.
References
Fresneda, C. (2018, September 28). Heike Freire, la educadora 'verde': "El eje de todas las asignaturas debe ser el medio ambiente". El Mundo. Retrieved from: https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/ciencia/2018/09/28/5bad1b0aca4741c7728b45ed.html
La Granja. (2019). La Granja. Retrieved from: https://barcelona.lagranja.top/en/
