Thankfulness Portraits, the TEACHER NOTES video with Rob the Art Teacher

Here is a beautiful Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) art project for elementary school students. I have done this art lesson with ages 9 to 14 very successfully.

In this extended version of my “Thankfulness Portraits” art activity, we used two sessions of about 60-90 minutes each, separated by an interval of 1 to 3 hours to allow the paintings to dry.

To begin with, we reflected on and discussed these questions:

What is a portrait?
What is thankfulness?
Who are we feeling thankful for today? (they must be someone we know personally, pets included!)
What do we know about them that we could include in the picture?
What are their favorite things?
What are their colors?
And what are the colors of your feelings towards them?
Color is a powerful way of expressing feelings.
What type of portrait will you create – head and shoulders, half-figure, or full figure?
What is the setting, or the background?
Is it indoors or outdoors?
Is it daytime or at night?
Is it a particular season of the year?
Do you want to portray your person/creature doing something?

Stage 1:
Take an A3-size sheet of painting paper and use either acrylic paints or watercolor paints to paint the background, the setting, only. Set this aside to dry when you have finished.

Stage 2:
Take an A4-size sheet drawing paper, and using color pencils or marker pens, draw your portrait and any symbols or objects you want to include in your finished picture. Carefully cut each of these drawings out and glue them to your painting using glue stick or paste.

Are you going to write a message on the painting? My students enjoy writing the name of the person they portrayed, and a sentence saying “Thank you for …” whatever they are feeling thankful for. Then they frequently gift their artwork to that person.

Try it!

PS: This project is a proven antidote for any children experiencing mild (non-clinical) symptoms of anxiety or sadness. This is because it is a) a novel creative activity that induces a rise in dopamine levels, b) an activity that asks students to reflect on their connectedness with others, and c) making an image to express our own feelings can help people reconnect different aspects of themselves.

CREDITS:
Artworks created by children at The American Elementary School in Gdynia, Poland (between 2020 and 2023).

Check out my #shorts version here:    • Thankfulness Portraits by 11-year-old art ...