Gingerbread House Activity

Gingerbread houses are always fun to make around the holidays. If you are doing the project with children, you can cut out smaller houses from the dough. I also put the assorted candies in muffin trays to ensure that each child gets the same amount of goodies and to keep it all organized. I've done similar activities with the mentally ill population, which I realized required just as much supervision, when I caught one patient (diabetic, no less) eating a bowl of frosting with a spoon! It is a good activity to promote creativity and discussion, if you have the energy and patience for it!

Holiday Card Directive

This week in my Empathy group, I had all the group members make a holiday card for each member in the group, writing an empathic note to each person based on something that person talked about in group or based on some interaction he had with that person in the time he has known him. I provided some old holiday cards for collaging along with some construction paper, foil paper, doilies, glitter glue, sequins, and other craft supplies. For some, this might be the only cards they receive this holiday season. It was nice to see each patient feel good after reading a personal and meaningful comment in each card he received. It also promoted pro-social behavior in giving and doing something nice for someone else.

Supervision Gifts

Around the holidays, I like to give the Art Therapists in my supervision group a small token of appreciation for all their hard work and their contributions to the Art Therapy program at the hospital. This year, I got them a box of cookies from the Immaculate Baking Company which is a great company that uses organic and natural ingredients and supports folk artists! They showcase American Folk Art on their cookie boxes and you can learn more about Folk Art on their website. Plus, the cookies come in a variety of yummy flavors, like my favorite "Pumpkin Gingerlies." My friend, who works for the company, introduced them to me, and I thought this was an apropos gift for Art Therapists!