- Promote social connectedness and remind folks that everyone struggles with stress at some point in time
- Foster a welcoming environment where students feel comfortable discussing their stressors and self-care habits
- Offer a sense of community support
- Beautify the school with visual reminders of positivity and support
- Introduce the purpose of the activity – promoting mental health awareness, healthy coping mechanisms, and share support within the school community
- Open up a discussion about the importance of healing and coping strategies while in a stressful or difficult situation. Ask the group about their experiences, and let them share for 5 minutes or so
- Then, pass out the bandage cutouts or the adhesive bandages to each participant
- Pass out supplies like markers, pens, and stickers for decorating
- Ask everyone to write short coping strategies that they use on the bandages
- Encourage them to decorate the bandages too!
- Examples could include: journaling, exercise, music, cuddling a pet, talking to a friend, etc.
- Play background music to set the scene for a calming activity and encourage folks to talk to their peers about how they “heal”
- Folks can either stick their bandages on their bag/a notebook OR check out the school-wide adaptation below for more ideas
- Can you share a time when you felt stressed and what did you do to feel better/recover?
- How does engaging in activities, like this one, help manage stress?
- Do you think creating art is a form of healing?
- How can we as a school community support and allow each other to heal in times of stress?
- Inspirational quotes and messages, also helpful examples of safe ways to recover while facing stress link
- Inspiration for decoration on bandages from pinterest
- Provide poster boards and construction paper
- Have students glue or tape the bandages to the posters OR glue the envelopes/pockets to the posters to hold the bandages
- Choose a location somewhere around the school to display posters
- People in the hallway can grab, decorate, and then put back their own bandages and coping strategies in the pockets/on the board as they go to class
- If using the envelope pockets, whenever students need a boost or reminder of a good self-care habit, they can take a bandage from the envelope