Social-Emotional Development
Through Art: Students Discuss Empathy for
Others in Pilot Workshop
Text by Bisma Ali / Photos by S. Basrai & PIP O. Team
The PIP O. Project introduced a new art workshop program for children and adolescents: the PIP O. Wonder Lab. These interactive sessions are a new way to share evidence-based strategies to promote social-emotional development. Students are introduced to various artistic styles and skills while discussing topics such as empathy and emotion regulation in fun ways such as small group activities and games. We are happy to report that the pilot workshop sessions went very well.
“The idea of building empathy through art is amazing. Artist Pei-Yu and the team did an amazing job of facilitating this three day online art workshop. A lot of rich conversations happened as students discussed adjectives and character traits about their animals and related them to their friends. They realized that everyone is unique and their differences make them special. Thank you for a great initiative.”
- S. Basrai
In December 2021, Mrs. Basrai’s Grade 4 class at Castlebridge Public School in Mississauga, Ontario participated in our “Colourful Animal World!” workshop focused on empathy for others. The Wonder Lab team engaged children in discussions about empathy, and artist Pei-Yu Chang guided children through a creative activity which prompted critical thinking about how we perceive and appreciate ourselves, and the world around us.
In the first session, students were asked to think about themselves: Who are they? What kind of characteristics and emotions do they have? The accompanying artistic activity asked children to select a few adjectives from the Wonder Lab Emotion Map to describe themselves and then think of an animal they believe represents these characteristics. The children then created these animals into paper puppets.
In the second session, students were asked to reflect on the fellow human beings around them who may be different from themselves, and what they appreciate about these relationships. The students chose one person and once again selected words to describe them. After creative and critical thinking, they created a second animal puppet based on their selection.
In the third session, students were asked to reflect on what kind of environment they would like to live in for themselves and for the people they are surrounded by. What type of world would their animals live in happily and comfortably? The children selected key words from the Wonder Lab World Word List which would described a world suitable for them and others. They then thought about what this world would look like, and created a puppet theatre for their animals.
It was a wonderful opportunity for the PIP O. Wonder Lab to engage with children, educators, and caregivers in the Peel Region and share the exciting research findings from the SEDI Lab. As well, it was an opportunity for us to navigate online learning and develop innovate ways of delivering virtual workshops effectively. We are looking forward to taking back the feedback and making intentional improvements to ensure our program is meaningful and meets the needs of students and educators.
For more information about the work-shops, please visit our website or contact us at maltilab.pipo@utoronto.ca.
