List of Materials Needed:
- smooth, clean rocks (medium-sized, flat ones work best)
- acrylic paints (variety of colors)
- paintbrushes (different sizes: small for details, medium for base coats)
- paint palette/paper plates (for mixing colors)
- water (to rinse brushes)
- paper/rags (for drying brushes)
- paint pens
- Table covers (to protect surfaces)
- aprons
​
​​
Instructions:
1. Explain the activity and what self-affirmation means to the students briefly.
2. Lay out the materials, perhaps put students into groups to share the paint and paint brushes. This can encourage conversation and discussions later on.
3. Have students paint their rocks a solid base color first.
4. While waiting for the rocks to dry, ask the students to brainstorm one positive characteristic of themselves. If kids are struggling to come up with multiple ideas, have their friends and groupmates brainstorm ideas with each other, and focus on empathetic, positive compliments.
5. When the rocks are dry, use paint pens to write the affirmations on the colored rocks.
6. If there are extra materials or time, you can have the students decorate their rocks even more with crafting materials like glitter, pompoms, etc.
7. Encourage discussion among students, whether it is prompting them to come up with affirmation ideas about others, or to share their own work of art with those around them.
Read more about:
More on research focusing on self-affirmation utilized in classrooms to combat the stress and negativities in school here.
More on research focusing on the impact of self-affirmation intervention in schools here.