Your email*




Inspiration [Question]

Art Therapy - student loses a loved one

Started on Nov 25, 2012 by lhARTz
Last post on Nov 21, 2013

A 4th grader of mine was in a farming accident this past weekend. She was injured, her father died. I don't know much about art therapy, but I want to be able to help her when she returns to school. ANY and ALL advice would be much appreciated.

1 Keeps, 0 Likes, 4 Comments

  • Artmom2 11/28/2012 at 05:00pm
    I saw this on the news. So sad to hear. I have 3students who' s mom was killed last march. Kdgn, 2nd, and4th. They came back 2wk later. I was pretty hyper vigilant about avoiding topics of mom, family, ect. The kids were very quiet for the rest of the year. This year, they are all doing great. Back to normal, as much as they can be, they all laugh, and smile again. There are 2dif dads, that were not in the picture much before, but after court the maternal grandparents got custody, and the kids got to stay here.


  • Karimarie 11/29/2012 at 03:18am
    I have several students who have lost their fathers and have seen them die. I agree about avoiding topics of family, and allow them to us their art as a personal means of expression with whatever they are feeling. I let these students know I am there for them and they can come to the art room any time. Some just want to work on art projects or be away from everyone else. Just be very compassionate and understand when they are having a difficult day.


  • lhARTz 12/01/2012 at 01:21pm
    I'm still a new teacher (2nd year) so this is new territory for me! Thank you for your input!!


  • annieartcat 11/21/2013 at 06:35am
    3 of my students Mom died of cancer, the youngest was in Kindergarten.
    It's not always possible to avoid the topic of Mom or family, so it helps to think ahead of what you could say before it happens. I was lucky in that, their Mom was an artist, and I had only met her once, but she gave me a postcard of her art. I put it up in a prominent place in my art room, and when her children saw it there I believe it comforted them. When classmates would sometimes say thoughtless remarks, I was there for them. You can be a buffer and explain to classmates how thoughtless words can be overcome with forgiveness, you can model empathy and you can let them express their thought and fears with out any judgement on your part. It will help heal them, and you'll feel better too.