DIY Easel
Welcome to the very first tips and tricks video on the new Growing Minds Therapy Blog! In this video you will meet Casey Frederick, a child and family therapist, art therapist, at Growing Minds. In this video Casey shares with you a fun and unique way to create a DIY Table Top Easel out of a PIZZA BOX, yep you read that right! So, I hope the pizza you ordered was delicious, because you are gonna need to save that box to create along with us!
Supplies You Will Need
- Pizza Box
- Sheet of Cardboard
- Hot Glue (or other craft/fast drying glue)
- Scissors
- Tape and or Binder Clips
How to Create the Easel
Step 1: First, gather up your supplies and plug in that hot glue gun! If you are choosing not to use a hot glue gun, and use another fast drying craft glue instead, you can skip this step.
Step 2: Gather your extra sheet of cardboard and measure it to match the dimensions of the pizza box. You can either trace the pizza box or use a ruler to do this. Once you have measured it out, use your scissors to cut it to shape!
Step 3: Notice the lip of the pizza box that allows the box to close neatly. You will want to place glue along that lip. Once your glue is placed, firmly press the top edge of your extra sheet of cardboard against the lip, making sure it is flush and even. This will be the front of your easel!
Now that your extra sheet of cardboard is glued firmly to the lip of the pizza box, you can adjust the “easel” to your liking.
Step 5: Adhering materials to the easel. As mentioned above, you can use binder clips or tape. In order to do this, hold paper up to the easel and place a line of tape across the top and press firmly. The paper should stay in place for drawings and paintings to be created with ease! Binder clips are also an option if you prefer, these can be placed on the sides of the easel to hold paper in place.
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Your easel is now complete!
P.S. If you would like, the bottom of the easel turns into a great pallet for art materials to be placed for no mess creation! For guidance on how to do this, check out the video at the top of this post.
Orienting the Easel Toward the Screen
“ The process is just as important as the product!” ~ Every Expressive Therapist Ever…..
How many times have you said “Can you hear me now?” or “Can you see me? Is my camera on?”
Yep, we have said it about a thousand times too!
Due to the recent shift to virtual therapy sessions, we are constantly orienting ourselves to the screen. Making sure that we can be seen and heard is more important now than ever.
Not only is it important to orient yourself to the screen, it is also important to orient the artwork and play!
So frequently in this virtual world, expressive therapists only get to see the finished product or hear the storytelling of a child as they play beneath the cameras view. As you saw above, for expressive therapists, the process is equally as important as the product. This is due to the amount of information that can be gathered by watching the play and artwork unfold from start to finish, as well as the increased capacity for the therapist to be in tune with the child. When the therapist is in tune throughout the process, the child may feel more seen and understood. The therapists ability to engage in the metaphor throughout the art and play is also significantly increased.
It is important to remember here that play and art is one of the first learned forms of communication! Therefore, the therapist learns so much about the child and their relationships through observing and experiencing their imagination in action.
In the video you will see how Casey turns the easel toward the screen in a way that allows the viewer to see the message she paints on the paper from start to finish.
I hope you enjoyed watching this tutorial and come back for more fun and creative videos made just for you by our incredible team here at Growing Minds! If you want to stay up to date on all things parent support, educator support, and expressive therapies, click subscribe below!
Until next time,
Casey Frederick, MA, LGPC
Originally published at http://growingmindstherapy.wordpress.com on October 26, 2020.
