The roads to the brains we live in
An arts-based project encouraging children to use creative writing and poetry as a tool for self-expression, mental health and wellbeing.
An arts-based project encouraging children to use creative writing and poetry as a tool for self-expression, mental health and wellbeing.
Toolkit
Introduction
As part of Children’s Mental Health Week 2022, Thrive LDN worked with spoken word poet, integrative holistic play therapist, educator and author, Louise Hale aka Curly Wordy, and pupils from Year 6 at The Jenny Hammond Primary School in east London, on a creative writing workshop encouraging children to use creative writing and poetry as a tool for self-expression, mental health and wellbeing.
The roads to the brains we live in took students through five activities, encouraging them to explore different creative ways of expressing themselves, through journaling, poetry, visual art, puppetry and play.
To mark Creativity and Wellbeing Week (16th – 22nd May), we have turned this work into an e-book, showcasing the pupils’ work and providing an insight into the creative process. The workshop facilitator, Louise Hale, has also created a supporting guidance booklet for teachers on running this creative writing workshop, which can be downloaded here.
A huge thank you to the Year 6 pupils and teachers at The Jenny Hammond Primary School for sharing your thoughts, efforts, words and art with us.
Videos
Watch videos below of some of the participants telling us about the workshop, and reading their poems.
View the full playlist on YouTube
About the workshop facilitator - Louise Hale aka Curly Wordy
Louise Hale aka Curly Wordy, is a spoken word poet, integrative holistic play therapist, educator and author from east London. She has been writing since she was 14, spent over a decade as a regional and national journalist, ten years as teacher and most recently began working as a play therapist to help children find their voice in feelings.
Louise is a regular on the London poetry scene and has performed as a headline act at an array of different events. Louise’s poetry is emotional and empowering, offering a strong storytelling nature that pays homage to lived experiences, family, self-image, London life, social mobility, education, thriving through adversity, overcoming traumatic experiences and all the quirky bits in between that build our bones.
Louise’s work celebrates the unsung heroes in all of us.
If you are interested in finding out more about Louise and her work please visit www.curlywordy.com or find her via her social handle @curlywordy across all platforms.
About The Jenny Hammond Primary School
The Jenny Hammond Primary School is a small, two-form entry, multicultural community school situated in Leytonstone, in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The 14 children who participated in the workshops were in Year 6. It is a UNICEF gold Rights Respecting School and has Artsmark status.