Support children experiencing life changes with this wellbeing project from Place2Be's Art Room and CBBC's Art Ninja, Ricky Martin.

About the project

This project supports children to reflect on their experiences of going through changes. It can be used specifically with children transitioning from one school year to the next.

The challenge of going through changes

Leaving something old and entering something new, such as getting ready to start primary school or transitioning from primary to secondary school, can often leave children with mixed thoughts and feelings. Changes can be difficult and worrying as well as exciting, too.

Creating a portal can help us understand what it is like to go through change and step into a place that is unknown to us. The creative activity in this project offers children space to explore their thoughts and feelings about change and aims to encourage their sense of confidence and resilience in the process.

Download Portals: Exploring Changes Project (PDF 732KB)

Place2Be's Art Room and Ricky Martin

In the below video, Ricky Martin, one of our Place2Be Ambassadors, introduces this exciting children's art project.

Ricky Martin, also known as CBBC's Art Ninja, is a Creative Director, Film Maker and Presenter based in Bristol. He is committed to helping children express themselves through arts and creativity.

Especially for this art project pack, Ricky has created a guided series of videos with the Art Room team. So you can watch along as Ricky guides you through each part of this wellbeing activity step-by-step!

Find out more about Ricky Martin becoming an Ambassador

Wellbeing activity overview

Below, we've summarised the wellbeing activity included in the Portals: Exploring Changes project pack. 

Activity: Portals: Exploring Changes

We've designed this Exploring Changes activity to help children explore their thoughts and feelings about
change. The activity involves children creating a piece of art representing a portal from paper, card and recycled materials such as magazine scraps.

During the activity, children are encouraged to :

• imagine where the portal leads
• reflect on how they feel as they create their portal
• envision what it's like in their imagined world.

Download Portals: Exploring Changes Project (PDF 732KB)

At Place2Be, we believe art is a creative tool that helps develop resilience and aids us in connecting with others. Our Art Room team are specialists in using art to support and enhance children and young people’s wellbeing.  

Why not try one of our other Art Room projects on themes including noticing feelings, nurturing self-belief and exploring changes?