• All children deserve access to joyful, affirming, and accessible arts-based learning.
• Trauma has complex impacts on the brain, which affect the learning experience.
• The challenge of overcoming trauma is compounded for students with disabilities, who already face institutional barriers to access.
• Mindful arts-based learning supports students by meeting their social-emotional needs, helping them learn to express themselves and connect with others.
• Trauma-informed arts learning experiences are more important than ever!

Trauma-Informed Arts Education Strategies 

• Learn more about trauma-informed approaches:  https://ncsacw.samhsa.gov/userfiles/files/SAMHSA_Trauma.pdf
• Become familiar with signs of trauma, including behavioral changes (students with disabilities may or may not be able to communicate if something is wrong)
• Maintain a calm presence; build predictable routines and rituals.
• Minimize common triggers (loud noises, yelling, abrupt changes, busy hallways).
• Create “safe spaces” and quiet zones within the classroom.
• Build in lots of peer time and relationship building activities.
• Treat behavior as information about the student’s emotional state, and focus on building social-emotional skills rather than controlling behaviors.
• Build in scaffolded sensory and movement opportunities.
• Differentiate activities, allow for choice of materials and content, value process over product, use found and salvaged materials.
• Ask students to express how they feel using artistic media.
• Learn accessibility best practices for virtual and hybrid learning environments, i.e., synchronous small group lessons, flipped curriculum, sending toys/manipulatives home, using digital manipulatives.

• Create an environment that helps your students relax (lights off, soft music, or relaxing scents).
• Learn your own triggers and practice regulating them.
• Invite moments of quiet in the class even when not practicing mindfulness. It will help the students learn to befriend their thoughts and feel safe when they are not creating noise.
• Invite your students to practice mindfulness, always providing modifications, “I invite you to close your eyes. If you don’t want to close your eyes, I invite you to take your focus to the floor in front of you.”
• Remember, mindfulness and self-soothing will not look the same in everybody.
• This is a practice, and often takes a commitment to practice daily for at least three weeks before the impact is noticeable in the learning environment.
• Counting can be a mindful practice. “Count slowly in your head until 10 and then exhale.”
• If age appropriate, ask students to lead a portion of the practice so your students see you participating.
• Think of creative ways to use the chat room in the digital classroom for students to express feelings.
• Ask students to tell you about the items they see in their room. Ask them to write or verbally describe the colors and textures of their environment when teaching online.
• Draw or paint by color to express feelings. “I used red when angry and yellow when confused...”
• Art that can be created independently lends itself to a self-soothing practice (creative writing, visual art).
• Art that asks for students to physically model what the facilitator is doing lends itself to a self-awareness, body scan practice (dance, theater).
• Finding moments to use instrumental music in your classroom will help your students come back into their bodies in the classroom and become more aware of the task at their desk or computer.
• Music Appreciation is powerful in mindfulness practice. Listen to a song together and either write, draw, or physically express the sounds you hear.
• Do not buy books about breathing. Just sit and breathe until you feel safe. Then help your students do the same.