Takeaways may include: gentle connections, learning more about yourself, being creative, learning more about others.

Parameters: more than two people; in-person or on video call

Materials: Butcher paper, writing utensils, Wikki Stix, molding clay etc., for in-person. Use of Zoom whiteboard and text editor if online. Sticky notes and pens including extra-large sticky notes and easy-see markers (like “20/20 Pens”) to make this activity accessible to participants with low-vision and other disabilities.

Have participants draw our use Wikki Stix to create an outline of their interpretation of their body. Or have people help each other outline their bodies or a section of their bodies on butcher paper (like tracing around a hand for example).

Invite them to fill up the outline with things that represent what makes them who they are. Tell them not to put their actual physical features but provide some examples like:

• If they love to read, they might draw books (or create tactile representations of books with the Wikki Stix or molding clay) inside a heart somewhere in their chest 
  If they have ADHD, they might draw a colorful brain on the head with big “ADHD” letters.
• They might put various pride flags on there, write notes, draw special places or items, etc.

Consider playing soft music for 15-30 min, depending on how into it they get. They’ll can bounce ideas off each other, gently comment on each other’s work, but mostly do their own thing in a parallel play way, which makes it very low stress for socially anxious folks.

For a virtual, videochat version, have participants draw in a basic art program on the computer (sharing their screen later when it’s their time to talk about their drawing), or use the whiteboard. Additionally, for participants who can’t draw due to blindness or another disability, have them type a paragraph describing what their self-portrait would look like.

Present the portraits by going around the group and giving participants the option to say as much or as little about their portrait as they are comfortable. The rule is everyone must just listen to whoever is sharing, no questions or comments — this really helps the speaker just flow through their thoughts and words. Make sure participants get to take their portraits home at the end of the gathering.

Variation: Consider having some “gallery” time where participants can examine each other’s portraits. If a participant doesn’t want their portrait shown, simply put up a piece of paper with the participant’s name on it).

Variation: Put out sticky notes and pens and they can write down their words of love, affirmation, support and validation and stick them to each other’s pictures. For some participants, a more accessible adaptation could be writing kind comments about someone’s visible or written portrait in a Google Doc.