Take a moment and let your body and mind settle. If you are comfortable doing so, spend a few moments in peaceful meditation. In preparation for this session on expression, reflect on how you personally prefer to express yourself, and ways you might like to try.

Take an inventory of your own experiences with personal expression. Are you accustomed to expressing your inner thoughts, feelings, and self? How? Using an artistic medium, or some other way? What modes of expression draw you when you feel happy? when you feel sad?

In this session, you will encourage children to explore different ways of expressing themselves. If you have ever experienced "holding back" your own expressions — perhaps because you feared others might judge your creations, and by extension, your self — let your experiences help you create a safe environment for the children in the group to express themselves freely.

The experience of expression is more important than any artwork a child may produce. Prepare yourself to enable children's expressive process.

As an adult leader, your opinion may have more influence than those of participants. Therefore, your personal disclosure should not become part of the discussion unless participants ask you a question directly. In that case, be sure to preface your opinion by setting the context that each of us, adults and children, has different opinions, and yours is one among many. Then guide the conversation away from your own opinion and allow participants to reflect on their own thoughts.