Lina Rendon

LEI 4724
Activity: Progressive Drawing
Source: http://rectherapyideas.blogspot.com/
Equipment needed: Paper cup, gallon of water, towels
Activity Description:
1. Give each participant a blank sheet of paper and pass out art supplies.
a. Have everyone take turns being the leader, giving a directive to the rest of the
group. The directive will be to draw one picture on their sheet of paper.
b. For example, the first participant might say draw a house and everyone,
including the leader, will draw a house.
2. The next person might add to that draw a purple tree next to the house.
a. The directive can be as simple or detailed as the leader wants (with consideration
to the ability level of the group).
3. The activity will end when each person has had a chance to be the leader.
4. Have everyone share their picture when complete.
Leadership Considerations:
1. When working with patients with hearing impairments, leader may have to repeat the
direction several times in order to face the hearing impaired person directly. Since the
directions given by the leader are very short, this is a good activity to use with this
population. It is also a great activity for this population since there is one leader, giving
one set of directions at a time avoiding directions that may be too complex that can lead
to frustration. The directions given by the leader can also be written on a dry-erase board
so the group is able to see the directions.
2. When working with patients with patients with intellectual disabilities, it is important to
assess the degree of receptive communication, or how well the individual understands the
directions that are being given to them. When working with individuals with intellectual
disabilities, the CTRS or facilitator can remain as the leader throughout the activity in
order to observe ability level of the group. Depending on the groups ability level, the
activity can be conducted with all participants as listed in the activity description. It is
suggested to start with a simple directive and then progress in complexity if high
receptive communication is observed. Methods of increasing receptive communication
are slowing both the pace of communication and the pace of introducing new topics. This
activity allows a slow pace of introducing new topics.