The 5-minute poem is a fun, creative exercise that explores the sights, sounds, people and experiences that have made you who you are. It’s a free verse poem - just write and don’t worry about making the words rhyme.
The only rule is that every line starts with “I am from …”. The idea is to keep letting the words flow for 5 minutes and see what comes up! For young children, CoCreators can write for them. For older kids, CoCreators can do the activity alongside the child.
Start with a simple picture of a tree (you can draw it, the child can, or use our blank, downloadable template below). Think of this activity like using a coloring book - use pencils, crayons, markers, whatever you have on hand. Encourage the child to use different colors for different identities (or some other way of marking them). Use different branches of the tree to show the child’s identities.
Sometimes, the thoughts that go along with our feelings are unhelpful, untrue, or both. Everyone's brain produces “untrue” or “unhelpful” thoughts from time to time. It’s important to fact-check the thoughts your brain comes up with. This is especially key for thoughts that are critical or judgmental of your feelings, yourself, or others. In this activity write down different thoughts you notice, such as, "I'm probably going to do badly on this test." Then ask yourself, are these really true? Write down the true thoughts, for instance, "I pass most of the tests I write." or, "I do the best I can on my tests.