Color Big Bird’s Nest

After trauma, when our brains can be “hijacked” by fear, anxiety, or anger, a wordless activity like coloring can help us get “unstuck.” Coloring can reduce stress in both adults and children, and this adult-child coloring page lets you sit quietly and just be together. 

Coloring together can help you share important ideas without saying a word: 

• We can relax together. 
• We can have a good time together. 
• We can concentrate. 
• I am here with you. 
• I am listening. 
• I am interested in you. 
• We can share feelings. 
• We can make something beautiful, even when the world around doesn’t feel that way. 

Children can use crayons or markers. Colored pencils or thin-tipped markers work well for the detailed “adult” areas, but crayons will work too! 

• Sit side by side in a quiet space with a surface. You might put on music that you both like. 
• Children can color Big Bird and his nest while grown-ups color the more detailed background. 
• Remember there’s no right or wrong way to color; the goal is to sit and relax together. It’s okay to sit without talking, too! 
• Praise children’s efforts and display the completed page. 

  Before, during, or after coloring, try saying: 

• “Big Bird feels cozy and safe in his nest. Where do you go to feel like that?” 
• “Would you like to have your very own nest? Why or why not?” 
• “If you had a nest, what would you do there? What would you want to keep with you there to feel calm and safe?”