Map of Me
Resources you will need:
Support Map Example
Blank paper for Support Maps
Coloured pens, pencils, paints etc
Aim
Sometimes it can be difficult to get an accurate sense of the people and places we move with and in, and the impact they have on us (both positive and negative). By mapping these out, young people can sometimes find clarity and objectivity in knowing what these spaces and people mean to them.
Overview
This exercise gives young people the chance to map out their everyday lives and identity, which spaces they occupy and with whom, and think about how they make them feel, which they should use more and which they should avoid.
Click on the image to open the PDF
Instructions
Go round in all-group circle and ask each young person to tell us the name of 1 place they have been to in the last week. Explain that no places can be repeated e.g. college, Praxis, etc. Once the most common suggestions have been used up, young people will begin to think more creatively, e.g. I went to the park, I stood in the bus stop etc.
Explain to the group that they are going to spend some time on their own thinking about the people and places that exist in their everyday lives, and the impact they have on them.
Give each young person a copy of the ‘mapping me’ handout (see resources section). Use this as an example, and explain some of the images to them, emphasising the difference between the positive and negative spaces.
Ask each young person to draw or write their own map of me, using different colours to distinguish positive and negative spaces.
Ask a couple of the confident group members to talk through their maps.
Group discussion – did anyone find out something they hadn’t realised before? What did you learn from it?
Ask the group to note down any action points in their journey journal.
Taking it home
Suggest to your young people that they take their maps home and put them up in their room, or keep them somewhere safe and easily accessible (use good quality card and pens to encourage them to do this). This will keep their learning from the activity fresh, and allow them to reassess how they feel about the places and people on their map as time goes on. Encourage them to change/add to their maps if their feelings about a place or person changes, or if any new people or places of significance come into the lives.