Activity File 8

Activity Title 3: All Tangled Up

Source:
Goodyear-Brown, Paris. (2002). Digging for Buried Treasure: 52 Prop-Based Play
Therapy Interventions for Treating the Problems of Childhood. Nashville: Sun
Dog Limited.
Equipment: Ball of yarn, scissors, paper, and makers.
Description of Activity:
The therapist will begin by giving each client a ball of yarn and then telling the
clients, everyone has worries and sometimes we have so many worries that they get all
tangled up inside. It is hard to tell one from the other anymore. We just go around
feeling around worries and anxious without even knowing why. Today we are going to
untangle those worries. Lets start by pulling out one thread at a time and naming it.
The therapist will then gives an example of one big worry and one small worry. For
example, the practitioner might say, I get a little worried when we are out of milk, but I
know we can go to the store and get some more. Then pull some yarn out of the
tangled ball. Deliberately pull more yarn than is needed to represent the worry. Then say
I worry this mucho about it and hold up the length of the yarn. Then say actually, I do
not worry this much about the milk, so I am going to make it shorter and shorten the
piece of yarn by a foot. Now the participants will have their turn in the activity. Each
participant will do the same as the therapist. The therapist will help the client untangle at
least 5 of their worries. Some will be small and some may seem like miles of yarn. As
the participant cut each piece of yarn (the length reflecting the intensity of the worry),
write the worry in magic marker on a small piece of paper and tape it on to the yarn.
This will help delineate one worry thread from another worry thread. Now the therapist
will tell the clients that they are going to tie the worries up all around the room until they
look like spider webs. Tie one end of the yarn to the door handle and the other to the top
a bookshelf. Let the clients choose where some of the yarn length gets tied. They
should cross each other the space that threads end up looking like spider webs. Then
Have participants gather all together and the therapist will talk about ways to cut the
worries down, so that the clients will not continue to get caught in their web. Strategies
to dealing with anxiety are discussed. These strategies may include stress inoculation
strategies such as deep breathing exercises, progressive muscle tension/relaxation
exercises or use of positive imagery. As the clients verbalize each strategy, he/she uses
scissors to cut down one thread of the web, until the entire web has disappeared in the
class. At the end of the activity, the therapist will have a short discussion asking if
participants feel better about their worries and if they feel like they acquired useful
strategies from their fellow peers.
Leadership considerations:
This activity is best performed by small groups of participants because it required
a lot of the therapists attention and involves lots of communication among peers. It is
recommended that the activity be performed indoor because part of the activity requires
participants to connect their yarn across the classroom and stick it up. The goal in this
activity is for participants to identify and verbalize feelings of anxiety of worry that they

Activity File 8
may have bundled up inside and figure out coping strategies. The therapist will be a
moderator in the beginning of the activity by explaining the activity to all the participants.
Once all participants understand the activity, the therapist will be facilitator and observe
participants as they each get a turn to present some of their worries and find solutions
for them. The therapist will participate but will allow a large amount of discussion to
occur among the participants. Some safety hazards to be aware of are the usage of
scissors and of the yarn. The therapist must advice participants that the scissors are
very dangerous and they should never run or play around with them. The yarn should
only be used for the activity and not be played around with. At the end of the activity the
therapist will begin a discussion and provide additional questions based on participants
needs and interests.
Adaptations:
*Participants with Intellectual Disability:
These participants are characterized by significantly sub-average general
intellectual functioning, concurrent impairments in at least two adaptive skill areas and it
tends to occur before the age of 18 (Datillo, 2012). During this activity participants are
required to think of their worries and write them down to place on their yarn. These
participants will have difficulties understanding what they the therapist is looking for. To
facilitate things for them, provide with concrete and visual demonstrations so they can
see what to do and follow along (Intellectual Disability, 2014). Another way to make
understanding the activity more simple is by providing images with directions of the
activity. The therapist will leave these directions up, so participants can refer back to
them when desired (Datillo, 2012). These participants understand how to do things, it is
just they require more time to really grasp the concept they are required to get. To avoid
stress for the participants, allow them extra time to complete the activity (Intellectual
Disability, 2014). If the therapist notices that one of the participants developed a
solution to one of the worries of another participant, remember to always acknowledge
and be positive about it (Datillo, 2012). This will bring participants self-esteem higher
and encourage them to participate more.
*Participants with Eating Disorder Anorexia Nervosa:
These participants are individuals that have become obsessed with their weight
and have the need to be thin. Individuals with anorexia fail to maintain a minimally
normal body weight. They engage in abnormal eating behavior and have excessive
concerns about food. They are intensely afraid of even the slightest weight gain, and
their perception of their body shape and size is significantly distorted (Jackson, 2013).
To help participant feel at ease during this activity, the therapist needs to avoid pushing
these participants too much because it can cause them to stress, which lead to worrying
about what they eat or about their weight (Jackson, 2013). During the activity, the
participants will most likely set as a worry is their body weight. To help these
participants promote body image resilience (Reel, 2013), when participants state that
they think they are fat or ate too much, therapist will dismiss their responds and
instead say positive self-image statements. This will raise their self-esteem and allow
them to begin to ease from the stress. The overall activity can really help participants
with eating disorder relate with others with the same problem and find solutions it.

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Adaptations References
Dattilo, J. (2012). Learn About People, Inclusion, and Disability. In Inclusive Leisure
Services (Third ed., pp. 385-485). State College, PA: Venture Publishing.
Jackson, K. (2013, November 1). Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorders
Therapeutic Tool of Acceptance and Change. Social Work Today, 22-22.
Intellectual Disabilities (formerly Mental Retardation). (2014, October 3). Retrieved
November 7, 2015, from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teac
hing/Disabilities/Services to Children with Disabilities/Disabilit
ies/disabl_fts_00014_061105.html
Reel, J. (2013). Eating Disorders: An Encyclopedia of Causes, Treatment, and
Prevention (pp. 402-403). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, LLC.