How to get a brown color plasticine when creating children's meaningful images in the process of psychological work

While working with children, the psychologist often uses the means of visual activity: paints, gouache, plasticine. Creating images, children involuntarily share those problems that are not yet realized and are embodied in their fantasies in the form of symbols. A child psychologist suggests that children draw or blind those characters of films, works or their own fantasies that they like most. Often in the box is not enough green or brown plasticine, from which the character is created, and sometimes there are no shades that the preschooler would like to depict. Therefore, a specialist should know how to get a brown or orange color by mixing the available colors.

An example from the practice of a psychologist

In the process of psychological work with a closed girl of 7 years it became known that she had been asking parents for six months to buy her a monkey as a pet. Mother's persuasions and explanations of the pope that the brother had an allergy to all kinds of animals, did not help. The girl was offended and withdrew even more. At the lesson, the psychologist asked the girl to tell: what kind of monkey did she want? Big or small? A boy or a girl? What will she do with the monkey at home? The girl decided to make a monkey out of plasticine. The psychologist helped her by stretching the plasticine and making the torso or legs of the animal according to the recommendations of the baby. By the middle of the session, the brown plasticine was over, and the work was unfinished. Together they came to a decision on how to make a brown color from the remaining plasticine blocks, and mixed the red clay with a little black. In the process of molding, they talked a lot about different monkeys, about their way of life. It was clear that a shy and modest girl envied monkeys - so free in self-expression, so active in movements and as flexible as gymnasts.

At the next lesson, the parents complained that the girl at home was unusually fussy when she needed to go to bed, took offense at her relatives, behaved aggressively, if she did not like something. Together with the parents, it was assumed that when dreaming about a monkey, but not having it, the daughter began to represent herself as a monkey, showing all the qualities that were listed in the last lesson. Together with the psychologist, she decided to continue modeling, but now there are monkeys on a tree eating bananas, jumping from branch to branch. The conversation was now directed at how to bring up this monkey, who does not listen and does what she likes. In order not to be distracted from the topic of psychological work, it was necessary to mix plasticine for making wood, since again a lot of brown material was required. By trial and error, not knowing how to get a brown color, tried to mix the red and green clay in equal proportions. Very quickly they received a large brown lump from which they could make a tree, and even a little more remained. Together they praised the monkey for eating such useful and nutritious food (bananas and other exotic fruits) that not only jumps over the trees, but also listens to the hostess, while her flexibility and activity can be exerted intensively in the sports school.

Gradually the girl learned to manage her "inner monkey", the image of which was sculpted and brought up together, became more active at home and more successful at the gym. In one of the subsequent studies, there was again a need to sculpt a monkey, and then the psychologist was distracted: there was no more red, green or black plasticine, and the need to sculpt an entire family of monkeys in the girl was impatient and sharp enough. Thinking how to get a brown color, decided to mix orange and gray. It did not turn out as dark as we would like, but adding a bit of blue, as a result, nevertheless blinded the whole family of brown monkeys. This time the girl solved family problems, discussing the behavior of monkey-parents and monkey-children. The psychologist helped her to find the right approaches to communicating with her brother, father and mother without losing activity, without locking herself and hiding in her room.

The psychologist does not set out the task of teaching the child to mix colors, does not teach how to get a brown paint color when drawing large drawings or with a lack of colors. The main thing is working with images that can be very attractive to the child and with which he could solve his pressing problems. But nevertheless this knowledge is involuntarily laid in children, and they, in addition to psychological work on themselves, get additional knowledge about how to get a brown color or how to cut a snowflake, how to make rain in a glass jar or how to fold a paper boat. Knowledge is repeated at home or in kindergarten, shown to friends, which further gives confidence to any child.