Tie It To A Balloon
... And Let It Go
Mental Health Activity Curriculum for Students
The Tie It to A Balloon mural is painted by seventeen year old Ava Leone at Ridgewood Avenue School in Glen Ridge, NJ.
Ava suffered throughout school with anxiety and ADHD as so many others did after Covid. She graduated from Glen Ridge High School in the Spring 2023. As part of her Girl Scout Gold Award she decided to give back to her community and combine her art skills with what she's learned about mental health awareness by creating a mural and curriculum to help student's in her school district and in other schools worldwide.
About
Meet Ava
My name is Ava. I am a recent graduate high school graduate. I first started Girls Scouts as a brownie twelve years ago and I am now a Senior Ambassador. I've earned my Girl Scout Journey Award, Silver Award and I am currently working on my Gold Award which only 6% of scouts worldwide achieve.
To achieve my Gold Award, The Girl Scouts Council has tasked me with creating a solution to a root cause in my community that needs to have a lasting impact. According to a recent study, teachers and superintendents have both stated that they fear their schools are lacking resources to properly address the urgent mental health concerns with their students. To help with this, I've created the Tie It To A Balloon... and Let It Go mural and a Mental Health Activity Curriculum to help teachers and student's identify their feelings of anxiety, panic and depression. These fun coloring activities were created with the help of leaders in my community aiming to teach students and teachers fun ways to learn about mental health and tips to feel better. These can be downloaded for free here on this website and available to anyone who suffers with any kind of worries.
Meet Bally
Hi my name is Bally the Balloon Bunny! Come along
with me as we play some fun actives and learn
about our feelings and how to manage them.
MURAL
There was a phrase my mother taught me at an early age, “Tie it to a balloon and let it go.” One day she told me to close my eyes and imagine writing down my worries on a piece of paper then tying those worries to a string attached to a balloon and letting the balloon go. She told me, “As you watch that balloon float up high into the sky also imagine your worries floating away with it.” It’s a simple yet impactful message.
One of the biggest lessons I learned from being a Senior Ambassador for the Girl Scouts is to always find a way to help the people in my community, I knew I needed to find an opportunity to share this message with others. I set out to help other adults and children manage their anxiety by painting a mural on the outside of the elementary school in my district. How does a painting make a change? It's not just a mural, but an interactive safe space. The composition of the mural includes giant painted foil balloons spelling out, “Tie it to a balloon and... Let it go.” At the bottom of the mural there is a scannable QR code that people are encouraged to scan. The QR code scan will direct people to this website whjich offers various explanations of anxiety, grounding methods and tips. This mural and message will live on long after I have left my town and gone off to college. I encourage everyone to download a free copy to be used in your school too.
Downloadable Student Worksheets
Below are some materials on how to cope with anxiety and panic to move towards living your best peaceful life.
Tie It To A Balloon Activity Pamphlet Side 2
Follow Bally the Balloon Bunny along in this coloring pamphlet to learn more about your worries and anxiety. Bally makes everything so much fun. There are two sheets that complete this pamphlet. Print this pamphlet so its double sided.
Tie It To A Balloon Activity Pamphlet
Side 1
Follow Bally the Balloon Bunny along in this coloring pamphlet to learn more about your worries and anxiety. Bally makes everything so much fun. There are two sheets that complete this pamphlet. Print this pamphlet so its double sided.
Downloadable Student Worksheets
Below are some materials on how to cope with anxiety and panic to move towards living your best peaceful life.
What's In My Control Worksheet and Lesson
Sometimes seeing things visually in front of you can ease your worries
In this exercise we have two flower beds.
One is about the things we can control in out life
The other flower bed are the ones we have no control over and need to learn to let go.
Doing that is easier said than done but there's no reason to hold onto those worries when there's no way to change them
What's Out of My Control Worksheet and Lesson
This sad flower beds are the ones we have no control over and need to learn to let go. Doing that is easier said than done but there's no reason to hold onto those worries when there's no way to change them
Tie It To A Balloon and Let It Go! Coloring Mural
This is a chance to make the Tie it To A Balloon mural that Ava created your very own. Remember what Ava's mom told her to do, "Close your eyes and imagine writing down your worries on a piece of paper then tying those worries to a string attached to a balloon and letting the balloon go. As you watch that balloon float up high into the sky also imagine your worries floating away with it.”
Five Step Landing Worksheet and Lesson
The 5 Senses Grounding Method otherwise called The 54321 Landing, is a tool that helps to relieve anxiety symptoms and panic attacks. This is a good tool to have in your tool box in case of sudden feelings of anxiousness or panic.
