Oak Tree

Play any 'pretend' game with a small child and they quickly become involved and cooperative....

Ask the child if he would like to play a game of pretend. This is a useful induction for a child aged between 5 and 8 years old.

“Okay, I wonder if you can pretend that you are a strong oak tree. Your feet are the roots of the tree and stand firmly on the ground, your body is the trunk of the tree and your arms are the branches.

Now I’d like you to hold out this arm (pointing to child’s dominant hand). Good, this is a strong branch and very, very stiff - see the branch is getting extremely stiff, so strong and so stiff that it won’t bend at all. Just think to yourself, this branch is getting stiff and strong, and as you think to yourself that the branch is getting stiff and strong, it gets stiffer and stiffer and stronger and stronger, stiffer and stronger each second.

Now in a moment I’m going to ask you try to bend that branch, but the more you try to bend it the stronger and stiffer it becomes so that the branch won’t bend at all.

Ready now then, try to bend the branch, try, and the more you try the stiffer and stronger the branch becomes.”

(Child tries unsuccessfully to bend arm - at this point you have developed a very deep trance. If the arm does bend, reinforce the suggestions of strength and stiffness, or simply say - “see how hard that was to bend...”.)

“Now I’m going to show you something very interesting. Something almost magical, a very strong gust of wind is coming now and it will make that branch sway and bend very easily....the gust of wind is coming, it’s here, it’s making the branch sway and now it bends....feel the branch beginning to bend, easily, effortless. That’s good.”

At this point you could weave whatever suggestions you are working on into a story about the tree and the strength of the tree. Just use your imagination and the child will use his.