Quarantine Zine!
April 8, 2020
To illuminate this period of social distancing and offer you meaningful activities, Equitas has adapted some of its activities to offer them online.
Here is the online version of the Wellness Zine, drawn from Speaking Rights.
This activity can be done individually, with your family or other members of your household, or it can be facilitated in a virtual meeting. (Select what's relevant)
- Age: 8+
- Time: 60 min
- Purpose: Reflect on what is wellness and what we need to feel good.
You can download the instructions of this activity as a PDF to share it more easily: Quarantine Zine Activity
Materials:
- Blank piece of paper (8.5 x 11 printer paper works great!)
- Magazine or newspaper (optional)
- Markers or drawing materials
- Tape or glue
- Stickers, foam pieces, or any other craft material you have on hand.
- Creativity!
How to play:
- Explain to the participants that they will be creating a quarantine zine (a creative handmade booklet). Let them know the materials that they will need.
- Explain step-by-step the instructions for making a zine provided at the end of this activity. The instruction are also here: How To Make A Zine
- Ask each participant to create a list of the activities you are enjoying while staying at home/physically distancing. For example, going for walks, baking, or organizing your closet are great ways to keep active and engaged while stuck at home.
- Participants can now fill their pages drawing inspiration from the brainstorm done in step 3. They can draw or write on the pages, or can cut out clippings from a magazine and tape the images into your zine.
There are lots of creative ways to fill your pages. You can draw or write your pages, or you can cut out clippings from a magazine if you have one handy and tape the images into your zine.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
Quarantine Zine
Create a list of the activities you are enjoying while staying at home/physically distancing. Each page is a different activity. For example, going for walks, baking, or organizing your closet are great ways to keep active and engaged while stuck at home.
Wellness Zine
Similar to the themed "quarantine zine" but more broad. Consider these questions before starting your zine:
- What makes you feel good in a friendship, romantic relationship, in school, in a youth centre, at home, at work, or in your neighborhood?
- How do you make yourself feel good when you're feeling down?
- How do you make others feel good when they're feeling down?
Now, decorate your zine pages as follows:
- Page 1: Cover page with a statement or image that introduces your zine
- Page 2-3: Statement/image/collage of what wellness means to you
- Page 4-5: Statement/image/collage of what wellness means to you in relationship with others
- Page 6-7: Statement/image/collage about the meaning of wellness in your community
- Page 8: Free page!
Favourite Things Zine
This idea works great for young children. Get them to fill their pages with all their favourite things. Use stickers and markers and help them write out what each page represents.
Group discussion:
Feel:
- How did you like making your own zine?
- How did it feel to share your thoughts with members of your group about what makes you feel good?
- Were you surprised by wellness ideas that were shared by your group members? Why?
Think:
- What were the similarities and differences between what makes members of your group feel good?
- Did you learn any new ways to take care of yourself and others? Which ones?
- How do you think using art can contribute to wellness?
Act:
- What can we do to make ourselves and others feel good?
- What are other creative ways you can use to help yourself and others feel good?
Human rights education for building welcoming and inclusive spaces.
This activity uses our 3-step participatory approach to promote learning about human rights and human rights values leading to action:
- Children and youth participate in activities that promote learning about human rights and human rights values (e.g. inclusion, respect for diversity, responsibility).
- Children and youth discuss how an activity made them feel, what it made them think about, and what they can change (act) in their own attitudes and behaviours and those of their peers.
- Together children and youth take action to promote respect for human rights values and children’s rights, and greater understanding, acceptance and inclusion in their classrooms, school playgrounds and communities.
Creative Commons Licence
Except where otherwise noted, content in this document is licensed under Creative Commons, Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Where material is attributed to a copyright owner other than Equitas, this material is not subject to the Creative Commons licence.
- If you have not modified the material in anyway, use the following: Equitas – International Centre for Human Rights Education. Speaking Rights: Human Rights Education Toolkit for Youth is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- If you have modified, adapted or remixed the material in anyway, use the following: This work, [NAME OF YOUR PUBLICATION] is adapted from Equitas – International Centre for Human Rights Education’s Speaking Rights: Human Rights Education Toolkit for Youth used under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. [NAME OF YOUR PUBLICATION] is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Instructions to create a zine:
Step 1: Fold your paper in half lengthwise (or hotdog!)
Step 2: Fold your paper again as follows
Step 3: Fold again!
Step 4: Open your paper back up flat. Using scissors or an Exacto knife, cut a line down the middle. Only cut the middle two rectangles.
Alternatively, you can fold your paper in half width-wise (or hamburger!) and use your scissors to cut halfway through.
This is what your paper should look like when you are finished cutting:
Step 5: Fold the paper in half lengthwise again. Holding the two ends, gently push the paper towards the middle to open up the centre folds.
Now squish:
Gather all the folds in one direction. After you finish creasing, your zine should open up like a book.
Step 6: Crease your paper! Nice crisp creases will ensure your zine pages will flatten together