Each year, the PTA Reflections program theme encourages students to explore the arts and creative expression based on a student-created theme. The themes are also tools for using the arts to explore our thoughts, feelings and lived experiences to better understand ourselves and our communities.

For the 2025-2026 school year, the theme is “I Belong,” created by Ben Morgan in the 2023 Reflections Theme Search Contest.   

“I Belong” is a valuable opportunity to better understand and appreciate what it means to belong. It gives us the chance to help students explore their feelings of being excluded and also allows kids to use art to express their feelings in a healthy way.  

When Kids Feel Like They Don’t Belong 

Sometimes kids may feel as if they don’t belong to certain groups, and that feeling can be incredibly difficult. In some cases, that feeling is based on exclusion due to prejudice or discrimination, while other times they may be feeling anxiety and fear that they don’t belong.  

Regardless, the sense that they are separate and not good enough to belong causes isolation, sadness and sometimes anger.

Explain to them that It’s okay to feel this way. Everyone experiences moments of feeling out of place. Recognizing that will help them feel less alone.

Helping Kids Cope 

Art is a powerful tool for self-discovery, healing and coping when students feel like they don’t belong. It allows them to express emotions that might be difficult to put into words and can provide a sense of accomplishment and empowerment. By exploring their feelings around not belonging, they learn to appreciate the spaces and times when they feel like they do belong. By developing appreciation and gratitude for those times, they can better understand what causes those feelings and use that knowledge to seek new experiences and people who help them feel like they do belong.  

Here are a few creative ideas to try at home to help you and your family better understand how to define belonging: 

• Write Their Story. Have your child tell the story of their experiences using different characters, settings and plot points that help convey how not belonging feels. This can help them process their journey and see it from a new perspective.  
• Make a Collage. Kids can create collages using magazine cutouts, photographs and other materials to create a cohesive image. Have them focus on how they define belonging, identity and community to help them visualize and explore feelings in a tangible way. 
• Explore Styles and Movements. Research and try different arts styles and movements from history to help kids explore different ways to express and represent their emotions.  
• Create Abstract Art. Using colors, shapes and textures to create abstract art, kids can non-verbally expresses complex feelings.  
• Create a Self-Portrait. Let them depict how they see themselves and how they feel about their place in the world.
• Participate in Community Art Projects. Participate in community art projects or collaborative murals as a family. Working with others on a shared creative endeavor can help everyone feel more connected and valued. 
• Create Vision Boards. A vision board represents goals and aspirations for belonging and connection. Creating one can help kids focus on positive steps they can take to build a sense of community. 
• Build Soundscapes. Soundscapes capture the essence of feelings. Help your student use ambient sounds, nature recordings and/or electronic elements to build an auditory representation of their emotions. 
• Create Musical Journals. If your child likes to write music, have them keep a musical journal where they compose short pieces that reflect their daily experiences and feelings.

Participate in the 2025-2026 Reflections Program

The 2025-2026 Reflections theme, “I Belong!” is a great opportunity to take advantage of the benefits of art to help your child combat negative feelings that arise when they feel like they don’t belong.  For more information on participating in Reflections program, visit your state PTA’s Reflections Program page or PTA.org/Reflections.  

Congratulations, once again, to Ben Morgan and Lewis and Clark Middle School PTSA!