Divorce for Kids
For my senior capstone research project, I chose to research divorce and how it effects kids of all ages. Being a child of divorce, this was a topic close to my heart that I think is important to spread awareness for. My research fell into 4 age categories: 0-3 yrs, 4-11 yrs, 12-17 yrs, and 18+ yrs.
I designed an eBook with all of my research as well as a quilt that can mimic a comfort item that a child might cling to in a moment of trauma. The quilt also includes quotes from personal interviews combined with statistics and facts about divorce.
In the book I have broken it down into those age categories as well as included personal interviews to corroborate the research I found. You’ll also find resources for both kids and parents in the book.
Download eBook here.
Divorce for Kids: Quilt
Within the quilt, you’ll find various quotes from personal interviews as well as statistics and facts about divorce in relation to kids.
There is a lot of symbolism within the colors and elements in the design of the quilt. I aimed to use pastel colors to touch on the naivety that youth allows us at times. The green represents growth and growing through the experience of divorce as a child. The red represents the anger and love that can be felt. Orange is a forward thinking and outward thinking color, it is an optimistic color that helps people move on. The lilac purple color is a nostalgic color, it was the color of my childhood bedroom growing up. Lilacs also hold a lot of memories for both me and my sisters, so it felt like it made sense to include it.
For the elements, I wanted something to visualize divorce. To me, divorce is confusing, chaotic, and messy. That’s where the scribbles come from. I included broken hearts, broken home, and broken rings to drive that idea of divorce home. It also is meant to mimic a traditional quilt with the squares, while remaining contemporary by keeping it fresh with unexpected elements.
