Art Therapy Ideas And Activities For Children And Teens

Art is used by both children and adults as a means of healing and communication. Young children, as well as teens, also have issues in their lives that have not been very friendly to them. In their young lives, it is important to look further into the person they are becoming.

If you raise a hurt and angry child, you will end up with a hurt and angry adult. Getting to help them know themselves deeply is vital to raising free children who have control of their emotional life. 

Young children are always limited in expressing their thoughts and emotions to only verbal communication. Teens, on the other hand, have pressure from different sources that is all stocked up in their thoughts and feelings. These feelings can push the individual to lonesome behavior, and so you need to keep the communication channels with your teen open. In order to become the best mentor to your teen, you will need to become emotionally connected, something that is often to recognize and deal with by yourself. You may start to feel unfamiliar emotional vulnerability, and consequential unhealthy stress builds in you. To be able to help your child, you must be able to help yourself first, so in this situation, you should seek professional help for yourself. You can click here to find a licensed therapist who is suitably qualified to help you to improve your emotional intelligence and communication skills.

If you find that the current therapeutic arrangements are not working, you have other positive options available to you. This includes the female-led and girls-only Eva Carlston Academy. Here, your teen can find the help they need to work through their problems and learn how to live a happier and healthier life.

There are activities that children and teens can engage in to keep them in a conducive environment. 

They include:

·         Postcard activity – This is an interesting way to think about how you can express yourself to someone about how you feel if you were face to face with them.  Postcard activity can be a good self-discovery exercise that can help the child or the teen identify who they truly are.

·         Words by collage – Teens become very vulnerable to harsh and judgmental conditions. This suppresses their true character to avoid the censure from their peers. For this reason, it is important to identify their core values or help them identify who they think they are and put it down on paper.

·         Softness project – This exercise helps the children learn how to regain a soft spot in their heart where it has grown tough and unloving.   

·         Safe place activity – Building a safe place is an adaptable activity for all age groups but very sensitive to young kids who have little to no control over their environments or struggle to feel safe. This project helps the child feel safe again and control the influence of the environment around them.

·         What is in your heart – This exercise encourages children to express their emotions by writing them down on a sheet of paper. It also helps them define all that they care about.

Why would you use art therapy as a choice treatment?

Starting with art therapy is generally used as a form of treatment or rehabilitation for something that has been bothering you. It is usually a way to improve your emotional and mental wellbeing. Art therapy does not have to be used as treatment only also but can be used to relieve stress or tension. It can be used as a mode of self-discovery, which helps the individual know their true self. 

What if you don’t know any art?

Do not be afraid if art is not your thing; you can still express yourself thorough it! Though it may seem difficult and unnatural, you can still learn how to communicate through art as a creative process. It is important to allow the process to take place in each person who needs it in order to give them an opportunity to grow.