My daughter has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In her weekly therapy sessions, she does a fair amount of play therapy. But lately, the California redwoods have been endangered by the copious amounts of paper she’s using to flood us with drawings! She is quite the little artiste.

Because my background is in Early Childhood Education, I’ve viewed her artwork with a deeper eye toward seeing anything that might be in them that is relevant. I also mentioned this recent proliferation of artwork to her therapist. I suppose the conversation took root, because after his latest session with her, he gave me a sheaf of pictures she had drawn in session, which her annotated with her narrative.

Art can be a wonderful outlet for children to process what is going on for them. I wouldn’t actively encourage anyone to play “amateur psychologist” as I did (only drawing upon my past education), but, should you see anything that raises a flag for you, it’s best to consult with your child’s therapist. For now, I’m merely discussing the outlet art can be and how to nurture it in your child.

Make sure you have all the proper equipment: Beyond paper, kiddie scissors, markers and the like, be sure to consider things like “people color” crayons. This is particularly crucial for children of color, who typically have difficulty in drawing themselves accurately with a standard box of crayons.

Media: Expression through artwork can take many forms - modeling clay or dough, painting, collages – so be sure to provide opportunities for exploring these mediums.

Storytelling: Another form of creativity is oral storytelling. For younger children, you can offer to write their narratives down for them, but storytelling is a powerful way for children to make sense of their world and cope with it.

Art is beautiful to look at, but it can also be a wonderful means of expressing oneself!