Children experience a wide range of emotions—sometimes all in the same day—but they don’t always have the language to explain what they’re feeling. That’s where art therapy for children can be a helpful resource for social-emotional learning and growth. Art therapy activities can be incredibly powerful. Creative expression offers a safe, nonverbal way for kids to explore their inner world and gain emotional insight.
Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or mental health professional, the four art therapy activities below offer fun and effective tools to help children process emotions (like worry, grief, anger) and build self-esteem—all through creativity and imagination.
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Art Therapy for Children: What’s it all about?
Art therapy isn’t just for kids. (Check out this post on 5 Amazing Art Therapy Activities for Adults for awesome ideas on using art therapy with adults) BUT – art therapy is definitely a super versatile modality that’s a great option when it comes to supporting mental health in children.
Why Art Therapy for Children Works
Art offers a natural, nonverbal language that can help children explore complex emotions. Whether through drawing, coloring, or creative storytelling, artmaking allows young minds to express what might otherwise stay bottled up.
What’s more, because the cogntive parts of a child’s brain are still developing, art offers a perfect channel for them to express subconscious thoughts, feelings, and experiences. They can play, express, and process through metaphor and visual language in ways they might not be able to using verbal language and processing alone.
Art therapist for children offers activities that promote emotional regulation, resilience, and healthy self-identity in kids—especially when used regularly in supportive environments.
Who Can Provide Art Therapy for Children?
Art therapy for children should be provided by a licensed or credentialed art therapist, such as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), or Registered Art Therapist (ATR) with specialized training in art therapy techniques. These professionals combine clinical mental health expertise with creative interventions to help children safely explore emotions and experiences through art.
If you are a non-art therapist licensed mental health professional, you may weave creative arts into your practice. However, it’s crucial to access training and information on the best practices for how to do so. Additionally, it’s important to make sure that you do not advertise yourself as an art therapist, or consider your interventions “art therapy interventions.”
Instead, think about how these therapeutic art activities can be incorporated into your scope of practice (i.e. the therapy framework(s) you are trained in).
While teachers, parents, and other caregivers can offer creative activities that support emotional expression, true art therapy involves a therapeutic relationship and should be facilitated by a qualified mental health professional.
Art Therapy for Children: 4 Awesome Therapeutic Activities for Children
When providing art therapy for children, I use dozens of creative therapeutic art activities in sessions. Over the years, I have used therapeutic art prompts, therapy worksheets, and open ended drawing prompts in my art therapy sessions with children.
Here are 4 of my absolute favorites (though I will admit, it’s difficult to choose my favorites because there are so many art therapy activities for kids that I love!).
1. The Worry Monster Drawing Activity
This playful activity turns anxiety into something kids can actually “feed” to a monster. Children write or draw their worries and then imagine giving them to a hungry worry monster who can hold them for safekeeping.
How This Art Therapy Activity Helps:
- Externalizes anxious thoughts
- Reduces the intensity of worries
- Creates emotional distance from stressors
How to Use This Art Therapy Activity:
Invite the child to decorate or draw their own worry monster (or use the Worry Monster in this worksheet I created). Then have them identify their worries and “feed” them to the monster by writing or drawing their current worries inside its belly. Talk about what it feels like to name their worries, draw them, and hand them over.
Get the Worksheet:
I created this Worry Monster therapy worksheet to use when providing art therapy for children. It’s available in my Etsy shop 🙂 You can purchase it on its own here, or as part of my art therapy for children worksheet bundle. The Worry Monster art therapy worksheet features a hand drawn worry monster and processing prompts, too.
2. The Grief Bouquet Drawing Activity
Grief is complex and confusing. But it’s especially tricky for children who may not fully understand what they’re feeling. In this activity, children get an opportunity to draw a bouquet of flowers, where each flower carries special meaning and represents their relationship to someone or something they’ve lost.
How This Art Therapy Activity Helps:
- Supports grief processing
- Encourages emotional expression
- Helps honor and memorialize loved ones, objects, or experiences
How to Use This Art Therapy Activity:
Invite the child to create a personalized and meaningful grief bouquet by drawing a collection of flowers inside a vase or jar. You can provide a set of suggested flowers and their meanings (or look them up together) to help them choose which flowers they would like to draw as part of their grief bouquet. (or you can use this worksheet I created which includes both a hand drawn vase and a flower meanings key.)
You can invite sharing while they are drawing their bouquet. After they have finished their drawing, you can ask them to reflect on what they have created and anything else they would like to share.
Get the Worksheet:
I created this Grief Bouquet therapy worksheet to use when providing art therapy for children. It’s available in my Etsy shop 🙂 You can purchase it on its own here, or as part of my art therapy for children worksheet bundle. The Grief Bouquet art therapy worksheet features a hand drawn vase and Flower Meanings Key.
Art Therapy is Awesome
Are you an art therapist? Me too! And proud of it. That’s why I designed this super cute art therapy sweatshirt! If you are looking for a way to show your art therapy pride, then snag this trendy art therapy varsity sweatshirt from my Etsy shop! Makes the perfect gift, too!
3. The Anger Volcano Drawing Activity
Anger can build up quickly, and kids often struggle to recognize their triggers and what contributes to angry “eruptions”. The Anger Volcano drawing activity helps children visualize what anger feels like in their bodies and understand how it escalates. This art therapy activity also teaches children about the purpose of anger and how to manage it.
How This Art Therapy Activity Helps:
- Identifies anger triggers and sensations
- Increases emotional intelligence
- Supports emotion regulation and expression
How to Use This Art Therapy Activity:
Invite the child to draw an outline of a volcano (or use this worksheet I created). Ask them to use lines, colors, shapes, symbols, and/or words to fill the volcano with their anger. They can include things that trigger their anger as well as imagery that represents what anger feels like inside their body.
Once they are finished, you can both explore what it was like to create this drawing, how they felt in their body, and what each bit of imagery means to them. You might also use this as an opportunity to explore the function of anger, how it is neither negative or positive, simply helpful information about how to navigate the world. Then possibly use more session time to explore ways to “cool down” the volcano before it erupts.
Get the Worksheet:
I created this Anger Volcano Self-Esteem Self Portrait therapy worksheet to use when providing art therapy for children. It’s available in my Etsy shop 🙂
The Anger Volcano art therapy worksheet features a hand drawn volcano inside which clients can depict their anger (triggers, warning signs, sensations, etc.). This worksheet offers some useful psychoeducation on anger for kids, as well as an inviting drawing space to express their anger in visual form.
The volcano metaphor is a popular metaphor in art therapy for many reasons, one of which is how useful it can be when talking about emotions and how to regulate them.
The Anger Volcano art therapy worksheet is one of the many art therapy worksheets included in my 60+ page art therapy for children worksheet bundle on sale in my Etsy shop. You can purchase it on its own here, or as part of my art therapy for children worksheet bundle. The Self-Esteem Self-Portrait art therapy worksheet features a hand drawn portrait frame and 5+ exploratory writing prompts.
4. The Self-Esteem Self-Portrait Drawing Activity
This uplifting activity focuses on helping children recognize and celebrate who they are. Kids create a self-portrait including shapes, words, colors, symbols, or images that represent their positive traits and personal strengths.
How This Art Therapy Activity Helps:
- Promotes self-awareness and confidence
- Builds a positive self-image and identity
- Encourages self-affirmation and self-worth
How to Use This Art Therapy Activity:
Invite the child to create a portrait frame (or instantly download the one I designed here) and fill the inside of the frame with imagery that represents who they are as a person. This could be either abstract or figurative, a literal self-portrait, or a collage of images.
If you want to offer suggestions to get them started, you could try prompts like “things I like about me,” “things I’m good at,” or “things that make me unique.” You can also prompt them with affirmations like “I am brave,” “I am kind,” or “I try my best.”
Get the Worksheet:
I created this Self-Esteem Self Portrait therapy worksheet to use when providing art therapy for children. It’s available in my Etsy shop 🙂
The Self-Esteem Self-Portrait art therapy worksheet is one of the many art therapy worksheets included in my 60+ page art therapy for children worksheet bundle on sale in my Etsy shop. You can purchase it on its own here, or as part of my art therapy for children worksheet bundle. The Self-Esteem Self-Portrait art therapy worksheet features a hand drawn portrait frame and 5+ exploratory writing prompts.
