As much as Art Time with kids can be fun, it can also be a healing experience. Just as the past year has been hectic for all us parents - the prolonged lockdown and the eternal homeschooling; it would have equally affected our kids, as well.
Suddenly, expecting them to adapt to the new normal, coping with the over-protective behaviour adopted by their parents and distancing themselves from their classmates or playmates must have affected our little ones as well. Children are too young to understand what they’re feeling deep inside and why.
It is at times like these, that parents can resort to activities that will help them understand more profoundly about what their child is going through and help them accept and work on their emotions.
What is art therapy?
Art therapy is a therapeutic process that integrates psychotherapy and art. It can help kids explore their emotions, improve self-esteem, relieve stress, and ease anxiety and depression.
When we’re stuck in feeling states, we are in the right hemisphere, low in the brain, and it’s hard to climb out of that. When we use our hands to make art, we trigger our left hemisphere to come back online. Meanwhile, we are making an internal emotion into an external piece of art, which can help us by looking at it as separate from who we are. (Source: Krista Reinhardt-Ruprecht)
Here are a few simple Art Therapy activities to enjoy with your kids:
1. Draw Mandalas
Drawing mandalas or repeated patterns helps in regulating emotions and the nervous system. It helps kids focus and calm down. Have a relaxing mandala drawing time with the kids in your next at-home weekend activity.
2. Easy DIY - Make Your Own Worry Monster
This is one of our favourite activities. Create a “Worry Monster” from this easy tutorial and then ask your little one to write all their worries on pieces of paper and feed it to the worry monster. Not only does this reassure your little one that their worries are taken care of, it also helps you to understand what issues are bothering your tiny tot.
Check out this DIY here: https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_mTclfJOIU/
3. Make Art From Nature
Working with natural materials is soothing and helps ground us. You can find beautiful materials to work with by just taking a walk outside. We really like this way of creating insect bodies with leaves, seeds and twigs. Definitely a fun activity to try out.
4.Transform Something:
This is a fun activity to try out with your little one. Sit down together and pick situations or problems that your little one hates and make a list of it on a piece of paper. Then create an art masterpiece on the very piece of paper. This symbolises turning something ugly into something beautiful and is a great activity to emote and heal at the same time.
Art can truly help in recognising deepest issues faced by kids and help them relieve from the stress and anxiety faced by them.
Want to have such a therapeutic session with your little one? We have just the right products for you!
Checkout our Art & Activities collection! You will find some awesome personalised art gifts to have a fun and thoughtful art session with your little one.
And a very Happy Art Month to you!! Check out our socials and join us on celebrating this colourful extravaganza.
Stay Artsy!Team Ellybean