These 22 colorful cards provide creative ideas for art therapy with children aged 4-11.

Each card gives a different prompt – from “draw yourself as a superhero” to “paint freely with your fingers” – and is brightly illustrated to help stimulate the child’s imagination. Applicable for a wide range of group and individual therapeutic settings, the activities are grouped into four themes:

• feelings
• relationships
• the body
• imagination

They can help children to express themselves, gain confidence, understand and transform their behavior and emotions, and connect with their bodies. An accompanying booklet explains each prompt, its aims, the materials needed and potential benefits. It also flags activities that can be used to address specific issues, such as anxiety, trauma, and low self-esteem.

22 full colour cards and full colour 88pp booklet, illustrated throughout

Market: Anyone who uses therapeutic art activities with children, including art therapists, counsellors, psychotherapists and social workers. Secondary market of parents.

Booklet Contents:

Introduction. Part 1. Feelings. 1.1. Safe Place. 1.2. Feelings Map. 1.3. A Person in the Rain. 1.4. Paint Freely. 1.5. Feelings Pie. Part 2. Relationships. 2.1. Animal Family with Clay. 2.2. A Tiger and a Rabbit Story. 2.3. A Nest and a Bird with Clay. 2.4. Draw Yourself and Someone Else. 2.5. Joint Painting. Part 3. The Body. 3.1. Finger Painting. 3.2. Body Tracing. 3.3. What You Like to See/Hear/Smell/Taste/Touch. 3.4. A Doll that Looks Like You. 3.5. What’s Inside the Body? Part 4. Imagination. 4.1. Draw a Scribble. 4.2. A Six-Step Story. 4.3. A Family Tree Collage. 4.4. A Genie in a Bottle. 4.5. Draw Yourself as a Superhero. 4.6. Invent a Happiness Machine. 4.7. Paint a Dream.

Author Bio:

Elitsa Velikova, a psychologist and expressive arts therapist, is a lecturer at the New Bulgarian University and Director of the Arts & Therapy Institute in Sofia, Bulgaria. She trained at the European Graduate School, Switzerland.