Where Do I Feel?

Use art to teach young clients to name, identify, and recognize their emotions, and their associated bodily sensations. Ask your client to choose a color to represent each emotion, and then color in the part of the body where they experience that feeling. For example, children might color fists red to represent anger. Happiness might be a yellow glow.

Let your client be creative with this art therapy project, and you'll find that it's a good way to get kids talking about their feelings. We suggest spending a bit of extra time discussing specific bodily sensations that accompany emotions. For example, what does anger feel like in your fist? Does it hurt, or does it feel good? Improving this form of insight will help children become more aware of their emotions in the moments when it matters most.