Art Therapy: A Path Toward Healing for Refugee Children

War, violence, and forced displacement create deep emotional wounds in children. When familiar homes are lost and replaced with tents or foreign streets, the sense of security disappears. In the quiet aftermath, the desire for comfort grows stronger. In these fragile moments, creative expression becomes a source of calm. Through crayons, clay, and paint, children start to tell stories that words cannot carry. For caregivers, volunteers, and those championing the well-being of displaced youth, understanding how art therapy works is a step toward offering meaningful help.

Why Creative Activities Support Emotional Recovery

In refugee settlements across Turkey, Lebanon, and Kenya, hand-drawn murals cover the walls. These are not just for display. Each piece of art carries traces of resilience and hope. Even when the setting is harsh, the simple act of drawing provides children with moments of calm.

The World Health Organization has reported that children who engage in supervised art-making activities often show a drop in trauma-related symptoms. This includes fewer night terrors, less anxiety, and improved emotional control. For a child who paints their old home or draws a new one with the sun overhead, that image becomes a safe space. It represents a version of life where pain can be understood and slowly released.

What Happens During a Session

A typical session lasts about forty minutes. It begins with a question about color, such as “How do you feel when you see yellow?” These gentle prompts help open a space for emotional reflection. After that, children are invited to choose their materials. Some prefer crayons, others use clay, watercolors, or pencils.

Psychologists from Germany have observed that giving children the freedom to choose their medium helps restore a sense of control. Many refugee children have had their choices taken from them—what to eat, where to live, who to trust. Allowing them to decide what they want to create is healing in itself.

As the child works, the therapist listens without pressuring them to speak. Sometimes, children talk freely as they draw. Other times, they remain quiet and focused. Once the artwork is complete, the child is encouraged to name their creation. This act of naming is a subtle but powerful way of helping them reclaim their voice.

A Real Story: Amina’s Guardian Cat

One story often shared by field therapists is that of Amina, a nine-year-old girl who fled Aleppo with her family. After witnessing violence in her neighborhood, she reached a camp in Jordan. For the first week, she barely made eye contact. By the fourth week, after several art therapy sessions, Amina painted a large cat. It stood tall with sharp claws and a soft smile.

She told her therapist, “He guards me when I sleep.” That simple phrase held so much meaning. Through her artwork, Amina created a figure of protection—a character that stood watch over her in place of the people she lost. For her therapist, this marked the beginning of her emotional rebuilding.

How Organizations Help Make Art Therapy Available

Several humanitarian groups offer programs to train local teachers and volunteers in basic art-based mental health support. These groups include Save the Children, Arts Relief International, and Médecins Sans Frontières. Their approach focuses on three pillars:

Honoring existing community wisdom and involving local leaders

Selecting cultural symbols and themes that reflect the children’s backgrounds

Setting guidelines for how children’s artwork should be handled and stored safely

Such training ensures that support continues even when licensed therapists cannot be present in person.

Common Challenges and Practical Responses

Although art therapy brings many benefits, it also comes with hurdles. Camps often face three main issues:

Shortage of trained professionals
Many camps are located far from major cities. To address this, some organizations conduct remote supervision via video calls. Licensed experts guide on-site volunteers and provide feedback based on session reports.

Not enough art supplies
Instead of expensive tools, camps make use of recycled paper, cardboard, and fabric. Children create collages from old newspapers, bottle caps, or packaging materials. To supplement these efforts, access to printable coloring pages can provide ready-made creative prompts that help maintain interest and variety. This approach not only reduces costs but also encourages creativity.

Lack of understanding about therapy
In some communities, therapy may be seen as unnecessary or even shameful. Outreach workers handle this by engaging parents from the start. They organize art exhibitions to show families what their children are creating and to explain how these sessions help children cope. This builds trust and increases acceptance.

Schools, Artists, and Online Support Systems

When a new school opened on the island of Lesbos in Greece, it included an after-school art program from the beginning. Local artists, teachers, and international volunteers joined hands to support refugee children, many of whom had experienced multiple displacements.

Children from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq were asked to draw places they hoped to visit in the future. Some sketched green fields, others drew beaches or bustling cities. These artworks were later displayed online in private galleries accessible only to the children’s families and therapists. Select pieces were auctioned to raise funds for more supplies, creating a self-sustaining cycle of care.

Ongoing Research and the Science of Healing

Studies from the University of Zürich show that over 75% of children who participated in three-month-long art programs reported better sleep and fewer nightmares. Researchers are now looking deeper into how hand movement and visual stimuli impact the brain.

Specifically, they are studying the amygdala—a part of the brain responsible for fear and emotional memory. Early findings suggest that drawing, painting, and working with textures help regulate stress responses in young minds. This research may lead to digital art tools with built-in therapeutic guidance, especially useful in remote areas with limited professional care.

How Children Benefit Beyond the Session

• They express emotions more clearly without needing to talk.
• They feel proud after seeing what they have created.
• They develop coping techniques useful even outside therapy.
• They build friendships while working together on group art pieces.

The long-term impact of these sessions extends into daily life. Children who feel more confident are more likely to attend school, participate in activities, and engage with peers. These small steps matter when rebuilding emotional and social health.

Reflections on Hope and Quiet Strength

Each time a child picks up a crayon or dabs paint onto paper, something gentle begins to shift. They may not forget what they’ve seen, but they begin to make peace with it. Their drawings become windows into their hearts—places where colors speak louder than words.

As supporters, whether we are volunteers, teachers, donors, or advocates, our role is to make space for these voices. We may not understand every image, but we can witness it, honor it, and make sure the child who created it feels seen.

By nurturing creativity, we help bring comfort back into lives that were torn apart. And perhaps, over time, these moments of color and calm will help each child imagine a life filled not with fear, but with possibility.