There are things a child can’t say. Not because they are hiding them, but because they don’t have words for them yet. Drawing, music or clay do that work long before language does.
Why it works
Telling something in words means ordering it first. Drawing it doesn’t. That is why things appear on a sheet of paper that would never have come out in a conversation, and why children who draw a lot usually regulate themselves better.
There is a practical effect too: while the hands are working, the body drops its revs. Half an hour with crayons after a bad day does more than half an hour of questions.
Four specific suggestions
The drawing journal. A notebook of their own, with no rules and with nobody checking it. Some days they will draw monsters and others cars. Anything goes, and what matters is the habit, not the content.
Drawing the emotion. “What shape does anger have? What colour is it?” Putting it on paper takes it out from inside and turns it into something that can be looked at from outside.
Inventing stories with them in them. A character who resembles them and who goes through something like what they are going through. Talking about the character is infinitely easier than talking about yourself, and you end up talking about the same thing.
Music and movement. Not every child is a drawer. Some unload far better by dancing, banging a drum or singing at the top of their voice in their room. It is just as valid and sometimes more effective.
The rules that spoil everything
Don’t correct. Not the line, not the colour, not the fact that the sky is purple.
Don’t interpret out loud. “You’ve drawn mummy really small, is it that you feel lonely?” closes the door for good. If you want to know, ask about the drawing: “tell me what’s happening here”.
Don’t turn it into homework. A compulsory stretch of creating stops being a release.
Don’t show it to everyone. If they know their notebook ends up in the family group chat, they will stop putting what matters in it.
What to do when something strong appears
Sometimes a drawing comes out that gives you pause. The reaction to go for is neither alarm nor changing the subject.
What works is staying close and asking without loading it: “who’s this?”, “and what happens next?”. Very often the story resolves itself inside the drawing. And if what is behind it is serious, that is no longer material for an article or a notebook: it is material for a professional.
The materials, which matter less than you would think
You don’t need to buy anything special. Paper, wax crayons, coloured pencils and somewhere that can get messy. What does help is having it accessible, in a box at their height, so they can pick it up when they need it without asking permission.
That autonomy is half the matter: the goal isn’t for them to draw when you suggest it, but for them to know they have a way out sitting right there.
The creative projects for self-expression are developed in Corazones Valientes, Niños Sensibles.