Throughout history, creative expression has been one way that people have expressed their emotions. In the 20th century, artist Adrian Hill coined the term ‘art therapy’ when he saw that people suffering with tuberculosis found an outlet in creativity that they couldn’t find anywhere else. Since then, art therapy has developed into a treatment option that can be used to support people with various mental health conditions. More recently, researchers have sought to explore how art and creativity promotes wellbeing in community settings such as schools and youth groups (Moula, Powell, & Karkou, 2020; Moula, 2021; Efstathopoulou, & Bungay 2021). Click the links below to see how the arts have been shown to have a positive impact on different aspects of children’s wellbeing.
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is an important aspect of wellbeing upon which creative expression and arts engagement have been found to have a positive impact. Mak and Fancourt (2019) found that self-esteem increased in children when they regularly engaged with music, drawing, painting or reading at home with their parents. Similarly, engagement with music, poetry and drama has a positive impact on self-esteem across multiple dimensions (personal, social, academic and parental) in university students (Yücesan, E., & Şendurur, Y, 2018). These findings suggest that engaging with different art forms can support to improve the wellbeing of both adults and children in their local environments.
Mak, H.W. and Fancourt, D., 2019. Arts engagement and self‐esteem in children: results from a propensity score matching analysis. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1449(1), pp.36-45.
Yücesan, E., & Şendurur, Y. (2018). Effects of music therapy, poetry therapy, and creative drama applications on self-esteem levels of college students. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 31(1), 26-39.
Identity
Narrative storytelling is a creative tool that has been found to be beneficial for developing identity as it helps young people to process and engage with their life experiences. This is especially important for people belonging to marginalised groups who often experience several difficult life experiences that pre-dispose them to mental health difficulties. Anderson & Mack (2019) found that a digital storytelling program for young Black Americans from disadvantaged backgrounds helped them to create positive and promising identity systems. Similarly, research has found that poetry and creative writing was a positive identity formation tool for at-risk youth and youth from lower economic backgrounds (Mazza 2012 & and Clauss-Ehlers 2020).
Anderson, K. M., & Mack, R. (2019). Digital storytelling: A narrative method for positive identity development in minority youth. Social Work with Groups, 42(1), 43-55.
Mazza, N. (2012). Poetry/creative writing for an arts and athletics community outreach program for at-risk youth. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 25(4), 225-231.
School engagement
As children spend a majority of their time in school, how they feel about and engage with school is an important aspect of their wellbeing. Research by Clark and Basilio 2021 showed that opportunities for playfulness and creativity at school enhance wellbeing and their sense of connectedness with others and with school. This was true especially for adolescents for whom playfulness at school is often discouraged. Their findings show that creating space for artistic exercises at school create those opportunities for playfulness and that the availability of these opportunities predicted how satisfied the young people felt at school.
Clarke, T., & Basilio, M. (2018). Do arts subjects matter for secondary school students’ wellbeing? The role of creative engagement and playfulness. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 29, 97-114.
Resilience
The ability to manage difficult life events is an important skill that supports mental health and wellbeing throughout our lifetimes. In a rapid review of the research exploring the relationship between art and resilience, Zarobe, & Bungay, (2017) show how art engagement and creative expression supports children and young people to develop resilience through the development of self-esteem, confidence, relationships and belonging.
Zarobe, L., & Bungay, H. (2017). The role of arts activities in developing resilience and mental wellbeing in children and young people a rapid review of the literature. Perspectives in public health, 137(6), 337-347.
Emotional expression
Exploring the mechanisms behind why creativity promotes emotional expression, Keeling, M. L., & Bermudez, M. (2006) identified that creative exercises allow for the positive externalisation of problems. They found that engaging creative exercises such as narrative writing or sculpting provide a way for young people to see their problems outside of themselves, regain a sense of agency over their challenges and perceive their problems in new ways.
Keeling, M. L., & Bermudez, M. (2006). Externalizing problems through art and writing: Experience of process and helpfulness. Journal of marital and family therapy, 32(4), 405-419.
Connection to nature
Research which explores the relationship between arts, wellbeing and nature is slowly emerging. Recent research shows that artistic practise can be used outdoors to facilitate connectedness to nature which is another element of wellbeing. Moula, Palmer, & Walshe (2022), conducted a systematic review exploring the interrelated research between arts and nature and found that arts in nature methods engage both adults and young people with the environment, facilitate environmental awareness and reduce eco-anxiety.
Moula, Z., Palmer, K., & Walshe, N. (2022). A Systematic Review of Arts-Based Interventions Delivered to Children and Young People in Nature or Outdoor Spaces: Impact on Nature Connectedness, Health and Wellbeing. Frontiers in psychology, 13.
Living with disability
There is a growing movement within rehabilitation using art and creativity to shift away from seeing physical ability as the main determinant of wellbeing. In a scoping review of the research exploring the use of visual-art practice in the rehabilitation of children with disabilities, it was found that engagement with art programs increases psycho-social wellbeing (Edwards, Smart, King, Curran, & Kingsnorth, 2020).
Edwards, B. M., Smart, E., King, G., Curran, C. J., & Kingsnorth, S. (2020). Performance and visual arts-based programs for children with disabilities: a scoping review focusing on psychosocial outcomes. Disability and rehabilitation, 42(4), 574-585.
Arts and wellbeing activities to try in the classroom
- Zine-making on the theme of ‘understanding wellbeing’
- Drawing activity where you draw things that help you feel better when sad
- Writing a story together about someone overcoming fears
- Collecting natural objects from the playground (e.g., leaves, flowers, stones) and writing poems about them
- Using collage to explore ‘big’ and ‘small’ emotions (i.e., emotions that make us feel big such as anger, pride or happiness, and emotions that make us feel small such as sadness or guilt)
- Mindful colouring activities
- Watch the film ‘Inside Out’
