Top 7 'Feeling-Focused' Abstract Art Styles to try with Kids When 'Use Your Words' Isn't Working
We’ve all been there. Your child is stomping around the house, a little thundercloud of frustration hanging over their head. Or maybe they’re unnaturally quiet, withdrawn, with tears welling up. You kneel down, put on your most patient parent voice, and ask the million-dolar question: “What’s wrong, sweetie? Use your words.”
And you’re met with a defiant “Nothing!” or a shoulder shrug, or a fresh wave of tears. The truth is, sometimes feelings are too big, too new, or too tangled for words to capture. For a child still developing their emotional vocabulary, being asked to “use your words” can feel like being asked to solve a complex math problem in a foreign language. It just adds more pressure to an already overwhelming situation.
This is where art, specifically abstract art, becomes more than just a craft-time activity. It becomes a new language. Abstract art frees us from the pressure of representation—we don’t need to draw a sad face to show sadness. Instead, we can paint sadness. We can scribble frustration. We can collage confusion. It’s a powerful tool for non-verbal communication for kids, allowing them to externalize what’s happening on the inside without the burden of explanation. It’s about the process, not the product; the expression, not the perfection.
Ready to open up a new channel of communication with your child? Here are seven feeling-focused abstract art styles that can help your child explore and express their emotions when words just aren't enough.
1. Action Painting (The Big Feeling Release)
Inspired by artists like Jackson Pollock, action painting is all about movement, energy, and physical release. It’s less about painting with your wrist and more about painting with your whole body. This technique is an absolute gift for children experiencing intense, high-energy emotions like anger, frustration, excitement, or pure, unadulterated joy. The physical act of dripping, flinging, splattering, and pouring paint is incredibly cathartic. It provides a safe and constructive outlet for feelings that might otherwise come out as yelling, hitting, or stomping.
Instead of bottling up that explosive energy, your child gets to channel it onto a canvas. The focus is entirely on the physical sensation of moving the paint. It’s a messy, liberating process that says, “Your big feelings are okay. In fact, they can create something powerful and interesting.” This is one of the most direct forms of emotional expression through art, turning inner turmoil or elation into a dynamic visual record.
- How to Try It: This is an outdoor activity! Lay a large canvas, an old bedsheet, or a roll of butcher paper on the grass. Water down some non-toxic tempera paints so they are fluid enough to drip and splatter. Give your child various tools: squeeze bottles, old brushes, sticks, even their hands (if you’re brave!).
- Feeling Prompts:
- For anger: "Show me what your anger looks like. Does it want to splash hard? Does it have a color?"
- For excitement: "Your body is so full of wiggles! Can you make the paint wiggle and dance all over the paper?"
- For frustration: "Let's throw all that grumpy feeling onto the canvas. Get it all out."
2. Color Field Painting (The Mood Immersion)
On the opposite end of the spectrum from the frenetic energy of action painting, we have Color Field painting. Pioneered by artists like Mark Rothko, this style uses large, solid blocks of color to create a deeply atmospheric and emotional experience. It’s not about action; it’s about immersion. This technique is perfect for exploring quieter, more nuanced, or overwhelming emotions like sadness, loneliness, calm, or deep love. It’s a way to sit with a feeling, rather than expel it.
By filling a page with a single color or a few harmonious or clashing hues, a child can create a visual representation of their internal emotional landscape. It gives them a chance to explore the "color" of their feelings. A deep, watery blue might represent a wave of sadness, while a soft, warm yellow could be the feeling of being safe and cozy. This process can be incredibly meditative and is a wonderful form of art for emotional regulation, helping to soothe a chaotic inner world.
- How to Try It: Use a large piece of paper and a big, soft brush or a sponge. Let your child choose the one, two, or three colors that feel most like their emotion right now. There's no right or wrong choice.
- Feeling Prompts:
- "If the feeling in your heart was a color right now, what would it be? Let's fill the whole page with it."
- "Let's paint a picture of what 'calm' feels like. What colors would you use?"
- "Sometimes we have more than one feeling at a time. Do your feelings want to be side-by-side, or are they mixing together?"
3. Lyrical Abstraction (The Sound of Feelings)
Have you ever noticed how a piece of music can instantly change your mood? Lyrical Abstraction, inspired by artists like Wassily Kandinsky who believed colors and shapes had corresponding sounds and emotions, is all about translating music into visual art. This is a fantastic way to help children connect their auditory sense to their emotional and creative centers. It bypasses the logical brain and taps directly into feeling.
The process is simple: you play music, and your child draws or paints what they hear. The music provides the emotional landscape, and your child’s hand becomes the interpreter. A fast, staccato piece might inspire sharp, jagged lines and bright, energetic colors. A slow, flowing symphony might lead to long, graceful curves and cool, blended blues and purples. It’s a beautiful, sensory way to explore a whole range of emotions without having to name a single one.
- How to Try It: Create a mini-playlist with varied musical styles—some classical, some upbeat pop, some quiet ambient, maybe even some dramatic movie scores. Set out a variety of drawing tools like oil pastels, crayons, or markers.
- Feeling Prompts:
- "Close your eyes and just listen for a moment. Now, let your hand dance on the paper to the music."
- "What color is this song? What kind of line does it make?"
- "Does this music feel happy? Sad? A little bit scary? Let's draw that feeling."
4. Gestural Abstraction (The Unfiltered Mark)
Sometimes, an emotion is a quick, sharp burst. Other times, it’s a low, continuous hum. Gestural abstraction is about capturing that raw, immediate quality of a feeling through the simple act of making a mark. Think of it as emotional handwriting. Artists like Cy Twombly are famous for their "scribbles," which are packed with energy and emotion. This is one of the most accessible kids art therapy activities because it requires minimal setup and has zero expectations.
The beauty of this style is its immediacy. There’s no planning, no thinking about what to draw—just feeling and moving. A tight, angry scribble, a light and loopy happy swirl, a heavy and slow line of sadness—each gesture is a direct translation of an inner state. In my work as Goh Ling Yong, I’ve found this method to be incredibly effective for kids who are feeling "stuck" and can't even begin to describe what's wrong. The simple act of making a mark can be the first step to release.
- How to Try It: All you need is paper and something to make a mark with—a thick piece of charcoal, a dark crayon, or a chunky marker works well.
- Feeling Prompts:
- "Think about that feeling in your tummy. Without lifting your crayon from the paper, draw what that feeling's movement is like."
- "Let’s do a 'feeling race.' I'll say a feeling, like 'excited,' and you draw the fastest, most excited line you can!"
- "Close your eyes. Just let your hand move and show me what's going on inside."
5. Geometric Abstraction (The Order in Chaos)
When a child’s inner world feels chaotic and out of control, imposing a little bit of structure can be incredibly grounding. This might sound counterintuitive for emotional expression, but geometric abstraction—using shapes like squares, circles, and triangles—can help a child organize and "contain" their big feelings. Artists like Piet Mondrian used grids and primary colors to create a sense of harmony and balance.
By using pre-defined shapes, your child can explore their feelings within a safe and predictable framework. The act of stamping, arranging, and creating patterns with shapes can be very calming for an anxious mind. It gives them a sense of agency and control. They can decide how the shapes fit together, whether they overlap in a jumble or line up in neat rows, providing a visual metaphor for processing and sorting through complex emotions.
- How to Try It: Use blocks dipped in paint, cut sponges into various shapes, or even use shape stencils.
- Feeling Prompts:
- "If your worry was a shape, what would it be? Let's make a picture using only that shape. We can give the worry a place to be."
- "Let's build your happy feeling with these blocks of color. Where does each piece go?"
- "Do your feelings feel neat and tidy like a pattern, or messy and all over the place like a pile of shapes?"
6. Abstract Collage (The Texture of Emotion)
Feelings aren’t just abstract concepts; we experience them physically. Anxiety can feel like butterflies in the stomach, anger can feel hot and prickly, and comfort can feel soft and warm. An abstract collage is a form of sensory art for children that allows them to explore these physical dimensions of emotion. It moves beyond paint and incorporates a variety of textures and materials.
The process of finding, tearing, cutting, and gluing different materials can be wonderfully therapeutic. It engages the sense of touch, connecting the child to their feelings in a tangible way. A piece of rough sandpaper could represent frustration, while soft cotton balls could be sadness. Crinkly aluminum foil might be anxiety, and smooth, cool fabric could be calm. This is about building a feeling, piece by piece.
- How to Try It: Create a "texture box" or a collage tray filled with various materials: fabric scraps, sandpaper, corrugated cardboard, foil, yarn, cotton balls, buttons, dried leaves, etc. Provide a sturdy piece of paper or cardboard and a glue stick or liquid glue.
- Feeling Prompts:
- "Let's find a texture that feels the way you feel inside. Is it rough? Soft? Bumpy? Smooth?"
- "Can you make a picture of your argument with your brother using only scratchy and hard things?"
- "Let's create a 'calm down' collage using only the softest, smoothest materials we can find."
7. Watercolor Bleeding (The Art of Letting Go)
The wet-on-wet watercolor technique, where paint is applied to wet paper, is a magical and often unpredictable process. The colors bloom, bleed, and blend in ways you can’t fully control, making it a beautiful metaphor for emotions, which often feel just as fluid and uncontrollable. As a process art advocate, I, Goh Ling Yong, love this technique because it teaches a valuable life lesson: the beauty of letting go.
For a child who feels a need to control everything or is frustrated when things don't go their way, this art style can be a gentle exercise in acceptance. It’s a quiet, mesmerizing activity that’s perfect for winding down and exploring feelings of wonder, dreaminess, or even confusion. Watching the colors merge and create new, unexpected shades can be a profoundly calming experience, showing that when things mix together, the result can still be beautiful.
- How to Try It: Use thick watercolor paper that can handle a lot of water. Wet the entire page with a clean brush or sponge. Then, let your child use a brush or a dropper to add drops of liquid watercolor to the wet page.
- Feeling Prompts:
- "Let's just watch what the colors do. See how they run and dance together? Sometimes feelings are like that too."
- "What happens when your 'happy' yellow touches your 'sad' blue? Let's see."
- "This painting is a surprise. We don't know exactly how it will turn out, and that's okay. Let's just enjoy the process."
Art is a Language of the Heart
The next time your child is struggling and "use your words" isn't working, remember that they have other languages available to them. The goal of these activities isn't to create a masterpiece for the fridge, but to open a door to their inner world. It's about providing a safe, judgment-free space where they can pour out their feelings onto paper.
Your role in this process is not to be an art critic or a psychoanalyst trying to interpret their work. Your role is to be a supportive witness. To provide the materials, to sit with them, and to validate their expression by saying, "Wow, you used so much red. That looks like a very strong feeling." You’re not just making art; you’re building connection and emotional intelligence, one brushstroke at a time.
Now I’d love to hear from you. Which one of these feeling-focused art styles are you most excited to try with your child? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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