Discover gentle questions to ask children about their art to encourage emotional expression, explore feelings and build a stronger connection through creativity.
When a child sits down with pens and a blank sheet of paper, they aren’t always just drawing. Sometimes, their artwork can offer a glimpse into their inner world, as they share thoughts, memories and emotions they might not yet have the words to describe.
Creative activities like this are about so much more than simply keeping children entertained, as we know play has such an important role in children’s emotional and social development.
The following activity invites your child to build a world entirely of their own making. Then, by pairing their creativity with a few open-ended questions, you can step into their imagination, wonder alongside them and deepen your connection.
It is inspired by ideas used in therapeutic work with art and imagination. However, it’s important to remember that it isn’t a substitute for professional play therapy or individual mental health support.
Here’s how to get started.
In This Post
The drawing activity: Create your own world
This activity invites your child to imagine and draw a world of their own.
What you’ll need
• Paper or a sketchbook
• Pencils, crayons, felt-tip pens or paints
• A comfortable space where you can spend some uninterrupted time together
How to do it
1. Invite your child to imagine a world of their own.
Invite your child to create a picture of a world or place of their choosing.
Explain to them that this world can be anywhere they want. It could be somewhere they’ve visited, a place they would love to go, an imaginary landscape or somewhere exotic and entirely different from the world they know.
It can be inside or outside.
It might include family members or friends, people they’ve never met before or fantasy characters. Their world might be busy and full of people, or it could be a quiet place where they can be alone.
Their world can be from a dream or a memory and it can be filled with absolutely anything they want. It can have animals – pets or wild creatures, or toys or anything else they fancy.
There are no rules about what their picture should look like.
2. Let your child choose how to create it.
Offer a selection of art materials and allow your child to choose whichever they prefer. Reassure them that they can use any colours, shapes or drawing styles they like.
Don’t be tempted to guide the content of the picture or encourage them to include particular people, objects or feelings.
Let your child know that there are no right or wrong ways to create their picture. It’s their own little world, and they can decide what it looks like and what belongs in it.
3. Give them time and space.
Allow your child to work at their own pace. Ten minutes might be enough for some children, while others may want longer.
You can sit nearby and enjoy your own quiet activity, or simply give them room to create.
When they finish, ask whether they’d like to show you their picture. If they do, you can use the following questions to invite a conversation.
Seven Gentle Questions to Ask Children About Their Art
Here are seven gentle questions to help you wonder alongside your child.
There are no right or wrong answers, and your child doesn’t have to answer every question.
Choose the questions that feel natural, pay attention to your child’s responses and be willing to leave the conversation there if they’ve had enough.
Follow their lead, listen with curiosity, and let them decide what they want to share.
1. Would you like to tell me about your picture?
Start with an open invitation.
You might say:
• “What’s happening in your picture?”
• “Can you show me around your world?”
• “If your picture had a title, what might you call it?”
Give your child time to respond without filling every silence. They might have a whole story to tell you, or they might simply point out a few details.
Try to listen with curiosity, without making assumptions about what your child has drawn.
Let your child decide whether there’s a story to tell.
2. Is there anything in your picture you’d like to imagine being?
If your child enjoys imaginative play, invite them to choose something in their drawing to pretend to be.
You could ask:
• “If you could become anything in your picture, what would you choose?”
• “Would you like to imagine being one of the characters or creatures or objects?”
• “What would you like to pretend to be for a little while?”
Your child might choose a dragon, a tree, a person, a cloud or something you hadn’t even noticed.
Children choose characters and objects for all sorts of reasons, including curiosity, humour, personal interests and simple enjoyment. But usually the symbol they choose resonates with them in some meaningful way.
They might also decide that they don’t want to play this game. That’s absolutely fine.
3. What’s it like to be that character or part of your world?
If your child is happy to continue pretending, invite them to tell you more about their chosen character or object.
Depending on what they’ve chosen, you might ask:
• “What do they look like?”
• “What is a day in their life like?”
• “What are they doing in the picture?”
• “Who do they spend time with?”
• “What’s their favourite thing about this world?”
Follow your child’s imagination rather than trying to steer the story towards a particular subject.
Sometimes children spontaneously connect an imaginary story to something that has happened in their lives. At other times, their stories remain entirely fictional.
Both are okay.
If your child shares something personal, listen with warmth and interest. You don’t need to search for a deeper meaning or decide what their creative choices say about them.
4. How might your character or chosen thing be feeling in the picture?
You could invite your child to imagine how their character might be feeling.
For example:
• “How do you think your character feels in this place?”
• “What makes them feel that way in your story?”
• “What might help them if they’re having a difficult day?”
Your child might describe a happy character, a frightened creature, someone who feels left out or someone who is perfectly content.
This question can also provide a gentle opportunity to explore feelings in a general, imaginative way. For instance, if your child describes a character who feels lonely, you might talk together about what friendship and companionship can look like.
If they volunteer a connection to their own life, listen and acknowledge what they’ve said without pressing them to explain more than they want to.
5. Have you ever felt a little like that character?
This question needs a gentle touch, because children should never feel that they’re expected to reveal personal feelings through their artwork.
If the conversation is flowing naturally, you could offer a low-pressure invitation:
“Have you ever felt a bit like that, or is this just part of your story?”
You could also make it easier for your child to decline by adding, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Your child might make a connection between the character and their own experiences. They might say no, change the subject or carry on telling you about their imaginary world.
All of these responses are perfectly okay.
If they do share a feeling or experience, try to listen before offering advice or looking for a solution. You might respond with something like:
• “Thank you for telling me.”
• “That sounds like it was difficult.”
• “I’m glad you told me how you feel.”
• “Would you like me to listen, or would you like us to think about what might help?”
You don’t need to turn the conversation into a problem-solving exercise straight away.
And if your child doesn’t want to talk about themselves, don’t assume that their character’s story is a disguised account of their own life. Allowing children to keep their imaginative worlds private can be just as important as inviting them to share.
6. If you could add a few words to your picture, what would you choose?
Invite your child to add a title, a sentence, a speech bubble or a few words to their artwork, if they’d like to.
You could ask:
• “Would you like to give your picture a title?”
• “Is there anything you’d like your characters to say?”
• “Would you like to write a little story to go with it?”
Younger children might prefer to dictate their words to you or simply tell you what they’d like written down. Older children might enjoy adding their own captions or creating a short story.
7. Is there anything else you’d like to tell me about your picture?
Finish by leaving the conversation open.
You might ask, “Is there anything else you’d like me to know about your picture?” Or you could simply say, “Thank you for showing me your world.”
Give your child the opportunity to share more if they wish, without expecting them to have something else to say.
They might add another detail to their story, tell you about something that inspired them or decide they’re ready to move on to another activity.
Sometimes, the most supportive response is to enjoy the picture together, thank your child for letting you see it and leave it at that.
If your child enjoys creative activities like this one, you might also like to explore these 21 Play Therapy-Inspired Activities to Help Your Child Explore Their Feelings, with more playful ideas to encourage emotional expression and connection at home.
Respect The Mystery of Your Child’s Art
When children share their drawings with us, it’s natural to feel curious about what they’ve created and what it might mean. We might wonder why they’ve used particular colours, drawn certain people or included specific details. We might even find ourselves trying to work out whether their picture reveals something about how they’re feeling or has a deeper meaning.
In therapeutic work with children, we recognise that adults don’t necessarily know what a particular drawing, image or play scenario means to the child. Even if something seems obvious to us, its meaning may be entirely different from what we imagine. The child is the person best placed to tell us about their own creation, if they choose to.
This is why open-ended questions are so helpful. Rather than telling your child what you think their picture represents, give them the opportunity to share their own ideas. You might discover a story you hadn’t imagined, hear about something that matters to them or simply find out that they enjoyed drawing a particular character!
So, one of the most important things we can do is resist the urge to interpret their artwork for them.
And remember, children don’t always need to explain their creations. Sometimes they simply want to enjoy drawing, imagining and expressing themselves without having to put everything into words.
As adults, our role isn’t to solve a puzzle or uncover a hidden meaning. It’s to provide a warm, accepting space where children feel free to create, explore and make sense of their feelings through art if they wish.
Children don’t need us to explain their creations to them. They need the freedom to explore their own ideas and decide what, if anything, they want to share.
I love the reminder “Respect the mystery of the child’s play.”
I think this is something worth remembering when we look at children’s artwork, too. We don’t need to understand everything they create, or find meaning in every detail. Sometimes, the most valuable thing we can do is simply show an interest, follow their lead and allow them to be the experts in their own little worlds.
It’s not about understanding every picture. It’s about helping children feel that their ideas, imagination and feelings are welcome.
Closing Thoughts: Honouring Their World
When your child finishes sharing their world, you don’t need to pack it away with a grand conclusion or a lesson learned. Sometimes, the most meaningful thing you can do is simply let the picture exist as it is.
By sitting with them, listening without judgement and showing an interest in what they’ve created, you’re giving your child an opportunity to feel heard, valued and accepted. You haven’t just helped them create a piece of art—you’ve built a bridge of connection and trust that will last long after the paint dries and the pens are put away.
Thank them for letting you in, find a special place to display or safe-keep their creation, and enjoy the closeness you’ve built together today.
If you’d like more simple, real-life ways to support your child’s emotions, I share ideas, insights, and tools like this regularly. You can join below and I’ll send them straight to your inbox.
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