Many studies and researches have shown that sketching enhances mood in children for a short-term. Sketching can be best used to distract kids from harbouring negative feelings and thoughts.
Drawing can elevate the mood in kids aged 6–12. Various studies examined the cause behind the mood lift and found that due to enjoyment, absorption, and going into an imaginary world the mood of children gets enhanced. They also perceive sketching to be a competition that also elevates their mood and self-confidence. Children must be spontaneously distracted to use sketching to switch from sadness to happiness.
Studies have also proved that the result is the best when sketching is used for distraction rather than expression. The studies were conducted by asking kids to draw a disappointing event or a sad event. Their moods were examined before and after the sketching session. Kids are more engaged and absorbed when asked to draw as a means to distract. They enjoy it better when drawing to distract their attention.
The findings also revealed that their mood enhanced irrespective of the type of drawing; while drawing an imaginary scene and sketching a real scene their mood improved at the same ratio. The content of the sketching distracted their mind as they focused to imagine and visualize.
Kids don’t need instructions to sketch to enhance their mood. They would rather do something going by their imagination than would take instructions to sketch the content. Art plays an important role in the regulation of emotions not just in kids but in adults too. The studies also stressed specific sketching activities that enhance mood in kids. They helped to define the traits of drawing content that best uplift the mood of kids.
A little older kids can be asked to sketch to vent out their negative feelings. This will also help elevate their mood. Sketching works in both ways, doing it to vent out emotions and doing it to distract the mind. While venting, kids can express the negative emotions that they may be harboring through sketching. Alternatively, they may sketch something unrelated to their sad emotions and get distracted. In either case, the kid switches from being sad to being happy. Some kids may also indulge in copying sketching. Even that will be helpful in keeping the kid stress-free and happy.
Again to find out if venting enhances the mood more than distraction or vice versa children were asked to sketch a sad event during a study. This induced negative emotions in them. Their mood was analyzed before and after the drawing activities. Again it was revealed that mood improved remarkably in the distracting activity than that during the venting activity. Some children also showed that copying activity did not improve their moods. It was taken more like a task.
There are a variety of simple sketching ideas for beginners that can be leveraged to enhance the mood of kids. The sketching ideas by Ignitepad mentioned below will aid in fostering creativity and positive thinking in kids.