Art-Based Therapy Activities for Children
Drawing, painting and making are used here as a way to practise sitting, asking, waiting and settling — not as a gallery class, and not as a licensed art-therapy clinic.
Written by the Inclusive Developmental and Therapy Center therapy team · medically reviewed by Dr Muhammad Suffyan, MB BS (GMC 8023727) · Last reviewed September 2026
About Art Therapy
Art-based work at Inclusive Developmental and Therapy Center on MPS Road, Block A Model Town, Multan is drawing, painting and making used as a teaching medium — sitting at a table, asking for a colour, waiting a turn, finishing a short task. It is not a gallery class. It is not a registered art-therapy clinic. Contact owner Muhammad Salman Afzal first; faculty includes Mahnoor Baloch. A consultation is Rs 1,500 and lasts up to 50 minutes.
Parents usually arrive with a sentence, not a diagnosis: he will not sit, she only scribbles, he destroys every worksheet. Art is often the door that child will walk through when a workbook will not. We still write goals you can see — one sit, one request, one finished mark — and review them.
Sessions run in Urdu or English, Monday to Friday, for children from about three to sixteen. You do not need a diagnosis. If a child needs a registered art therapist, we will say so rather than stretch our label.
Who this is for
- Children who will not sit for table work but will sit for paint or playdough
- Autistic children who need a way to request, wait and recover from a no
- ADHD and high energy, when a short making task is kinder than a worksheet
- Fine-motor and pencil-control practice that does not start as handwriting homework
- Children who melt down at “work” but will make a mark if the materials feel safe
- School-readiness sitting and task completion, practised at a real table
Is this registered art therapy?
No. Registered art therapy is a licensed profession. We do not employ a registered art therapist. What we run is art as skill-building inside special education, ABA, school-readiness and psychology sessions — the same honesty we use for motor skills, which are not licensed occupational therapy either.
If a child’s needs point to clinical arts psychotherapy, trauma work that belongs with a registered therapist, or a medical opinion, we say so. Drawing is not a diagnosis and it is not a cure. There is a research literature on registered art therapy; it is mixed, it is about a different profession, and we do not borrow it.
What actually gets practised
A short sit. Asking for a colour or a tool. Waiting while glue dries. Finishing one mark rather than covering the whole page. Cleaning up one thing. That is the work — not a pretty picture for the fridge unless that picture was the child’s goal.
- Sitting tolerance at a table, in minutes not a whole lesson
- Requesting — a word, a picture, a reach for the paint
- Turn-taking with one adult, then one peer
- Fine motor: grip, squeeze, snip, stick
- A way to show a feeling without a lecture about feelings
How it sits next to the rest of the plan
Art hours sit under the plan written after the owner’s consultation. School-facing sitting and pre-writing often go to psychologist Akasha Tariq. ABA hours, when behaviour is the wall, sit with Noor Fatima. Related services: special education, school readiness, social skills.
What a parent can try at the kitchen table this week
One crayon and a piece of paper small enough to finish. Playdough and a “one ball” goal. Stickers the child has to request. Stop while it is still going well. If it only works with a cupboard of craft supplies you will not open on Tuesday, it is the wrong activity. The cluster page art at home is the longer list. Parent coaching can watch you do it live.
Do not correct the scribble first. A scribble they chose and finished is a sit and a stop. Letters and “that does not look like a house” come later, if they come at all.
What we will not claim
We will not say art treats autism, trauma or ADHD. We will not sell a programme whose only goal is a fridge picture or more eye contact. If a paediatrician or a registered art therapist is the honest next step, we say so — even though that means sending you out of our door.
Deeper pages: what a session looks like, autism, school readiness.
How this programme works, in more depth
Each of these pages is one slice of the work — a session, who it is for, or what to try at home — linked back to this service.
What a session actually looks like
- 1You tell us what happens at the table at home — refuses, scribbles, rips, or will not start.
- 2We pick one material the child will actually touch, and one goal for this week (a sit, a request, a finished mark).
- 3The child makes. We prompt, then fade. The adult does not finish the picture for them.
- 4You leave with one activity to try at the kitchen table, not a craft kit for Pinterest.
Take a worksheet home
Print one sheet. Fill it in this week. Bring it to the consultation — a consultation is Rs 1,500 and lasts up to 50 minutes.
Home practice log
One skill, a few minutes, one line of what happened. Bring it next time.
Motor skills checklist
Big movements, small ones, and everyday self-care.
Book a consultation
Contact owner Muhammad Salman Afzal first. No referral needed. A consultation is Rs 1,500 and lasts up to 50 minutes.
The idea behind the work (in the books)
We use drawing as a sit, a request and a finished mark — not as registered art psychotherapy. These books are the teaching ideas. We do not employ a registered art therapist.
Lowenfeld — Creative and Mental Growth
Viktor Lowenfeld described drawing stages (scribble, tadpole people, later detail) as observation, not as a test to pass. A scribble they chose and finished is a sit and a stop. We do not mark a four-year-old down for still scribbling.
Exner — in-hand manipulation
Charlotte Exner’s work on how fingers move an object inside one hand is the floor under a pencil grip. Playdough, a small crayon, stickers to peel — those are in-hand practice, not a craft. Formal handwriting still sits with motor and daily skills.
Cooper, Heron and Heward — task analysis
Sitting, requesting a colour, one mark, then stop is a chain. We teach the last step first when we can (the finished mark) and fade the prompt. The picture is the by-product.
What the research tells us
This isn’t just our opinion — it’s grounded in published research. Here are a few findings from trusted, independent sources:
Novak and Honan’s systematic review of paediatric occupational therapy found strong evidence that task-specific handwriting practice improves handwriting. That finding is about repeated, specific practice of the skill — which is what a short, finished mark at a table is for. It is not evidence for registered art therapy, and Inclusive does not employ a licensed occupational therapist or a registered art therapist.
— Novak and Honan, Australian Occupational Therapy Journal (2019). View source
Other ways we can help
Speech Therapy
Help for late talkers, unclear speech, stammering and language delay, through play your child enjoys.
Motor & Daily Skills
Motor, handwriting and self-care skills, built up through purposeful play.
ABA Therapy
ABA and positive-behaviour support for autism, ADHD and hard-to-manage behaviour.
Art Therapy: your questions answered
Do you have a registered art therapist?
No. We say that on the page. Art here is a teaching medium used by our special education, ABA, school-readiness and psychology team. If your child needs a registered art therapist, we will help you look rather than pretend we are one.
Will my child come home with a perfect picture?
Not as the goal. The goal is sitting, asking, finishing. A picture can be messy and the session still a success.
Is this instead of handwriting practice?
It can be the floor under handwriting — grip, sitting, a mark that ends. Formal handwriting work still sits with motor and daily skills and special education.
What if they eat the paint or will not touch anything wet?
Then we change the material. Dry media, a closed glue stick, or playdough they already accept. Sensory load is real — see sensory support. We do not push through a gag.
How is this different from an art class?
A class wants a product. We want a sit, a request and a stop. The adult does not finish the picture. Contact owner Muhammad Salman Afzal first; the plan is written after that consultation.
Does art treat autism or trauma?
No. We will not say that. Drawing is not a diagnosis and it is not a cure. Trauma work that belongs with a registered art therapist or a clinical psychologist is referred, not stretched to fit this hour.
Worried about your child? Let’s talk.
A short, friendly conversation is the best first step. Call, text or WhatsApp us — we’ll listen and guide you, with no pressure.
MPS Road, Block A Model Town, Multan (near Bloomfield Hall School, Street No. 2) · Mon–Fri, 2 PM – 6 PM