Trauma-Informed Art Activities for Early Childhood

Anna Reyner has captured the essence of wonderful art teaching practices using her conversational, easy to read approach. Her deep knowledge base, wide experiences, personal stories, fun quizzes and very practical art solutions puts her book into the ‘must read’ category. Anna sings the song of joyful art practices that can be used to understand trauma, soothe emotions, and calm the body and mind. The relevance of using art to support children (and adults) who have experienced trauma is insightful and very important in today’s world. This book will change lives. – Kathryn Murray, Founder of Future Strong EducationA new informed perspective on art therapy. Her work is creative, easy to read and adoptable for early childhood programming. Reyner’s work is robust, creative and will certainly be a great help for young children who have endured traumatic situations. – Dawn D’Amico; LCSW, PhD educator and authorIn this rare find, early childhood expert and art therapist Anna Reyner empowers us with a broad understanding of trauma, how it can manifest in art, and how art can be used to build resilience. She leaves no stone unturned in sharing her expertise with the public - even shedding practical light on red flags in art and how art therapists interpret drawings. Every early childhood educator should have this book. – Ping Ho, MA, MPH – Founder and Director, Arts & Healing InitiativeAnna Reyner has given us a generous gift that dares us all to make a difference. This must-read primer on using art as a tool for healing effortlessly translates cutting-edge therapeutic insights on the neuroscience of art into practical and achievable actions. Readers of all backgrounds will find it an enjoyable read that is jam-packed with useful suggestions to support the creative spirit in all of us. – Cathy Salser, Artist and Founder of Trauma healing programme: A Window Between Worlds

Anna Reyner is a Registered Art Therapist and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has successfully merged the principles of art therapy into early childhood education and specializes in helping teachers add trauma informed art into their classrooms. Anna is the author of two awarding winning books, Smart Art and Smart Art 2, and has presented over 800 trainings at state, national and international conferences in her 40 years as a teacher, art therapist and mental health advocate. She owns a professional development training company called CreativePlayLA, offering virtual and in-person professional development workshops in early childhood education.