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Ask a child to draw what they fear and you might get angry dogs, spiders or the dark. The sky might be filled with scary lightning.

But when Syrian children were asked the same question, they drew blood, bullets and bodies. The skies in their pictures showed fighter planes and falling bombs.

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Drawing is one of the techniques used by aid agency to help these traumatised children deal with the horror of what they have witnessed.

The organisation works with partners in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey to support tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. The psychosocial support also involves children playing games or making puppets to help them express their feelings.

Alan Thomlinson, CAFODÂ鶹APP™s Emergency Manager for the Syria Crisis, said: Â鶹APPœThese pictures show what life is like for a whole generation of Syrian children. The conflictÂ鶹APP™s been going on for longer than the First World War and bombs and guns have become part of daily life.

Â鶹APPœItÂ鶹APP™s easy to see why so many families want to build a new life in Europe. What parent wants their child to grow up in constant fear?Â鶹APP�

CAFOD is a member of Â鶹APP“ a group of more than 160 Catholic agencies worldwide. Caritas SyriaÌýstarted going to four schools in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, which has been hit by heavy mortar fire since the conflict began more than four years ago. Caritas staff visits the schools three times a week and asked the students to express their emotions through the drawings.

At least 5.6 million Syrian children are in need of aid inside the country, according to the United Nations, while two million children are out of school. More than one million more are out of school in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan and to get them into education.

More than four million Syrians Â鶹APP“ half of them children Â鶹APP“ have fled the country since the conflict started. As the war continues, more and more Syrian parents are making the choice to risk the trip to Europe rather than stay.

Mohammed, a 35-year-old father of two who fled from Syria to Turkey, said: Â鶹APPœOne of the reasons I left home was because my little girl had started to recognise the noises outside. She could tell what machines they were Â鶹APP“ which ones were a tank, which ones were a machine gun, which ones were a bomb from the sky.

Â鶹APPœChildren are supposed to know about school and TV. About eating sweets and playing with friends. But instead they learn the sounds of war.Â鶹APP�

Krist, 13, is a refugee living in Lebanon. His mother said: Â鶹APPœKrist still has flashbacks. HeÂ鶹APP™s starting to hallucinate. He sees people with long red nails who want to suffocate him. He has phobias. He has a nervous tick.

Â鶹APPœHe wonÂ鶹APP™t let anyone open the door and heÂ鶹APP™s afraid of the dark. While heÂ鶹APP™s sleeping, he leaps around. He is very afraid. He panics. He is too shy to express how heÂ鶹APP™s feeling.Â鶹APP�

Catherine Cowley, Protection Coordinator for CAFOD, says: Â鶹APPœYoung children cope with difficult situations very differently from adults. They rarely talk about the way they feel but show their feelings through the way they act. Some are withdrawn and quiet, others are angry and aggressive. Some draw pictures showing what is on their mind.

Â鶹APPœCounselling, psychosocial support, child-friendly spaces and catch-up lessons at school can make a huge difference to children, helping them to cope, to have fun and to live with a semblance of normality.

Â鶹APPœBut a whole generation is at risk. For the sake of these children, the international community needs to redouble its efforts to find a breakthrough that could one day lead to peace.Â鶹APP�

Sandra Awad from Caritas Syria said: Â鶹APPœAfter seeing these drawings, what can I say about the children in my country?ÌýThey are perhaps the weakest ones in this war. They are like a sponge that absorbs all the war and stores it inside.

Â鶹APPœThe killing, destruction, devastation, fear and loss of loved ones dig deep into their innocent hearts. What are those bad things hiding inside them going to be in the future?Â鶹APP�