Drawing is not only an entertainment and activity for children, but also an important communication channel. Children directly reflect their feelings and thoughts about what is happening in the outside world and around them in their paintings. Pictures, which constitute a simple and effective means of expression for them, also constitute important data for psychological evaluations. At the same time, it is possible to obtain much clearer information about cognitive, developmental and emotional processes through image analysis than can be obtained by talking to a child. For this reason, picture analyzes should be included during psychological evaluations, and parents should obtain basic information about children’s pictures and consult experts when unusual figures and themes are encountered.
Why Are Children’s Drawings Important?
Painting activity is a non-verbal language for children. For children who have not yet reached sufficient developmental proficiency in verbal skills, it is a much easier way to express their feelings and thoughts through painting. More than an activity for children, paintings reflect both the way of thinking and the content of the thoughts. It is possible to recognize the inner world to a certain extent through picture analysis in children who have difficulty in communicating verbally due to their personal characteristics, as well as being young. Children prefer drawing as a way of explaining their complex world, which they try to organize in their own way. These pictures also contain indicators of mental development. Although drawings are generally a way of representing something in the child’s world, it should be known that in some cases, there may be patterns or doodles that do not have any representational nature or purpose. In the pictures, it is possible to find clues about the problems children have with other children or the adults around them and the ways they solve these problems. At the same time, because it is a fun and interesting activity, drawing is a behavior that children are curious about and want to do again and again. Therefore, by evaluating a large number of drawings together, it becomes possible to detect repeated elements and the reliability of image analysis increases significantly. For all these reasons, children’s drawings are very valuable resources for getting to know children and performing psychological analysis, and constitute an important diagnostic tool in psychiatry.
Analysis of Children’s Drawings, Colors and Figures
It is possible to use many markers, from lines to sizes, shapes to colors, in the analysis of children’s drawings. It is very important to evaluate these according to the child’s age and mental health status in order to make an accurate analysis. For this reason, the analysis of children’s drawings must be carried out by experts trained in this field. Drawings made by children between the ages of 1-4 are generally in the form of simple doodles. These are often random, playful drawings and include lines and colors. Children between the ages of 4 and 7 fall into the pre-schema period group in picture analysis. When these children are asked to draw a person, they usually create a simple human figure consisting of a round head and feet. Around the age of four, they begin to draw a figure with a head, arms and legs, called a stick figure. With advancing age, the development of the child’s imagination and manual skills is also reflected in the pictures. For example, a child who draws a house will begin to draw it in different ways.
By the age of six, the child’s drawings begin to include a subject. The child, who draws his picture within the framework of a subject, can also describe his picture verbally. After this stage, certain factors such as the size of the picture, the exaggerated or very small drawings used, and the colors used give important clues about the child’s inner world. Exaggeratedly large pictures are usually drawn by children who are aggressive and have poor self-control. At the same time, uncontrolled use of the entire page is also observed in hyperactive children. Drawings as small as a few centimeters are often seen in children who are timid, shy and have low self-esteem. For them, the feeling of insecurity is symbolized by small sizes. However, rarely, some children with low self-esteem may draw exaggeratedly large pictures when expressing their desire to be stronger, and similarly, aggressive children may draw small-sized pictures due to low self-esteem. In order to make a correct interpretation, it is beneficial to evaluate the verbal evaluations together.
Situations such as the presence of exaggerated body parts in a human figure in the drawings drawn by the child, excessive detail in some areas or the use of thick lines in various parts can be used in the interpretation of the child’s inner world, taking into account the regions where these differences exist. In addition, colors are also important tools in interpreting the picture. For example, happy feelings are generally represented by yellow tones, feelings of sadness by brown, angry and aggressive attitudes by red, feelings of harmony and affection by colors such as pink, orange and yellow, and feelings of pressure and strain by cold tones such as black, blue and green. However, it should be known that children use their favorite colors intensively in their paintings, regardless of their emotions. Since it is possible that the child prefers certain colors due to personal tastes, it would not be correct to evaluate the use of these colors as having any positive or negative meaning.
Family Phenomenon and Social Relations in Children’s Paintings
It has been a known fact since the 1930s that family pictures contain important indicators of children’s personalities and the problems they experience in their inner worlds. These paintings often reflect the feelings felt towards mothers, fathers and siblings, and the relationships between people in the family. Analysis of the symbols, lines and colors in these pictures has become much more widespread recently, as they contain emotions and thoughts about the family environment, which has a great place in understanding child psychology. Since family pictures contain more than one human figure, the differences between the figures can be used effectively to understand the feelings felt by the people. Children can draw family members in different sizes and places and place physical barriers between these individuals. Particularly tendencies such as confining the individuals in the picture to a place or positioning oneself away from this person may mean that the child’s feelings of protection and escape are portrayed. If the child feels different and isolated from the family and less valued than his siblings, he may place himself in a corner far away from the family in the picture. In children who are harmonious and happy with their families, it is seen that their mother, father and siblings are drawn close, equal and in detail in their family pictures. A non-family member to whom the child feels very close may have been included in the family picture. Additionally, children experiencing family problems may be resistant to drawing family pictures. Apart from all these, there are many elements that can be used in the analysis of children’s pictures, from the order of individuals in the family picture from left to right, the distances between individuals, whether individuals look towards each other, and symbols such as rain and sun in the picture. It is possible to effectively evaluate the child psychologically by comparing these between different pictures by expert psychotherapists. Combining the information obtained with the information obtained from the child through verbal communication will increase the effectiveness of psychological evaluation and allow solutions to problems to be determined in a more planned manner.
If you want your child’s pictures to be analyzed psychologically and want to consult experts about the abnormal elements you see in your child’s pictures, you can consult psychiatrists and psychologists.
