Children's Drawings and Their Psychological Indications

Most of the parents tend to giving their children pens, white paper, and colors for drawing in order to distract them or control them, and we find that children enjoy holding pens and drawing different shapes, but does it stop here, just a little fun and entertainment or is there something more important and deeper than that?

In fact, children’s drawings often carry important psychological connotations, especially for young children who have not yet learned to speak. They use drawing as a way to say what they want and what they want to express and what they are afraid of. Drawing, then, is a way for a child to express what is inside them and what goes in their mind. Children's drawings are closely related to children's psychological state, needs, and fears; therefore, we have devoted this article to talk about the psychological connotations that children's drawings carry.

1. Why do children draw?

Drawing is the child’s pictured language, expressing themselves and the world around them and their relationship with the world. Children do not draw with the intention of  conveying reality as it is. Rather, they often draw things as they see them or as they like to see them, for most children drawing is even a defensive method they resort to when they suffer from stress, tension, fatigue, and anxiety. Therefore, psychologists resort to children's drawings when they want to understand their personalities and analyze their psychological state. This was confirmed by "Carlos Baguelo", a psychologist when he said: A child informs us of his personality mainly through his behavior, but drawing is another indicator that can provide us with evidence regarding the child's insights.

The organization "Zero Three" which specializes in children's care believes that drawing is a talent that exists in all children and that this talent is latent that only needs to be directed and encouraged to emerge. There are three stages through which a child's drawing abilities can be distinguished:

1.1. Scribbling stage:

At this stage, the child's drawings do not exceed some random lines and shapes that cannot be understood and distinguished.

1.2. The second stage:

At this stage, the child begins to express the surroundings through drawing. They draw elements from this ocean such as birds, trees, and flowers, and in most cases these elements are not completely clear and difficult to understand.

1.3. The third stage:

At this stage, children's drawings begin to take a clear line and shape, and their elements can be easily understood and distinguished.

Before going into the discussion about the psychological implications of children’s drawings, it is important to point out that these drawings do not necessarily have great meanings and deep psychological indications. Therefore, it should not be exaggerated to make up things that do not exist, and you should not drop many interpretations on them unless the parents notice actions and behaviors coming from the child that support the psychological connotations that these drawings display.

In many cases, a child’s drawing is just for entertainment and time-filling, and they may draw strange shapes because they saw them in cartoon films, for example, or just because their imagination is wild. Therefore, before embarking on a journey to search for the meanings of these drawings, make sure to observe and supervise your child’s behavior in general, and ask them about the purpose of the drawings they draw and their intention behind them. This  may be a way to start a discussion with the child that will help you more in understanding them and knowing their aim and purpose.

2. Psychological implications of children's drawings:

Some psychologists use children's drawings to discover their fears and problems. Every line, every curve, and every shape has a specific meaning that we must understand to form a clear picture of what our children want to say.

Here are some of these indications:

1. We sometimes notice in our children’s drawings that some organs are enlarged compared to other organs, such as a large head, a large hand, or the body of a large person unlike the rest of the characters in their drawings. The child’s enlargement of these organs is evidence that they have been subjected to physical or psychological abuse or harm. The child may be abused by one of the parents or a family member or even one of their schoolmates.

If the child draws the father small and the mother large, this indicates that the child considers the mother the central and dominant figure in the home, or it may indicate the absence of the father and his failure to do his role in upbringing properly. These drawings can take another direction to indicate the child’s arrogance, rudeness, and selfishness. In both cases, it must be examined to find out the real reason why they are drawing in this way.

2. The child's drawing of small shapes often indicates their feeling of injustice, neglect, oppression, and disregard. A normal child tends to draw people, things, and different shapes in their true form and natural size. So, if the child draws themselves small compared to others, this indicates that the child does not have confidence in themselves.
3. Regarding facial features, we will mention the significance of drawing each part separately. Drawing a face devoid of features indicates an introverted personality, and drawing ugly faces indicates that the child suffers from many conflicts inside their home and between their parents. This is what made them feel hatred and antagonism towards everything around them, and this hatred appears by always seeing ugliness and hideousness.

Drawing the body without a neck may indicate that the child feels that there are obstacles and difficulties in front of them, and that the goals they seek are difficult to achieve. On the contrary, drawing a long neck indicates great ambition, and large eyes mean that the child is upset because they feel that they are being watched most of the time.

Drawing sad faces is direct evidence of the child's sadness and desire to express their sadness openly, and drawing the face without eyes is evidence of the child's fear of the other and of dealing with new people. Drawing big mouths is very common in the drawings of aggressive children, as it indicates the child's great desire to scream and draw attention. It may also indicate the need to speak and the need for someone to listen to them.

4. Drawing short hands is evidence of introversion, and drawing them long indicates the child’s need for their family, and their desire for more communication with those around them. In general, the presence of hands and arms in children’s drawings expresses the personality’s ambitions, confidence, aggression, or feelings of shame, weakness, or guilt. When a child paints the body without hands or legs, it is evidence of their feeling of helplessness and not knowing how to act.
5. Also, the way the child holds the pen has different connotations. Continuous and intense pressure means that the child is aggressive or emotional, and if the pressure is light, it indicates the child’s fear of expressing openly what is on their mind.
6. The drawing from left to right indicates the child's need for care and attention, tenderness, and love from their family, and the drawing in the right part indicates that the child needs communication and looks to the future. The drawing at the bottom of the page indicates that the child does not feel safe.
7. The selection of colors reflects the child’s psyche, so the use of calm colors such as green, blue, and others indicates psychological balance, while focusing always on the black color indicates the child’s sadness. The excessive use of red indicates aggression, and the red color is the most used color in children’s drawings because it is also an evidence of the joy, movement, and great energy that the child possesses.

The child’s use of bright colors in coloring certain people is evidence of  their love for them, while using dark colors is evidence of  their hatred for them.

8. The child's drawing of animals means that they love others and love to help them. The repetition of drawing stairs is evidence that they are optimistic. However, when they repeatedly draw themselves in their mother's lap, this is evidence of their feeling of the need for their mother and the lack of tenderness.
9. It is also worth mentioning that children's drawings may also indicate the presence of some cognitive problems in the child, such as drawing shapes upside down or using the eraser continuously and exaggeratedly.

There are some tests where drawings are used to look for a child's psychological problems, such as the HTP test. It means "house tree person" test. The child is asked to draw the previous three elements, and each of them carries certain connotations. The tree, for example, indicates the extent of their joy and the extent of their desire for life, while drawing the house helps to get to know the child's personality more..

Because drawing is a child’s tool in expressing their feelings and their relationship with the things around them, you should not  interfere with what they draw, dictate orders to them, or ridicule their drawings, no matter how funny or illogical they seem to you because such behavior is enough to make them hate drawing, thus depriving them of the opportunity to express themselves and their feelings.

Conclusion:

We must agree that drawing is very important in the growth and development of our children and the formation of their personalities; Therefore, this aspect must be given the importance it needs and should not be neglected, ignored, or deprived from the child because this may be the cause of some psychological problems for the child, the first of which is suppression. Also, allowing the child to draw may reveal their talent and creative abilities.