How to interpret children’s drawings (psychological explanation)

All children draw spontaneously from the time they can hold a pencil or a color and, although not all have the same abilities, It is important to promote and motivate this playful activity which, in addition to being the basis of other learning, becomes a language through which children also express themselves.

Child psychologists and also some doctors know the richness of these productions and use and understand them as a medium where the child projects his personalityhis fantasy, his fears and the set of his emotions.

Find out what colors mean in children’s drawings in the following video:

Throughout this article we will offer a series of clues to to facilitate the understanding of the drawingsnot so much with the intention that parents interpret their children’s drawings as so that they can get to know them a little better and get closer to their rich inner world in another way.

Psychodiagnosis of the child through drawing

Child psychologists use drawing as a diagnostic tool based on the idea that through drawing the child projects a good part of his internal world.

The most commonly used tests are Family Quiz and the so-called HTP. The child is asked to paint his family and the hierarchy of the different members and his relationship with each of them is analyzed.

in the test HTP (English acronym for House, Tree, Person), the house would reflect the vision that the child has of domestic life and family relationships; Through the tree, the most unconscious image he has of himself is shown, as well as his internal conflicts; the person would express how the child sees himself and how he relates to the outside world.

How to interpret children’s drawings?

Children draw spontaneously from a very young age.. It is enough for them to have some pencils, crayons, or finger paint on hand so that they can scribble on a sheet of paper the representation of what comes to mind.

Therefore, drawing becomes a language through which they express and project their state of mind, their feelings and their way of seeing the world.

Children not only draw what they see, but also what they feel. So by carefully observing their children’s drawings, parents can get clues about their vision of life.

The most expressive indicators to which attention must be paid are, in addition to the content of the drawing itself, The colorful employee, the size of the objects and its location on the sheet of paper.

The meaning of colors:

He red usually reflects extroverted tendencies, of great energy and vitality, although also an excess of impulsiveness. yellow shows joy and lack of inhibition, but at the same time it is usually used by children who want to attract attention. blue It is a color that expresses serenity and emotional balance. A very repetitive use of black It can express violent tendencies or a depressive character.

What the size indicates:

children rather shy, insecure and low self esteem tend to draw small figures; while the very large drawingswhich even go off the page, represent children with sometimes aggressive and hostile tendencies, whom they lack awareness of limits.

Your place on the sheet:

Stable and self-assured children tend to center their drawings; the retracted they opt for locating their figures on the right margin; the left side is preferred by children extroverts although also by the most impulsive and non-conformist. On the other hand, if the drawing is lost and tends to come out at the bottom margin from the sheet the child is probably very insecure and has very low self-esteem, while the drawings that occupy the entire upper margin on the sheet can be the work of children who do not like the reality in which they live and tend to escape from it through imagination and fantasy.

What do the colors reflect in children’s drawings?

Without intending to become our children’s psychologists, it doesn’t hurt to have some help that allows us to understand their drawings a little more.

The color of a drawing projects the mood and personality. In the era of doodles, the use of color is indistinct and responds to its attractiveness; Later on, it will gain meaning, although it can only be attributed to it if certain colors are used repeatedly and exclusively.

Each color usually expresses a state of mind.:

Yellow. Express joy, lack of inhibition and happiness; It is usually used by intelligent children and in a good mood.Brown. It shows the more sensitive side and is used by children with some insecurity.Red. It is the favorite of children with a lot of energy and vital force and who are usually very impulsive; an excessive use of red could indicate hostility and aggressiveness.Green. It usually expresses calmness and self-esteem. If it is abused or applied to elements that do not correspond, it speaks of children who do not tolerate frustration badly and persistently want attention.Blue. It is the expression of a serene and stable personality, and of emotional peace. It is usually used by calm and orderly children who feel good with themselves and with their environment.Black. If it is used very frequently, it can show both a sad and depressed child and a violent child with a lot of contained anger and rebellion.

What indicates the arrangement of elements in a child’s drawing

The way in which children distribute the different elements that make up the whole of a drawing on paper also responds to emotional cuesso it is convenient to be attentive to this distribution.

A well centered drawing It usually shows a self-confident and organized child, while an off-center drawing could indicate greater immaturity, insecurity, and dependency.If the drawing tends to be on the right side it is possible to think of a child with good stability and emotional control, although also with a certain tendency to introversion. The left side, on the contrary, It is the favorite of the most open childrenbut with greater impulsiveness and lower tolerance for frustration.The upper part of the paper corresponds to the fantasy. A drawing located predominantly in that area may be the work of a child who is very imaginative and who could have problems with his environment, so he tends to escape.The lower part denotes contact with reality and is used by children who have few problems and they are well with their environment; although if the drawing seems to come out of the sheet at the bottom and nothing appears in the center or above, it could be very insecure childrenwith low self-esteem and relationship problems with others.

What does the size of children’s drawings indicate?

The size of a drawing, in the first place, is related to age and it usually takes the appropriate proportionality as the child grows and psychologically matures. In any case, the size allows us to understand above all the level of self-esteem, acceptance and social relationship.

The very small drawings they can translate feelings of inferiority and usually correspond to withdrawn, insecure and shameful children; while the excessively large drawings they would speak of more open children but at the same time with little social acceptance, tending to exceed limits and norms. It should also be taken into account that children tend to express the importance of the different elements of the drawing through their size. In that way, significant characters or objects will always be larger than those less important and that will appear smaller.

In addition to what we have described about the creative and expressive facet of children’s personality, we must not forget that drawing also plays a very important role in their learning processmainly in what has to do with writing.

Thus, at the same time that they draw, children learn to master the line, to control the limits of space through coloring and to regulate the pressure they exert on the page. to all these practical elements that will be of great interest when starting to writewe must add the influence of drawing on visual and psychomotor maturation and coordination, as well as on spatial organization.

Warning signs in children’s drawings

Young children are very transparent and express how they feel in many of their actions. It is not convenient to interpret or psychologize your creations by system, but it is advisable to know what problems can be reflected in them.

When in a child’s drawings certain elements appear regularly, we may think that this child may be having a bad emotional time and even consider that he has some psychological problem. The most important elements to consider are:

Inhibition or insecurity:

Excessively small drawings. Tendency to make drawings in a corner of the page. Use of a very soft and even weak stroke. Very poor and little varied content. Frequent use of the eraser.

​Sadness or depression:

Very schematic drawings with few details. Little color or repeated predominance of the color black. Many empty spaces between the different elements. Apathy at the beginning or difficulty in finishing the drawing.

Tension and anxiety:

Continuous drawing of monsters or terrifying characters. Frequent appearance of aggressive objects: guns, swords, bombs… Tendency to always shade the different elements of the drawing. Prefer crossing out to erasing when correcting.

If we observe a continuous tendency to use the elements described and there are other signs that can reaffirm the impression that there may be a problem (general reluctance, sadness, permanent anger, rebelliousness, difficulties at bedtime…), It is convenient to speak first with the tutor to share the concern and compare the child’s state in class.

If from all this it can be deduced that the child is having a bad time, a child psychologist can be consulted to give the necessary guidance.

Learning to draw: a path of several stages

Drawing requires, in addition to natural dexterity, some learning, but it also serves as the necessary basis for further learning. Thus, just as a certain mastery and maturation of motor skills is required to begin to draw, The very exercise of drawing stimulates and enhances fine motor skills.

Fine motor skills, which are developed through drawing, are the basis for starting to write, cut, etc.

Evidently, not all children have the same ability to draw: Some do it with more ease and that can make some of them back down by comparison and say that they don’t want to draw or that they don’t know how to draw.

That is why it is important that adults encourage and favor drawing as an activity that produces fun and entertainmentwithout judging or assessing its quality.

It is important that adults encourage drawing, without judging or valuing its quality.

At the same time, we must bear in mind that all children usually go through the same stages in terms of the evolution of drawing. Let’s see them:

TO from 18 monthsapproximately, the small ones…