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About the Author

Michal Wimmer, M.A, is an art therapist and an international expert on children’s drawings analysis. She has years of experience supporting families with children (aged 2–18) with emotional and social difficulties using their drawings. Michal is also the founder of an advanced studies program, introducing social workers, psychologists and art therapists, as well as elementary and preschool teachers to the world of children’s drawings analysis. The program includes a two-year graduate study on children’s drawings analysis, based on practical exercises, various psychological theories and parental guidance.

A popular speaker, Michal has given hundreds of workshops and keynotes about children’s drawings analysis in Universities, Colleges and private events. She is often interviewed in TV shows, magazines and newspapers for insights about parenting through children’s drawings. Michal manages a national forum about children’s drawings analysis, providing parental guidance based on drawings. Finally, she also provides written expertise to courts of law, based on analysis of children’s drawings, mainly in the context of family abuse and children at risk.

Michal runs a private clinic for treating children, adolescents and adults. She also works as an art therapist in psychiatric hospitals and mental health clinics. Recently, she has founded the Roshida website. Her therapeutic strategy is deeply influenced by the classic psychoanalytic approaches of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan.

Preface

One of the most charming moments in parenting is when your child shares a new and fascinating discovery with you. Together with the child, you too are excited to see a tiny beetle resting on a green leaf, sand dunes that have instantly become giant slides, and an entire world of scents, tastes, colors and shapes we have all but forgotten over the years.

Children’s drawings reveal similar experiences. Each drawing is the starting point of a voyage led by the child explorer. In this book, you – educators, therapists and above all parents – are offered the opportunity to join this unique voyage and understand the child’s world from his distinct perspective.

Parenting in today’s world is far from straightforward. Parents who may be successful in other areas in their lives are often unconfident and even helpless when facing parenting tasks. The parental role involves dealing with fundamental questions, such as: Have I set the appropriate boundaries? Have I understood my child properly? Have I given him the right behavioral reinforcements? Have I correctly interpreted his signals? Today’s parents are anxious to understand their child and be more involved in his emotional world, so as to be able to provide the right answers when he’ll need them.

In this context, children’s drawings offer a kind of map enabling you to navigate in the child’s inner emotional world. Through the drawings, the child expresses his difficulties, as well as the solutions he requires. Informed observation of the child’s artwork may provide parents, therapists and educators with a reliable compass for understanding the child’s present needs.

My approach to interpreting children’s drawings and to diagnosing children in general is positive and optimistic. The drawings shed light on the child’s world, enabling us to understand his difficulties but also the strengths which enable him to grow towards solutions that are appropriate for his personality. All children want to develop and experience the world around them, but they require proper encouragement and guidance to support them on their way to realizing their potential. Interpreting children’s drawings enables the parent to avoid forcing standardized, one-size-fits-all solutions that have been offered to different families under different circumstances, and instead assess what is most appropriate for his child at a given moment in his life. Just as many children can have fever, but each for a different reason, children’s drawings allow us to better understand the various reasons for the same behavioral manifestation.

This book presents hundreds of fascinating examples of children’s drawings that I have collected from various places around the world. Most of these drawings have been made by children whose parents had been referred for emotional counseling and therapy, in the course of which multiple drawings have been analyzed. The conclusions presented next to the drawings are based on comparisons with other drawings by the same child in different periods of his life and on a personal interview with his parents, which add an important dimension to understanding the child’s world in the family system. Drawings selected to illustrate various phenomena usually include one manifestation of the given phenomenon (sometimes the most common and sometimes a particularly rare one). Naturally, every interpretation is based on recurring manifestations of the same phenomena, together with graphic indicators supporting my conclusions. Note that one may never reach any final conclusions based on a single feature in the drawing – such features are offered only as illustrations of broader phenomena.

The last few years were dedicated to a thorough research, which included reviewing findings of studies conducted in the best universities in the world as well as conducting my own groundbreaking studies on 100–300 children each in order to obtain statistically significant results. It is an honor and privilege to present the fruits of this labor to you, in this book. Throughout the book, I have sought to enable all readers to understand the significance of the various research findings and to integrate them with my professional knowledge and experience as an expressive art therapist.

I sincerely hope that the resulting book will enhance public awareness of how the child’s inner world is reflected in his drawings and open an additional channel of communication between the parent, educator or therapist on the one hand, and the child on the other – a channel that will enrich and reinforce their relationship.

Note: All drawings in this book have been published with both parents’ informed consent. Wherever necessary, identifying details of the child or family have been changed or removed.

Right after this page begins a magical and colorful journey in the world of children’s drawings. I hope the book will give you tools to gain a new perspective of your child’s drawings, your child’s world and even the child within you…

Michal Wimmer

1 Introduction

Developmental Stages in Children’s Drawings

When you observe a child’s drawings over an extended time period, you will notice trends of change and development. Without any deliberate adult intervention, the child advances from stage to stage and develops his abilities. Nevertheless, despite evidence of clear and general developmental stages, I do not recommend analyzing a child’s artwork in strict terms of how it matches a certain population norm. When I interpret a child’s drawings, I do not compare them to his friends’ drawings but to his own developmental trajectory. Therefore, the ages noted in the titles below are suggestive only and should be treated with caution.

Age norms are important. However, if your 4 year-old child still scribbles – unlike his friends who are already drawing human figures – this does not necessarily attest to any developmental lag. The ages appearing below indicate developmental periods and their general characteristics, but you must bear in mind that each child has his own combination of such characteristics, some enhanced, and others nonexistent, etc. Moreover, the developmental trajectory and the transitions between stages are individual. Some children may skip a certain stage or regress to a previous one before moving forward again.

Stage 1: Spontaneous Scribbling – Ages 1½–2½

The first times a child holds a pencil and discovers what it can do are highly significant to his development. In families with several older children, you can see babies as young as 9 months imitate their brothers by using drawing tools and admiring their own work.

In many senses, these occasions are similar to the moments a child realizes he can produce sounds and begins to speak. Scribbling is thus akin to the infantile muttering. In both cases, the child begins a prolonged learning process by way of trial and error. He moves the drawing tool (changes his voice) in different directions and observes the different results on the page. Moreover, just as infantile murmuring or crying expresses a certain need or emotion (hunger, anger, boredom, etc.) scribbling is intentional, albeit pre-schematic.

To the untrained eye, drawings made at this stage would seem like senseless doodling. However, a closer look reveals that children definitely develop distinctive scribbling styles.

At this stage, the child attaches great importance to the dynamic aspect of drawing, and delights in the sensory experience of moving the drawing tool across the page. Lines start and end at random, and if there are any geometric shapes in the drawings, they are usually drawn inconsistently and disproportionately. Given these factors, I recommend checking that at least three months have passed since the child had first began to experience drawing before his artwork can be analyzed for emotional meanings.

Figure 1-1:Inconsistent and unstructured lines

In the following drawing by a 22-month old girl, you can see lines that extend beyond the page’s boundaries, lines with different lengths and directions, without any consistency or personal preference. You can also see asymmetric loops, lines drawn erratically across the pate, cyclical circular scribbles and insertions of the drawing tool into the page, whether vertically or diagonally, to create a “point map” (children enjoy doing this very much, and tend to imitate one another around the drawing table at kindergarten).

In terms of psychological development, Sigmund Freud (1954) calls this age span the oral stage, a period characterized by children’s tendency to taste paints and crayons, to check what sounds they produce and to explore them tactually as an integral part of the creation process.

Stage 2: Structured Scribbling – Ages 2½–3½

At this stage, the child begins to plan the drawing in advance. Basic geometric shapes begin to appear on the page, including circles (or quasi-circles), and squares (or lines that cross to form a square area). This time, they do not appear accidentally; on the contrary, the child would often use up entire pages in recurring attempts to draw the same shape. Finally, at this stage we begin to see children who critically observe their artwork as it unfolds, or even stare fixedly at the page before they even start.

Usually, children at the structured scribbling stage are happy to talk about what they have drawn, and will explain about the various elements on the page.

Figure 1-2:Drawing accompanied by the sound of a motor

Although the drawing still looks like a mess, the child sees it in a completely different light. For example, a 34 month-old boy made the sound of a motor while drawing this example and when he finished, exclaimed: “I drew a car!”

Figure 1-3:Drawing accompanied by a barking sound

Similarly, a 31 month-old girl drew the following disarray of short and disjointed lines, and while drawing, she said: “This is a barking dog, woof, woof”.

Figure 1-4:Initial attempt at formal structuring: drawing a circle

Drawing a circle requires meticulous planning. The child has to start at a certain point, move the drawing tool around a central axis (this requires optical control) and arrive at the starting point. At this stage, you can see children go past the starting point because they get carried away with the movement and find it difficult to stop. You can see the opposite phenomenon in the following drawing by a 38 month-old. This boy took great care to structure the circle appropriately, and although he didn’t manage to draw it accurately at the endpoint, he returned there until a closed and well-structure circle was drawn. You can also see various snail-like shapes, which also belong to the circle family and require careful planning and executive control.

Figure 1-5:Tadpole figures

Once the child has become adept at drawing circles, human figures begin to appear (at this preliminary stage, they are called “tadpoles”). To draw a tadpole, the child uses lines acquired in the previous stage to represent the four limbs. These are attached directly to a large, round head. Children with the same level of skill also draw suns with linear rays.

In terms of cognitive development, this stage marks the beginning of symbolic cognition: the child can now use his drawings to represent events along a temporal sequence, distinguishing between past and future events. The child free-play style and the stories related to the drawing will be more and more clearly related to actual experiences during the day, and at the same time the child’s verbal skills will develop significantly.

Freud identifies this age span as the transition from the oral to the anal stage, marked by improved motor control and brain-eye-hand coordination. The child internalizes cause-and-effect processes and therefore examines his drawing at the end of the process, rather than just enjoys making it. Piaget defines this period as the beginning of the pre-conceptual (pre-operational) stage, in which the child solves problems by trial and error, his thought is concrete and reality is perceived as a static image. The child uses objects around him and his own drawings as internal representations of events he has experienced, and adopts an animistic perspective, whereby inanimate objects are humanized. Examples of this tendency may be seen in Figures 1-2 and 1-3, which represented an interesting occurrence experienced by the children, with the disarray of lines animated at will.

According to Erik Erikson (1993), in this period the child develops willpower and confidence as well as doubts in his abilities. The latter are usually dependent on the environment’s critical response to the child’s inquisitive behavior. In his drawings, the child directs his curiosity to every drawing tool and surface which could enable him to express himself. This is why drawing on walls is most common at this age. From his point of view, the child expresses himself confidently and autonomously, while the environment criticizes him and demands that he exhibit control and understands the boundaries set for him.

Stage 3: Pre-Schematic Stage – Ages 3½–5

At this stage the child begins to plan his artwork, which usually also receives a name at the end. We begin to see features that are recognizable to adults: flower, house, tree, car, etc. However, the child still does not attach any importance to the relationships among the various figures in the drawing. Now that he is interested in depicting reality as it is, he carefully draws every element by itself, with all the items he can recall from his daily reality.

Figure 1-6:Three-wheeled car

In fact, the child draws everything he “knows” about the drawn object, rather than the object as it really looks.

The resulting images often do not make visual sense, but they are accurate as far as the child is concerned because they document the characteristics and functions of the object in question. Thus, this 45 month-old draws a three-wheeled car, despite the fact that it is not a common sight in daily life.

Figure 1-7:Two-dimensional limbs

Human figure drawings also become more sophisticated at this stage. Usually, we begin to see two-dimensional limbs (rather than the lines typical of the previous stage), and some children begin to draw bellies as well, the forerunners of future torso drawings.

In addition, the pre-schematic child begins to acquire the ability of drawing diagonal lines, and later also triangles. The previously rounded roofs now take their typical triangular shape, together with skirts, cypresses, high-heeled shoes, hair ribbons, etc.).

Figure 1-8:Sun-like ray structure

Beside meaningful schematic drawings, this stage also marks the appearance of schematically structured graphic diagrams, such as sun-like ray structures, symmetrical constructions crossed by a line in the middle, balanced square structures and cyclical lines.

Figure 1-9:Square and cyclical linear structure

The child begins to give meaning and names to all these diagrams and drawings (graphic drawing naming). He describes the act of drawing as if he is “inside” the drawing. Closed forms are described as closed elements familiar from daily life, such as door or window. Finally, the child uses a minimalistic, single line to describe a daily movement experience, such as the road from home to kindergarten and back.

Psychologically, this stage marks the dawning of the insight that the child is separate from the world, that the self is an autonomous entity. Following this insight, the child begins to depict the world around himself in his drawings. Because of the interest in genitals in this age, many drawings refer to the figures’ intimate organs.

In observing such drawings, one must carefully determine whether they represent age-appropriate concerns or indicate inappropriate exposure to adult content or even abuse.

It is recommended not to rush the child to make well-structured schematic drawings at this stage, but allow him to progress at his own pace. Adult intervention at this stage could make the child feel guilty, as if he has not met the adults’ expectations to make a clear drawing, with an understandable name and identifiable figures.

Together with progress in motor skill and spatial perception, some drawings in those ages will still be disorganized, with human figures and objects floating around without any realistic relationship among them. As far as the pre-schematic child is concerned, the paper is the basis on which the figures are “overlaid”.

Stage 4: Schematic Stage – Ages 5–8

By this stage, the child begins to be aware of the logic behind laws and rules of conduct, develops his own rituals, and judges the world according to his inner feelings. He also begins to treat the world of more realistically (brown earth, blue sky, etc.).

Figure 1-10:Realistic approach to colors

The child already knows the drawing scheme by now. He doesn’t have to observe a tree to be able to draw it. However, through drawing he reprocesses his impressions of reality, so that his documentation skill improves each time. Freud identifies these ages with the onset of the latency period, in which children show greater interest in their peers and other people around them.

Consequently, human figures assume a central role in their artwork. Technically, children are now able to add more organs to the basic human form, as well as articles of clothing. The figure becomes more elongated, and children begin attending to differential proportions within it: elongated legs, belly, outstretched arms, and so on.

Drawings by 5–8 year-olds focus increasingly on the family and begin to show tendencies of accuracy to the point of perfectionism (reflecting the conflict between industry and inferiority).

In the drawings, you can see the objects are rendered complete with their identifying characteristics, as part of the adult conceptual world: a simple square becomes a window; a straight line with circles on top becomes a flower, and so on. Piaget also characterizes perception at these ages as polarized between good and evil, with inflexible and one-dimensional approach to rules. Indeed, in their drawings, children at the schematic stage begin focusing on evil characters (monsters and witches) and good characters (knights and princesses).

Cognitive development enables the schematic children to abstract and separate the wheat from the chaff:

The child will often neglect many details (although he may be fully aware of their existence) and emphasize only those perceived to be critical to functioning: legs that walk, arms that reach out, a mouth that talks or expresses some emotion, and so on.

Figure 1-11:Legless human figures

This emphasis can make the drawing seem surreal, as in the following drawing by a 5 years and 2 months-old girl. For this girl, the most important thing is to draw the figures holding balloons or each other’s hands. Therefore, she allowed herself to ignore their legs (which is not typical of her other drawings).

Another example is children who draw a human figure on one side of the page, and the figure’s behind on the other, “because it is behind”.

Drawings at this stage are concise: the children focus on the common denominators of all houses/trees/flowers, rather than on the characteristics which differentiate them. Only after formulating general schemes can these children document the exceptions to the rule.

Figure 1-12:Connecting elements in the drawing

Schematic children begin to attach importance to the relations among the various objects in their drawing. In the following drawing by a 5½ year-old, for instance, you can see a child, a dog and a line (leash) connecting them. The schematic children’s spatial perception also improves, and they often begin the drawing by marking the ground and the sky at the lower and upper edges of the page.

Moreover, this period is also characterized by drawing multiple land lines (for example, one at the bottom of the page to designate nearby objects, and another nearer the top to designate distant object) or rounded baselines (to indicate sitting around the table, for example). Usually, the child will refer to the bottom of the page as a baseline, and not turn the page while drawing. In terms of perspective, objects will be drawn in their complete form, and it is rare to see objects hidden by others.

Figure 1-13:Drawing by a Tibetan child with multiple land lines

Multiple land lines are a fascinating phenomenon in drawings by Tibetan children. Despite being in the midst of the schematic stage, well aware of the locations and colors of earth and sky, these children choose to revert to drawing row after row over imaginary land lines.

This style may be affected by the Tibetan prayer wheels, set in a row one next to the other, which represent balance and recurrence which are part of their religious worldview.

At this stage, children still find it difficult to draw figures in profile or in motion, because doing so requires them to ignore schematic characteristics and omit some of the organs (such as a hidden eye, or an arm that is only partly visible while the figure is walking). Instead, they draw “everything that has to be there” by making some organs transparent. Use of colors is also schematic, as children tend to use basic colors rather than shades and combinations. Finally, schematic children attach central importance to the drawing’s subject, and can even engage in a deep conversation about its meanings and the story hidden in the drawing.

Stage 5: Pre-Realistic Stage – Ages 8–11

Pre-realistic children acquire motor skills which enable them to refine their depiction of reality and differentiate objects more accurately. Thus, we see attention to various types of cars or trees, local animals, etc.

Figure 1-14:Yaks in a typical Tibetan pre-realistic drawing

By this stage, each human figure receives individual attention, with its own typical details and accessories: glasses, buttons, bag, hat, and so on.

In each human figure drawing, the pre-realistic child tries to resolve graphic difficulties such as: How to draw a person lying down? Should I draw all the table legs or only those visible from this angle? How to draw the house interior and exterior at the same time? In most cases, the difficulty is resolved by flattening the image: for example, houses will be drawn as seen in figure 1-15.

Figure 1-15:Typical flattened house drawing

As abstract cognition develops, this flattening tendency will disappear.

Since the pre-realistic child wishes above all to document reality, he is careful to maintain the proportions among the various objects in the drawing.

His subjects combine figures from his intimate world (family drawings) with imaginary and historical drawings (Bible stories), as well as current affairs (war scenes, etc.).

In terms of psychological development, Piaget calls this period the operational stage, in which the child can grasp concepts of preservation (of quantity and weight) and to organize items in groups according to common denominators. Problem solving no longer relies exclusively on trial and error, but also on social rules of conduct, as well as the opinions and emotions of others. The child’s understanding of reversibility (every change in location, form, or order may be reversed) and of hierarchic relations refines his family drawings, to which other groups are added, such as sports teams. Moreover, the child begins to attach several drawings together to represent a continuous plot.

Figure 1-16:Family drawings advance to group drawings

The pre-realistic drawing represents an overall improvement in quality: the child refines his composition and landscaping skills. He draws the same subject repeatedly with improving skills, particularly in terms of his ability to render graphic elements that are unique to specific human figures.

At this stage, children begin to view their drawings as an expression of their self-efficacy. This is why they tend to compare their drawing abilities at these ages.

Stage 6: Realistic Stage – Ages 11–14

At the realistic stage, the child/adolescent is fully aware of his environment and has advanced graphic abilities that enable him to start dealing with depictive difficulties by refining his technical skills, such as games of light and shadow, three dimensions, complex scenarios, shades of color, perspectives, etc.

Figure 1-17:Combined techniques indicating improved spatial perception

The subjects become more realistic and less fantastic. The realistic pre-adolescent attaches greater importance to proportions among the various elements, to the point of depicting different shades of color to emphasize their relative locations.

As opposed to drawings made in earlier ages, by this point the child will deemphasize his own image and assume the reference point of an observer.

According to Erikson, the most significant social group at this age is the peer group, which also explains why (unless otherwise directed) realistic children will tend to draw peer groups rather than families.

Figure 1-18:Advanced drawing of facial organs

The drawings typically depict complex situations, including copies of diagrams, illustrations and cartoon figures. We see more faces in profile and detached organs (eyes, mouths). The interest in the human body which is typical of these ages will also be seen in the drawings, with methodical attempts to produce accurate anatomic sketches.

Nevertheless, the young realistic artist is often dissatisfied with the final result, seen as a distorted, inaccurate rendering of the landscape, building or human figures. Since there is no clear educational requirement to continue drawing on a daily basis (unlike other skills, such as writing), many children stop drawing at this age and remain at this level as adults, with bad memories from their difficult and exhausting drawing lessons at school.

The Scribbling Stage – More than Meets the Eye

Simple comparison of scribbles made by several children from the same kindergarten will show that they do have some distinct characteristics: some children prefer certain colors and refuse to use all crayons. Some children apply strong pressure, while others do not. Some scribbles are composed mainly of round and spiral movements spread over the entire page area, while others are dominated by broken lines in a limited area.

In order to properly interpret a scribble and explore how the child translates from the sensory modality to the drawing modality, you must gather a considerable amount of information about the child’s graphic language. Most studies on emotional interpretation of children’s drawings begin from that starting point. When we study graphic language we focus on the quality of the pressure produced by the child on the drawing tool and the way the child conducts it on the surface. For example, weak pressure that is not the result of physiological problem may indicate certain inhibitions. Other indicators include the style of the lines (fragile, disjointed, thin or wavy lines, etc.) and the way they cross each other; the general planning of the page; the child’s ability to compose and combine various geometric forms; how he colors and fills in the forms; his attention to detail, etc. The key point of graphic expression is that the pattern of the drawing on the page is affected by the muscular pressure applied to the drawing tool, which is in turn affected by cerebral activity and the child’s inner emotional world.

Scribbling is the first step in the graphic expression process, and in that it is akin to the babbling which precedes speech among infants. Although scribbling is a preliminary experience, children who scribble soon begin to develop personal preferences and show a clear desire to produce diverse and interesting artwork. Some children start scribbling already at age one, and soon proceed to draw familiar geometric forms, followed by realistic objects (house, tree, etc.). At school age you will still find evidence of scribbling, for example beside the written lines in the notebook. Writing letters, of course, requires prior knowledge in scribbling and drawing.

During this stage, the child begins to develop his spatial orientation and ability to experience the world kinesthetically as well as through the senses. The scribbling process also provides sensory stimulation, and children at this tender age often taste their crayons. At this stage, children understand the world actively and creatively, so that they affect the information rather than receive it passively. In my opinion, older children will also do well to understand the world in this active approach. During this period, it is important to allow the child to experience a broad range of nontoxic materials such as gouache, markers, finger paints, and pastel crayons, as well as a broad range of surfaces such as rough paper, papers of various sizes and colors, wooden boards, Bristol papers and newspapers.

Some children actively seek these surfaces, ignoring the fact that the surfaces may already be written over. It is also important for children to experience a wide variety of kneading materials: dough and other foodstuffs, modeling clay, etc. to stimulate their senses.

At this stage, the edges of the surface are not absolute boundaries for the child, who tends to “stray” to nearby surfaces. When the child first starts to draw, he does it accidentally and admires the product. His fascination and that of others around him challenge him to continue exploring this dimension. However, only when you begin identifying recurring trends in the drawing will you be able to start talking about deliberate drawing that represents conscious intervention by the child.

Drawing is fundamentally a muscular activity and as such, it attests to the child’s temperament and adjustment to his environment.

When the child draws, he is required to balance between movements away from the body (executed by relieving pressure, as you can see in Figure 23) and movements towards the body (executed by contraction and applying pressure, as you can see in Figure 22). Internalizing this pressure is evidence to the maturation of certain brain and nervous system mechanisms and helps the child refine his equilibrium system. By way of drawing, the child enhances his control over various bodily organs and adjusts his bodily posture to the type of drawing he wishes to produce.

Figure 1-19:Example of a scribble from the circular sub-stage

A student of creative education, Victor Lowenfeld (1947) saw drawings as reflecting the child’s view of reality. His studies led to the identification of fours scribbling sub-stages: (1) Disordered or lacking control over motor activity; (2) Longitudinal or controlled repetitions of motions; (3) Circular – further exploring of control motions demonstrating the ability to produce more complex forms; and (4) Naming, where the child tells stories about the scribble, gives it a title and demonstrates symbolic condition.

In other words, according to Lowenfeld the child acquires skills as he practices drawing, wherein lies the importance of recurring drawing elements. Recurrence is also stressed by Rhoda Kellogg (1969), who compiled a list of 20 basic scribbles that represent the foundations of graphic development. Kellogg proceeded to identify 17 compositions which suggest certain regularity in the scribble’s location on the page.

Kellogg argued that scribbling has nothing to do with the child’s present psychological development, but that it is evidence of collective hereditary memory.

Namely, the various scribbling variations are not acquired from the environment but inherent to the human organism from birth, indicating the drawer’s uniform sequence of graphic development and nothing more.

Kellogg’s studies are considered controversial. Many of her critics argued that the basic patterns she identified appear in only some of the scribbles in her record, so that they cannot be considered indicative of a universal graphic development sequence.

Likewise, while Kellogg argued that the motive for scribbling is an innate urge to build and to create, that has more to do with the collective unconscious than with the desire to depict external objects, her critics (e.g. Matthews 1988) presented a large number of drawings by children who accompanied their artwork by statements of their desire to document reality, notwithstanding the jumble of lines on the page. Personally, I believe children are affected by a primary urge to create while at the same time being affected by the need to communicate with the environment by way of borrowing existing concepts (archetypes such as the recurring house pattern).

Figure 1-21:Letter-like symbols

The scribbling stage is also when mandalas begin to appear in children’s drawings. These are rounded forms, from which lines extend in various directions, or forms crossed by lines). By drawing mandalas, children acquire the ability to later draw suns with rays, or tadpole figures (human figures without torsos).

Between the ages of 1½ and 3½ you can also find scribbles reminiscent of letters, which are called «letter-like symbols».Such shapes cannot be found in all drawings, but when they are found they do seem to resemble handwriting, including careful attention to lines and spaces.

Such writing attests to the development of fine motor skills, as well as to enhanced brain-eye-hand coordination and spatial orientation. It does not, however, suggest the child is ready to learn how to read and write. Rather this is a passing fad which will return, in some children, around age 4. At this age, many children start writing their names and often use mirror writing, suggestive of internal development processes related to hemispheric dominance.

In art therapy, scribbling is considered a nonthreatening and even soothing technique in that it is completely purposeless. Scribbling is not oriented towards a final outcome and not committed to produce a pretty and accurate picture, but promotes an experiential process free of any rules or inhibitions (Kramer 1975).

Another phenomenon typical of this stage is drawing on walls. Almost every parent is familiar with this situation, facing the masterpiece and asking himself, why on the wall of all places?

The very act of drawing provides sensory stimulation and enjoyment, and since children at the scribbling stage have only begun internalizing the idea of boundaries, they see absolutely nothing wrong with testing their skills and expressing their talents on surfaces deemed unconventional by adults, like walls.

Drawing on walls is just part of a long sequence of attempts by children to test their abilities. The desire to move objects and “produce artistic output” is expressed in their playing at the sandbox, in the bathtub or on the dinner table – when the child grabs a fruit and realizes he is capable of taking it to his mouth. Children also leave their mark artistically, as if marking a territory, as if saying, “Look at me! Only I could draw that!”

The child experiences and explores the world in his own way, still without understanding why drawing is allowed on one surface but not on another. Since the sensory experience of drawing on a wall is completely identical to that which accompanies drawing on paper, children stop drawing on walls only after internalizing the spatial and conventional boundaries and enhance their ability to communicate with the adult world. In the meantime, frustrated parents can designate a wall space for scribbles, frame existing scribbles or let their children paint on china with water-based markers. Remember, however, that any such solution is liable to fail as long as your child has not internalized the concept of boundaries.

The parents of the 2 years and 9 months-old girl who made the following two drawings told me that recently, her behavior changed. Since they had been collecting drawings for a year, I could compare them and identify the differences. In her scribbles, I could see evidence of her willfulness and resistance. She wants to do everything herself and relishes in dictating her rules to the environment.

Figure 1-22:Shrunk and highly pressurized scribble

Among other things, this is evident in the strong pressure she applies to the drawing surface. In her scribbles, you could clearly see when everything began to shrink and she showed a withdrawal tendency that concerned her parents tremendously.

Figure 1-23:Unconstrained scribbling with balanced pressure

Her more recent drawings indicated that she was more attentive to external demands than to her own desires and acted quickly to please the environment. I could also see signs of the extraordinary fears which caused sleeping disorders, constipation and irregular eating patterns. Socially, she began to evidence adjustment difficulties and at home she kept clinging to her parents. After the parents were advised to move her to a kindergarten with fewer children, her scribbles showed a change for the better.

To conclude, the graphic complexity of every scribble (which makes it appear senseless) requires thorough scrutiny of a large number of drawings before any comparisons can be made. Such comparisons can offer important insights into the child’s temperament, behavior patterns, difficulties and fears he may be experiencing.

The Emotional Significance of Drawing: Process and Drawing Tool

The artistic experience is basically a sensory experience combining multiple modalities. Through this experience, the child structures his worldview. For the child, drawing is friendlier and more comprehensive than verbal expression; through drawing the child can create something out of nothing. This is in fact the starting point of the creative experience in art therapy: through creative experience, the child undergoes a process of trial and error which enables him to discover and express his inner world. Children “use” drawings as a way of sublimating aggressive drives and relieving stress. They let their imagination run wild and draw the world as they see it, rather than as an accurate copy of reality.

Sitting Position

At first, you must pay attention to the child’s sitting position: it is important for the child to feel comfortable, with the table and chair adjusted to his size. Don’t be upset if you see your child drawing lying down, because this position enables him to place more of their body’s surface on the floor, and often helps them concentrate on their drawing. Some children will prefer this position also in older ages and you will find them doing their homework on the floor, but in most cases this is a fleeting phenomenon.

For some children, lying down is preferred because their shoulder muscles are too weak for them to draw while sitting or because they have difficulty focusing their eyes and thus want to draw as close as possible to the page.

Page Size

The size of the page is also significant for the child. Above all, it should fit his physical size and experience in drawing. At the scribbling stage, it is recommended to use large pages. At this stage, the child is unaware of the page’s boundaries and it is important for him to delve into the experience of drawing. When the child begins to develop his drawing skill, he can use smaller pages and even let him try small notes that will encourage him to concentrate and develop fine motor skills.

Naturally, there is no mandatory age-to-page-size ratio, and it is always recommended to combine various page sizes so as to allow the child to hone his skills in drawing small details as well as to draw in a more uninhibited way. However, you should observe the degree of confidence and satisfaction experienced by the child: when an unconfident child is asked to draw on a large page, he might give up before even starting. Thus, make sure the child is exposed gradually to various stimulations and let him pick the page size that is best for him.

Drawing Tool

Drawing tools also play an important role in the process, and each exposes the child to a different experience. First, the way the drawing tool is held can indicated disabilities that could become manifested in a later age. For instance, children with low muscle tone will grasp the tool tightly within a fisted hand. Note, however, that you must be wary of rushing into conclusions, because children undergo multiple change processes at this age. In any case, if drawing requires the child to apply too much force, which wears him down and prevents him from drawing as much as he would have liked to, you are advised to seek professional diagnosis.

Markers are quite mechanic in nature, particularly the thinner markers that emit a screeching sound when applied to the paper. Usually, children aged 4–5 prefer markers, as you can see in figure 1-24. It is important for them to be precise when coloring the house drapes or the monster’s eyes.

Figure 1-24:Drawing with markers

Some children who prefer markers overwhelmingly and consistently will become children who need certainty and control over events, and will often express anger (at themselves and at the page) if they haven’t managed to draw as accurately as they had intended.

Using markers requires greater manipulative skill, and stresses color variety over working deep into the page. Therefore, they will be preferred by children with a strong need for neatness as an integral part of the creative process.

Pastel crayons introduce the child to a completely different experience. Using pastels requires greater muscular effort since the crayon has to be pressed down on the page to produce results. The child’s active contribution to the creative process makes him an integral part of the artwork. Some children pay the utmost attention to painting with pastel crayons, devoting effort and concentration to the task, while others treat the final result with indifference, show no interest in the painting and paint with low manual pressure and without attention to detail so as to “get it over with”. Essentially, pastel crayons produce less accurate paintings, such as the example in figure 1-25, and challenge the child to resolve this issue or simply enjoy the strengths of this medium.

Figure 1-25:Drawing with pastel crayons

Pastel crayons invite the child to get dirty as part of the creative process, and provide an experience of depth in addition to the color variety. Thus, children who prefer pastel will work in several layers and explore this tool’s potential to conceal and reveal.

Gouache paints, like all types of finger paints, offer the perfect sensory experience. Whether the child uses a brush or his fingers, the soft sense of paint flowing over the page offers a combined sensory-kinesthetic-emotional sensation. Naturally, painting in gouache requires the child to cope with neatness issues. Some children will refuse to use these paints at all, because they don’t want to be messy.

When working with these children, it is important to give them the protections they need (for example, by giving them a towel to wipe their hands), but it is also important to invite them to continue exploring the sensory experience, which in many cases can also lead to behavioral change.

Children who show clear preference for gouache could use this experience to learn how to effortlessly take control of the entire page area, but also to maintain its boundaries and improve their gross motor skills.

What to Look for in Children’s Drawings?

For the child, drawing is a daily language and additional medium of communication. The child has never been taught how to draw before, and he advances through the developmental stages freely and intuitively. As in any language, the language of art combines social codes that make it understandable and “spoken”, together with private codes borrowed from the child’s inner world which mark his artwork as unique.

In order to gain a broad perspective on the child’s inner world and self-image based on his drawings, I recommend analyzing at least 25 samples drawn in various techniques (gouache, pastel, markers, pencils, etc.). Analyzing fewer drawings will provide limited indications, representing passing moods rather than broad trends. Accordingly, it is also important to analyze drawings made over a period of at least six months, so as to provide a clear picture of the child’s emotional world and enable comparison to earlier periods.

Interpreting the drawing requires assessing a wide variety of phenomenon, from the way the drawing has been executed and the child’s various artistic choices, through his use of the page area, line pressure and color selection, to analysis of the child’s verbalizations during and after the drawing.

The drawing environment is also significant to the diagnosis: children draw in different styles and with different materials at home and at kindergarten. Drawing at kindergarten next to other children is naturally different than drawing at home, alone or with a parent. Bear in mind that kindergarten drawings are not always spontaneous, and that the teacher often invites the child to the table and focuses him on a particular subject (such as a holiday or a season). In these cases, it is important to compare such artwork to spontaneous drawings made by the child at home.

Free choice is essential to the success of our interpretation. It is important for the child to choose the page size, drawing tools and colors. This will contribute to his free and authentic expression, and paint a more reliable picture of his subjective emotional world.

Having met these conditions, you must check whether the child uses a dominant hand or whether he is still switching hands. You must also check whether he prefers a certain position (lying, standing and even walking). The answers to those questions have direct bearing to the degree of pressure applied to the drawing tool and the angles from which the various elements on the page are drawn.

Finally, you must know the child’s exact age (in months) in order to assess his developmental level. In younger ages, children may achieve developmental leaps every month, so that frequent analysis of their artwork combined with awareness of their precise age will provide clearer indications as to their emotional state.

The drawings shed light not only on the child’s inner world, but also on his social environment and the various influences of the adults in his life – from his parents and wider family, through his teachers to people he met on the street or saw on TV; all of them shape the child’s worldview and all will leave their mark on his art.

How to Respond to Children’s Drawings?

As you pick up your child from kindergarten at the end of the day, you see him bursting enthusiasm as he presents you with his most recent masterpiece. You look at the drawing and don’t know how to react. At first (as well as second) glance, it simply looks like a senseless doodle. And yet, since you want to encourage your child, you mumble things like, “Wow! This is the most beautiful drawing I’ve ever seen!” In most cases, that’s all there is to it: the child seems pleased, and the parent is happy, having succeeded in the positive reinforcement task.

This triple encounter – parent, child and drawing – offers a splendid opportunity to conduct a meaningful conversation about the child’s inner world. But first of all, the parent has to be truly available to attend to the child’s artwork.

As in other parenting situations, this is the first question you need to ask yourselves: “Do I have the energy and patience to totally be with my children?” Granted, it is important to teach our child that we cannot be available to them around the clock; as adults, we have desires, needs and occupations that are independent of his existence. On the other hand, as parents, we are aware of the child’s needs and willing to channel them to other times when we are more available. It is essential to fulfill the promise and “reconvene the meeting” at a later time, instead of just blurting “this is so beautiful”, without even gazing at the drawing.

When you first look at the drawing, it is important that you refer to what you can see – even if it’s just a scribble consisting of seemingly random blots of paint. You can say things like: “I see you drew over the entire page… pressed hard on the marker… used lots of colors/only two colors… drew many lines”. These specific references indicate to the child that the parent is indeed observing his drawing and noticing every little detail he made such an effort to produce.

Naturally, you can also ask the child to explain what he drew, but it’s just as important to respect his answer, rather than badger him with questions such as “Why this way and not otherwise”, or suggest ideas for additional elements. Thus, when your child paints the sky green or red, there is no need to correct him out of fear his perception may be flawed. The drawing is a window onto his inner world, and there is no reason to assume that he is confused about the world outside.

When observing the drawing, bear in mind that it is also a product of his motor development. As such, it is not always pregnant with symbolic meaning. Sometimes your child simply enjoys the process of creating by way of manipulating objects in the world and leaving his mark.

Next, you should wait before complimenting the child, and try to hold a real conversation about the drawing. More often than not, your child will be happy to talk about it. In the conversation, you can mediate between the child’s world and the world of art, and draw his attention to the fact that he loves a particular color that appears time and again both in his drawings and in his room, for example. Invite the child to tell you what he drew, whether verbally or simply by showing your interest through body language and curious eyes.

During the schematic stage (ages 5–8) when human figures tend to appear more frequently in drawings you can broaden the dialogue and talk about the figures’ character. If one character looks angry, for example, you can ask the child why and start a conversation about anger in daily life, about real-life events that may have inspired him to draw that figure, just as you would talk to an artist about his artwork and its emotional underpinnings.

Figure 1-27:Asking questions about the drawing: What grows on the tree? Why is that man sad?

In older ages, you can ask your child about what is hidden in the drawing, and not only about what is clearly visible. For instance, if he drew a house with windows, you can ask him who lives in the room the window’s in. This will start a fascinating and imaginative conversation. You can also use the drawing as a stepping stone to the world of knowledge and riddles: How do clouds form? Why can’t we fly? How do we know the fruits on the tree are ready to eat?

You will not always get answers to your questions – some children will prefer philosophical questions while others will prefer concrete ones, all in accordance with their age and character.

Nevertheless, note that questions such as, why didn’t you draw daddy, or why are you big and mommy small, are unnecessary, and will usually not produce an informative reply. In general, you should avoid overwhelming your child with questions so as not to pressure him.

When you want to give your child a compliment, say things you really mean. Saying things like “this is the most beautiful drawing in the world” is clearly problematic in that sense – it is too demanding. It is better to say, “this is a wonderful gift… this is the most beautiful gift I have ever received”. You can also refer to emotions related to the act of drawing: “I’m so happy that you drew for me… I love it when you give me your drawings… I’ve noticed you enjoy drawing very much…”

When you give a compliment, it is important to encourage the creative process and experience, rather than the final outcome. You can be proud of the drawing and show it to the entire family, but at the same time you must be attentive to your child’s reactions and make sure your pride does not make him feel under pressure to perform. Sometimes the best compliment is to keep the drawing near your bed or in your briefcase.

When lots of drawings fill the house and there is no room for new one, you can ask your child how he would like to distribute them among relatives, as special, personal gifts. Grandpa and grandma will surely be happy to receive a decorated album of drawings. Another option is to put several drawings one next to the other (on the table or on the fridge) and photograph your child as he presents them. You can then place the photos in an album, so that the drawings will not be forgotten.

In different periods of his life, every child needs a different approach to his artwork. Sometimes he likes a kind word or expects a profound conversation, and sometimes he would prefer a dramatic reaction and applause. When there are several children in the house, it is important to attend to each child’s drawings individually, without comparisons. If you use the same compliment with everyone, it is liable to be perceived inauthentic.

Intervention in Children’s Drawings

“Daddy, draw me a castle with knights and fire breathing dragons!” The child asks, and daddy complies. He does his best to draw the most lavish castle, with the mightiest forts and bravest knights, spending time and effort on sketching the wall and windows. Finally, he presents the drawing proudly to his child. The child smiles, hangs it in his room and… stops drawing! From now on, he prefers doing anything but drawing. After a while, whey you ask him in passing why he’s not drawing anymore, he answers with quiet frustration: “Because I can’t draw as nice as you…”

Parents often find themselves sitting next to their child while he’s drawing. The child is completely engrossed with the task: his tongue protrudes, his eyes are open wide and all his muscles are geared to a single objective – his masterpiece. He has been doing it from the moment he learned how to grab the drawing tool, and beyond the sensory experience involved this artwork is a reflection of his rich inner world. Therefore, no intervention in the drawing process can be considered minor; by necessity, it will have a profound impact on inner psychological processes.

There are ways of intervening other than drawing the castle for the child. Some parents start intervening already early in the scribbling stage, in order to help their children advance to the structured scribbling stage, in which the “doodles” become familiar geometric forms such as circle, triangle or square. However, when the children are not mature enough to move on to this stage, they will try imitating forms that are beyond their skill level or worse, give up and stop drawing.

Children will stop drawing for other reasons as well. For example, when they are not only forced to wear an apron but also have to listen to lectures about neatness and orderliness, or when they can only draw during certain hours of the day, the natural process is obstructed and they no longer express themselves freely.

The drawing surface and tools can also deter children. Some dislike drawing on large pages, while others have sensitive skin and avoid rough surfaces. Broken crayons are not necessarily a problem, because often it is easier for children to manipulate the smaller pieces. However, markers that no longer draw or pastel crayons that require strong pressure could tire out children and make them abandon drawing altogether.

It is also important to notice the supply of artistic materials available to the child. If there are plenty of coloring books at home, or if the kindergarten teachers spend considerable time with the children on coloring decorations (for holidays, or whenever the teacher draws a certain shape and invites the children to color it), the child could overemphasize the need to color within the boundaries. He will be busy with the figures and shapes available to him, at the expense of creating original drawings.

The drawing subject may also be significant in cases of refusal to draw. For example, when a child grows in a difficult family reality, he will tend to avoid family drawings or consistently omit one of the family members. In such a case, there is of course no point in asking about the omission.

Another example for intervention has to do with the adults’ attitude to the finished product. For example, when you ask the child, “What is this drawing? Why is the sky all red?”, or when you artificially identify familiar objects in what is clearly an unrecognizable scribble (“this looks like a flower, and this looks like a heart). Such an attitude communicates to the child that he has to draw recognizable elements that mimic reality. Next time he draws, he might “force” the drawing to be more realistic, and when asked about it, he will try to explain what he drew in a way that would please the adults around him.

Finally, when you talk with the kindergarten teacher you have to remember that the child is also listening. Saying things like, “She’s already four years old and still doesn’t draw houses!”, can make the child feel frustrated and stop drawing altogether.

Why, then, do adults intervene?

Some adults intervene because they fear their child is not drawing at an age-appropriate level, because of some developmental problem. By intervening, they “teach” the child to mimic age-appropriate patterns and abilities. Note, however, that just like copying from other children, it is easy to identify children who “fake” when they draw, using similar indicators used to identify fake handwritings. Namely, when children use elements that are out of sync with their inner development, their drawings will have a hesitant and inconsistent quality. Thus, studying an adult design and mimicking it could help the child produce a drawing that may look impressive, but a professional observer will easily identify it as fake.

Figure 1-28:Intervention drawing, with adult contours

Others intervene when they want to correct mistakes, to teach the child to draw “correctly”. In art, however, there is no such thing as “correct” or “incorrect”. The drawing is designed to mirror the child’s inner world and as such there are no correct or incorrect ways to go about it. Moreover, children who paint red skies are usually perfectly aware of their real color, but choose to draw them red for other reasons.

This attempt to “teach” the child how to draw correctly will fail in most cases. An interesting study (Cox 1996) on children at the “tadpole” stage (age 3) found that they become attached to their tadpole figure and are slow to abandon it even after observing college students drawing conventional human figures. In fact, the reason for the intervention – be it fear of developmental lag or any other reason – does not matter. The drawing mirrors the child’s inner world and “fixing” it will change nothing. Worse, as you have seen, it could disrupt the natural process. Note that when discussing adult interventions I do not refer to therapeutic interventions, as in occupational or art therapy.

When the girl who made the following drawing was 5½ years old, her mother contacted me in order to understand why she omitted the arms in her human figure drawings. At first, she told me that she had tried to intervene and check whether she was aware of all the body parts the arm is composed of (such as forearm, palm and fingers). When the child demonstrated her awareness, the mother continued to explain how important it was to actually draw all these body parts. Her daughter agreed with her, and yet, after several days, she returned to draw armless figures.

Figure 1-29:Armless human figure

My analysis of her drawings, including figure 1-29, indicated that she was a creative girl with a strong desire to control her environment. She made an effort to seem perfect on the outside, and her coloring was particularly meticulous. Despite her relatively developed emotional side, she preferred to set clear boundaries for herself when it came to sharing.

Nonetheless, she continued to draw armless figures because this is an age-appropriate phenomenon! Many children at her age draw complete figures and even dedicate considerable attention to drawing the fingers, and yet many others ignore the arms completely. This is highly typical of children aged 5–7 and there is no point persuading them to draw otherwise, mainly because they will do so in due time.

Naturally, most adult interventions are motivated by good intentions, without awareness of any negative effect they may have, such as refusal to draw. Many adults treat painting just like any other motor skill acquired with adult guidance, such as cooking, and are simply unaware of how important it is for the drawing child to experience and explore on his own.

Still, what can you do when the child refuses to draw?

First, you must make sure the reason for his refusal is not any physiological disorder (motor problem, visual disability, low muscle tone, learning disability, etc.). Once this possibility has been rejected, there are several courses of action available to you. If your child feels his drawings are not “good enough” because they are graphically inaccurate, take him to the museum and show him the wide range of “inaccurate” artworks. If your child asks you to draw for him, use your non-dominant hand to make a “bad” drawing on purpose. Another possibility is for you to draw with your eyes shut and ask your child to guide your hand.

Next, you can ask your child to turn your scribble into a recognizable drawing and then switch parts (Winnicott 1971). Finally, you can designate a special drawing notebook. This way, your child will have a sense of continuity from one drawing to the next and will be able to show his drawings around. In addition, the notebook will encourage him to make up a serial story around the drawings.

If you’ve tried several approaches and your child still refuses to draw, and assuming the possibility of physiological issues has been rejected, you should remember that drawing is a hobby and that there are plenty of other creative avenues still open to your child.

Boys versus Girls

Society tends to treat boys and girls differently. One study (Huston 1983), for example, explored adult attitudes towards infants at the age when their sex is hard to distinguish. It was found that when the infant wore blue cloths, adults used to hold it high and throw it in the air. When it wore pink, however, they treated it gently, held it close to their chest and avoided rough play.

This is just one of many examples proving the social influence that molds boys and girls into gendered roles. On the other hand, many believe that gender identity is primarily innate. For instance, little boys independently choose “boyish” games (cars, superheroes), even when they have “girlish” toys (dolls, kitchen) at easy reach, and vice versa (Hoffman, 1964).

Figure 1-30:Typical painting by a girl

Just like playing with dolls, drawing also gives children the opportunity to create an imaginary world and draw themselves as superheroes or delicate princesses. Everything is possible on the drawing page and children relish this absolute freedom. Beyond themes that are popular among all children regardless of gender, such as family or holiday drawings, most boys tend to draw superheroes combined with various angular shapes, while girls prefer princesses combined with hearts, flowers, jewelry and similar details.

Figure 1-31:Monster drawing as a normative tendency

Unless there are indications to the contrary, drawings of monsters and violent heroes are considered normative among boys, and are usually not considered as evidence of any internal distress or anxiety experienced by the child. Sometimes they lead to precisely the opposite conclusion: the child who draws monsters is socially integrated and understands the social codes of the community, and accordingly has interests that are shared with his peers.

The drawing subject can thus be misleading and even cause unnecessary concern among adults. It is therefore important to get to know the children’s world and understand their language.

In order to identify signs of distress, it is more important to attend less to the subject per se and more to graphic indicators in the drawing, such as the degree of pressure applied on the drawing tool, line quality and color combinations.

A classic social learning study (Bandura 1971) showed that girls usually allow themselves to express negative emotions only when certain this is socially acceptable. Also when drawing, girls tend to attach greater importance to the final product and the way it is received. If the girl is preoccupied with her looks in real life, the figures in her drawing will be rendered accordingly: each figure will have jewelry, hair accessories, makeup and well-drawn eyebrows and lashes. To arrive at such carefully detailed results, they tend to plan their drawings more carefully than boys, color them gently and execute the entire composition with great accuracy. They also tend to draw “acceptable” subjects and avoid subjects that are controversial in terms of gender identity.

Importantly, girls in therapy will use drawings as a therapeutic tool to externalize anger and frustrations, but will tend to do it in a supportive environment. In such an environment, they are less preoccupied with how the final product looks.

Another classic study explored gender differences in graphic expression (Hesse 1978). This study found that significantly, boys’ line style and shape design tends to be characterized by dynamism and momentum, while girls prefer clearly defined lines combined with structured static forms. Girls’ subjects are clearer and more understandable, and they are careful to plan their composition and draw a baseline (the ground line), while boys the same age drew a baseline in only half the cases. In terms of coloring, girls tend to use a greater variety, while boys clearly prefer using 1–3 colors out of the entire pack.

Another significant different between the sexes has to do with brain structure (Restak 1982). Girls’ fine motor skills area is larger and better developed than boys’ and this is perhaps why their drawings are considered “nicer”, as well as their handwriting later on. They tend to draw small and carefully rendered figures. This does not mean that boys develop more slowly, but simply that the developmental trajectory used to judge their drawings is different than that of girls. Another difference that may have to do with brain structure is that girls seem to be better in reading facial expressions. This contributes to their developing social skills and also explains their preference to draw human figures and depict the relationships between them.

Indeed, one of the first studies in this area (Goodenough 1926) found significant gender differences in human figure drawings. Boys tend to draw figures in profile with long, dominant limbs, while girls draw small palms and feet. Goodenough attributed these differences to society’s tendency to emphasize girls’ appearance and encourage boys to be more physically active, a tendency that has changed considerably since her studies.

Physiological differences and differential tendencies to have certain disabilities are central to assessing gender differences in drawings. For example, the dominance of their right hemisphere, combined with other physiological factors, mean that learning disabilities are more common among boys. Thus, many cases of refusal to draw or difficulties in drawing and writing are later discovered to be related to dysgraphia or another disability. Particularly in the disabilities area, however, it is very important to avoid jumping into conclusions and test the child’s skills using other diagnostic methods, in addition to drawings.

Figure 1-32:A typically “boyish” drawing

This right hemispheric dominance also means that boys have better spatial perception. They study mazes and love drawing maps and diagrams. They also love drawing vehicles such as airplanes, tanks and cars. The following drawing by a 12½ year-old is a typically “boyish” drawing that emphasizes structure and space, as well as demonstrating considerable effort to reach the required level of accuracy.

To conclude, the objective in interpreting boys’ versus girls’ drawings is not to arrive at generalized conclusions supporting statistical findings about gender differences, but to identify differences that simply mean that the child in question is a typical boy or girl. Children of both genders have always experimented with gender atypical behaviors, a phenomenon that seems to be more acceptable nowadays. When interpreting children’s drawings, you must be keenly aware of such social developments.

Copying

A group of children is seated around the table and everyone is busy drawing. A pair of inquisitive eyes checks neighboring drawings and sees that one girl drew a sun, while one boy drew a red car. The eyes return to their own page and want to draw like that as well. When our children return from kindergarten with a stack of drawings held in their little hands, how can we know which are really their own? Did somebody help them out? Did they copy from others?

Copying is prevalent since early age. Learning by observation is the basic way of acquiring language, for example, and indeed adults also tend to imitate others’ speak, clothing, style and even opinions and ideologies. Given these universal truths, you need to ask, what made the child copy? Is the final product exactly identical to the source or has it been adjusted in some way? Finally, did copying help the child improve his drawing skills and enable him to continue on his own, at a higher level?

Copying has many positive aspects. First, it means the child is aware of his environment. He is curious to learn from older and more experienced children – by studying their behavior he reaches conclusions that are relevant to his future behavior. Second, copying introduces the child to peer society – now he’s just like all the boys (girls): everyone draws spaceships (mermaids) and now he does as well. Copying is often a way of belonging and advancing socially. Clearly, the very act of observing other children’s behavior, regardless of whether it leads to copying, promotes the child as it exposes him to diverse approaches to the same issue and thus sharpens his social perception.

Figure 1-33:Original drawing

Figure 1-34:Copy by a second child displaying unimaginative, stereotypical elements

There are other reasons for copying and imitating, however. Western culture encourages children to develop quickly and be achievers. Children who lag behind will obviously notice this and may copy out of fear of seeming less intelligent. This trend continues and even intensifies during the school years: the fact that all classmates study together and receive grades for the same assignments encourages many children to constantly compare themselves to others, and even copy from them. Observing a variety of drawings by the same child enables experts to identify atypical, “fake” elements. For example, you would find figures or styles that are age appropriate, but rendered in a rigid and stereotypical manner, with no personal touch. By the way, the pressure to perform does not always originate at kindergarten. It is often the parents who insist on teaching the preschooler math and English in order to turn him into a genius that pressure the child, or older siblings whose achievements are a source of envy. In such cases as well, when the atmosphere at home is so demanding, children are liable to copy for the wrong reasons. Remember always that even when children copy from others, their natural human tendency is to leave their own mark, so that the copying child changes the drawing and eventually produces a unique work of art.

7 tips on how to respond to children’s drawing:

 

•Look at his drawing when you are available for it

•State clearly what you can see in the drawing

•Ask him if he wants to explain his drawing and respect his answer

•Try not to give him remarks on “mistakes” in his drawing

•Avoid overwhelming him with questions so as not to pressure him

•When you give compliments, do it fairly and meaningfully

•Encourage his creativity rather than the final outcome

2 Colors

Introduction

In 1777 the German philosopher Goethe climbed Mount Brocken in the Harz Mountains, where he noticed how the color shades changed on the snow: “Over the yellowish background of the snow, the shadows looked purple… while during sunset, everything around was filled with magnificent magenta and the shadows became beautifully green. Later on, following the sunset, the magical harmony vanished, replaced by a gray starry night”. The sunset which Goethe describes appears in countless other songs, stories, legends and drawings and one cannot remain indifferent to its powerful color combinations.

Colors and Science

Scientifically, colors were studied in terms of wavelength and frequency. It appears that the order of colors in the spectrum matches wave characteristics. For example, the color red which appears at one end of the spectrum has the longest (visible) wavelength and the lowest frequency. Purple, on the other hand, appears at the other end of the spectrum, with the shortest wavelength and highest. These characteristics, discussed in depth later on, affect children’s energy levels, as can be observed in their drawings.

Colors have also been studied from a physiological perspective, and it was found that they have a clear effect on our bodies (Fisher & Zelanski, 2009). Adding the clear physiological relationship between colors and our body to the mind-self relationship explains why children who are exposed to a certain color project it from their inner world to the outside by behaving in a certain manner. It is no coincident that we relax when we look at green mountains or blue oceans, and yet become more aroused when we see red. These insights are used for marketing purposes, but can also be relevant to our effort to understand our children’s world through their drawings.

When you compare children’s drawings to their personality traits, you see a significant relationship between them. Years of research have proven to us that using a certain color or color combination may project on emotional meanings that will be detailed further on. However, what is the reason for the strong influence colors have on our lives and drawings?

Observing nature and our long evolution process may provide the answer to this question. In prehistory, and in fact almost throughout human history, people were busy raising crops, domesticating animals and barter trading. These activities often included spending long hours outside, close to nature. As a result, people have developed various insights regarding nature and the way it operates.

These insights were subsequently used for survival or comfort. Their intensive contact with nature also caused our forefathers to unconsciously internalize the meanings of colors – they understood that green meant growth, new beginnings and abundance, brown meant a solid ground, black meant danger, and blue meant that the rain had stopped and they could resume work, and so on.

Analysis of children’s drawings and the meanings of colors used in them will show striking resemblance to our forefathers’ perception of colors. In other words, current color perception is a product of human cultural evolution. So, similarly to our instinctual perception of snakes as dangerous, we see in yellow (sunlight) as a source of joy.

This idea is reinforced by other phenomena in children’s drawing, which also show a connection between physical and mental aspects of decisions children make while drawing. Two such examples are the stages of development in drawings and the way objects such as houses are drawn in various cultures. In these cases, studies clearly show that children from all over the world follow the same general artistic path, most probably dictated by our inborn perception and collective unconscious.

Colors and Psychology

Colors form a universal language. Psychological theories, like Jung’s, about the meanings of signs, concluded that signs in dreams, stories and drawings are part of our collective unconscious. Accordingly, colors were also shown to have collective meanings. This means that even if a certain color has a specific meaning in a certain culture and different meanings in others, the internal, profoundly symbolic influence on individual choices will nevertheless be homogenous and universal.

The first psychological studies of the emotional meanings of colors were conducted by Goethe. In 1810, he began attributing positive significance to warm colors and negative significance to cold colors. He was followed by artists such as Kandisnsky and psychologists who studied color preferences at kindergarten age, among schoolchildren, among adults and among children hospitalized for cancer.

Colors in the Child’s World

Colors fascinate children ever since they are a few months old. The cerebral cortex is responsible for the complex interpretation of sensory input, enabling children to identify and name certain colors. When babies develop eyesight, they are able to distinguish between dark and light colors and show greater interest in shiny colorful toys. Later on, they will develop the ability to differentiate shapes and patterns.

Colors arouse various feelings among children – for example, some will like red, but others will hate it because it reminds them of medicine. Some colors rouse children to action, others calm them down, and still others will cause disquiet and stress. Similarly, it seems the choice of colors in the child’s bedroom affects his mood and general functioning.

Most children enjoy using colors in their drawings. The exposure to colors develops their sensory mechanisms, so that the sense of sight integrates with the sense of touch, improving the child’s perception and functioning.

However, some children are color blind. These children process colors differently, and find it particularly difficult to distinguish between red and green and between blue and yellow. The problem is usually diagnosed around ages 4–5, after the children have acquired the ability to name colors. In the case of color blind children, no personality conclusions may be drawn based exclusively on the colors in their drawings; other elements and graphic indicators must be used instead.

Figure 2-1:Using color simply to depict reality

The key to diagnosing through colors is to look beyond the drawing. That is, ignore the drawing’s structure and elements such as house or tree, and focus on the dominant color. Nevertheless, you must beware of attributing far-reaching personality or behavioral meanings to the colors without cross-checking additional indicators. For example, the color green in figure 2-1 must not be ascribed emotional meanings because the use of green in this case is natural when drawing the ninja turtle figure.

In addition to the cross-checking of additional indicators in a child’s drawing, another important prerequisite is the amount of drawings analyzed – 25–30 will provide a good basis for a comprehensive analysis. If you observe recurring and dominant use of the same color in many of the child’s drawings, you may reach conclusions about his personality and difficulties based on the meaning of this color.

Furthermore, when you see a dominant color in the child’s drawings check with his parents whether this color was the only color available for drawing at the time. If the child had no other alternative, I don’t recommend reaching any conclusion about his inner world based on the meaning of colors.

This explains the meaning of colors in children’s drawings and their relationship with various personality traits. The choice or overuse of a certain color can help us arrive at conclusions about the child’s life.

In the following review of the various colors used in children’s drawings, I offer various examples of overuse. On the other hand, the two drawings below are examples for balanced color use. When color use is balanced as opposed to imbalanced, the emotional meanings detected through the colors will tend to be positive. Nevertheless, such tendencies alone cannot support emotional conclusions unless backed by other graphic indicators.

Figures 2-2 & 2-3: Examples for balanced use of colors in different ages

Red

This is one of children’s favorite colors. In fact, in most cases, it is the first color which comes to our mind when discussing colors. Because of its dominancy and attractiveness, you may find it in traffic lights and life-saving vehicles, but also in fast food restaurants. As red refers to guilt and sin, you may see examples of it in fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood, who paid a heavy price for her “red” curiosity.

In history, red was used as a symbol of courage and bravery; hence it was included, even in ancient Rome, in warfare-related objects. In ancient Egypt, people used to paint their body red to demonstrate their power. In India, red symbolized lust for power and materialism.

In China, red has a positive connotation and is a symbol of luck. Therefore it is used in celebrations and wedding ceremonies, where brides traditionally wear red dresses. In addition, the ceremony in which a newborn is named is called Red Egg.

Red has a stimulating effect on our nervous system and exposure to it increases the breathing rate and blood pressure (Ritberger, 2009). This is why red is associated with aggressiveness and competition.

In nature, it was found that red causes seagull nestlings to excessively search for food. It was also found that among European robins red triggers aggressive behavior.

Red has other meanings in our life, such as the power of life and inner energy, as well as survival. Max Lüscher – Inventor of the Lüscher Color Test – referred to red as symbolic of activity and leadership, as well as life’s pleasures and success motivation. Goethe referred to red as a noble and graceful color, which symbolizes monarchy and sanctity, but when used in an exaggerated proportion might cause anxiety. Kandinsky agreed with him and thought of red as a color which is in constant movement and therefore causes restlessness.

Following its historic and cultural meanings, in children’s drawings red is considered dominant and impressive. It is related to activity and doing. Children who constantly use red are often characterized as dominant and extrovert. These children like to be at the center of social attention. They like competition and challenges and prefer, of course, to be the winners. They are willing to invest great effort and energy to become leaders. Socially, they are direct and willful, so they know how to get what they need, without giving up to other children. Excessive use of red is common among aggressive children.

In the following drawing, it is possible to see excessive use of red. The girl who made this drawing did not try to document reality, but preferred red over other colors.

Note that when observing colors in drawings I recommend focusing on the amounts of color used, in order to differentiate between balanced and exaggerated amounts of color.

Figure 2-4:Excessive use of red

In general, when the color is used in a reasonable and balanced way, you may tentatively conclude that the child’s is balanced with positive “red meanings” such as active, enthusiastic and having a strong desire to be in the social center. However, when the page is swamped with red, my tentative conclusion would be that the child is attempting to compensate for contents and traits he lacked. Warmth will be replaced by aggression, hastiness by disquiet and the desire to be in the center by an existential need to be popular.

In this case, when the child is not at the center of attention, she behaves as if exposed to an existential threat, and reacts with nervousness and temper tantrums. All this may be concluded from her overuse of red. Nevertheless, as mentioned above, you must cross-check the information gleaned through colors with other graphic indicators in the child’s drawings. Some such indicators are pressure, line drawing style, subject, and figure drawing style. These indicators will help you make a comprehensive and quality analysis of the child’s drawings and determine whether the use of specific color is balanced or exaggerated.

Orange

Kandinsky liked the power of orange – the combination of red and yellow represented, in his opinion, balanced emotions and closeness between people, each remaining aware of his own powers. Like red, orange belongs to the warm color family and as such symbolizes energy, enthusiasm and doing. Children attracted to this color tend to be creative and optimistic. They are willing to dare and join new adventures, out of curiosity and a desire to experience independently and achieve their goals. A child who likes to draw with orange does not obey rules easily, but demands explanations for most requests. He often exhausts his parents with long verbal discussions, in which he usually prevails.

Figure 2-5:Excessive use of orange

Nevertheless, the combination of yellow and red which produces orange somewhat moderates the emotional meanings we associate with red. Thus, children who use this color in an exaggerated way will be assertive rather than aggressive, enthusiastic rather than overeager, etc. When orange is used too intensively, it means the child sees pragmatism and creativity as important elements in his existence. Note that as a rule, orange stands for quality and represents ambition, health and also good communication with the environment, even at high doses.

Yellow

Similarly to red, yellow also symbolize caution and thus appears in many warning signs. Yellow is traditionally associated with jaundice and cowardice, as well as with aging, for both people and objects. In ancient Egypt it was used to mark criminals’ and traitors’ doors. In the Middle Ages, yellow costumes were used as the sign of the dead. In India yellow robes are often worn by Hindu swamis and Buddhist monks in their schools and during the spring festival. In Russia, yellow represents romantic breakup. Finally, we all remember Dorothy’s Yellow Brick Road.

For Lüscher, yellow is a sign of lightheartedness, joy and comfort, which are felt after escape from restricted situations. Moreover, it symbolizes diligence which is not stable or consistent. Often, yellow symbolizes a conflict one must resolve. In the positive aspect, it represents a child’s ambition with the ability to manage others in order to reach his goals.

Goethe observed that yellow is a complex color and noted that although in its basis yellow is a peaceful and joyful color, which gives a sense of warmth, when it becomes soiled, it gives a sense of nausea and discomfort. Kandinsky referred to yellow as an earthly color without any depth, which gives a feeling of restlessness, anger and jealousy.

When children use yellow in their drawings, it represents sensitivity. These children are well aware of their surrounding and deeply influenced by it. They are characterized by cleverness and patience, as well as joyfulness and mischief, but tend not to be troublemakers like children who use red. In addition, they are connected to their family and do not need many friends to find interest, because they have a rich inner world. They are also characterized by high concentration ability and a desire to experience, while taking the right precautions.

Exaggerated use of yellow represents oversensitivity which makes it difficult for the children to manage outside the inner circle of their loving family. When the child swamps the page with yellow, this also connotes naivety, innocence and empathy with other people’s pain.

Figure 2-6:Excessive use of yellow

This drawing was made by a 5½ year-old girl who desperately needs family closeness. Her family relocated to a new dwelling and she was about to enter first grade in a new school, without any of her old friends. As a result, this period was characterized by dependence, sensitivity and a strong need for support and reinforcements.

Pink

As expected, pink is most commonly used by girls. At a certain age this color dominates their world and they dress in pink clothes, play with pink toys, sleep on pink sheets and dream pink dreams. Although some boys also show interest in this color and add pink to their drawings, this color is commonly identified with femininity. Women who are attracted to stereotypically feminine jobs, and who adopt behaviors considered feminine, such as makeup, body care and fashion, tend to use it.

Many parents look at their girl when she is at this pink stage, smile and say that she is a little lady. This girl imitates dress codes of older women, but does it in an extreme and grotesque way, so some parents cannot bear it anymore. Beside her obsession with her appearance, she also adopts the mannerisms of older women, giving orders and bossing other children. Often she would find a boy who will be willing to kowtow to her every whim.

In children’s drawings, pink refers to pleasing. Such behavior is common and normal at ages 5–7, but at older ages, a child who uses pink excessively may be characterized as having a strong need to please others, willfulness and a sense of esthetics.

Blue

Unlike pink, which is associated with femininity, blue is associated with masculinity. Blue is also associated with royalty and divinity. In ancient Egypt blue symbolized protection against evil, with the Pharaohs wearing blue clothes. In India, blue symbolizes the creation of the universe and divine wisdom, and the Buddha’s body is often painted blue.

In nature, there is a lizard which can change its head’s color to blue during sexual excitation periods. Toads see blue as water and a safe haven, hurrying to reach it in time of danger. Tamed chicks also associate blue with safety, so they tend to follow a blue figure.

In western civilization, especially in the US, brides traditionally wear a blue accessory as a sign of eternal love. On the other hand, blue is also associated with sadness and glumness, as in the blues musical genre.

Blue is also associated in the western world with the working class, as in the term “blue collar” worker. Some experts recommend wearing blue shirts to job interviews, because blue has a good and soothing effect on the interviewer. Blue affects our nervous system and causes a decrease in breathing rate and blood pressure.

Lüscher associated blue with tranquility and content, as well as a need to be physically or emotionally relaxed. Psychologically, blue represents the tendency to be sensitive and easily offended. According to Lüscher, blue symbolizes the relationships a person has with his surroundings and his sense of belonging.

Goethe differentiated between the various blue hues. On one end of the scale, it gives us a cold impression, and on the other reminds us of a pleasant shade. Kandinsky referred to blue as a color which creates a sense of loneliness, melancholy and daydreaming.

In children’s drawings blue represents relaxation and calm behavior patterns. Children who tend to use blue in their drawings will search quiet social interactions and will try to achieve harmony and pleasant atmosphere in their relationships with others. In their family relationships these children behave logically, demanding logical explanations and refusing to accept answers such as: “Because I said so...”. Children who tend to use blue are also characterized by a rich inner world, and it is important for them to express it.

Exaggerated use of blue represents cold, distant and restrained communication. It may also symbolize the child’s lack of confidence, oversensitivity, vulnerability and even his tendency to suppress his feelings.

Figure 2-7:Excessive use of blue

The following example was made by a 4½ year-old child whose parents contacted me because he had social and emotional difficulties. One of the issues that concerned them was that he didn’t have many friends at kindergarten because he was offended easily and when he met them in the afternoon, he insisted they meet only at his home. The excessive use of blue in his drawings represented his restrained communication pattern and social difficulties, as well as his low self-confidence and vulnerability.

You should note, however, the amount of blue used in the child’s drawing as well as graphic indicators in it. The parents of the child who made the next drawing contacted me because his kindergarten teacher reported that he was having a hard time, which made him nervous and caused him to beat other children.

The boy’s decision to use blue in this drawing is very clear, as it is spread over the entire page. In addition, he draws in an angular line, rapid movement and various pressure levels.

Figure 2-8:Extreme use of blue, combined with rigid, fast line movement and variable pressure level

Integrating all these factors indicates that this child has some emotional difficulty, which he tries to overcome by using the cold and relaxing blue. In other words, blue was used in this case to compensate for fears and anxieties that the child has but are unspoken, yet causing his unpleasantly distancing behavior, which is expressed either actively (aggression), or passively (withdrawal or detachment).

Purple

Queen Cleopatra of ancient Egypt loved purple. She loved it so much she forced her servants to immerse 20,000 snails for 10 days, so that they would secrete enough purple mucus. In Christianity, the pope and cardinals wear purple – perhaps the most expensive dye in the pre-modern world.

In human color psychology, purple is considered symbolic of royalty, nobility and gift. In one of his letters, Leonardo da Vinci wrote that he found meditation to be ten times more powerful when performed in a purple-colored room or under purple light. Similarly, Wagner used to compose his operas in a purple room which he called “my inspiration room”.

Lüscher described studies that associate purple with emotional and mental immaturity. In his opinion, preferring purple represents emotional fears, which cause people to create an imaginary world, while ignoring their surroundings. Such perception of the world as an imaginary place matches children’s natural view. In other words, purple is associated with escapism, usually caused by hidden anger or sadness. Another meaning purple has in our culture is the wish to charm others. Kandinsky noted that purple is created when red withdraws into blue. Therefore, purple is more related to blue in its meaning and associates with sadness and distance.

In children’s drawings purple is symbolic of imagination and intuitions. These children demand others to be particularly patient with them and are sensitive about managing things in their own pace. They have principles and ideas from an early age and it is important for them to keep them. In addition, children who tend to use purple may be characterized as daydreamers and generally confused.

Figure 2-9:Excessive use of purple

This drawing is an example for exaggerated use of purple. The excessive use of purple symbolizes the girl’s connection to her childhood experience, in the simplest sense of what it means to be a child. Note that although this girl is very in touch with her intuition, this connectedness to her childish side clashes with daily demands by her parents who think she is not grounded enough in reality.

Green

Green often appears in children’s drawings as it is also common in nature. Children are aware of the green color of tree and plants, but do not always use it when drawing them.

Historically, green symbolized victory. Green bay leaves were laid on the victor’s head in ancient Greece. In ancient Egypt temple floors were painted green as a sign of success and victory. In addition, green was considered symbolic of resurrection and immortality. Nowadays, green is often used symbolically in many African countries to represent natural richness, but also in Islamic countries, because it is considered by Islam to be sacred, as it is symbolic of the lushness of paradise. Green is also associated with prosperity, as in the dollar bills.

Since green is a cold color, it is usually considered calming and harmonizing. For example, green is used in billiard or card games tables, because it creates harmony between the gamblers. In medicine, green is often used in surgery rooms or clinics, to create a relaxing atmosphere.

Culturally, we associate green with envy, as well as with beginnings (“green light”). Politically, green represents environmental activism.

According to Lüscher, green is symbolic of willpower, diligence, stability, self-awareness and self-esteem. Green is characterized by precise, factual and critical assessment. It is also associated with efficiency. In addition, Lüscher sees in green a symbol of one’s will to outstand, impress, dominate and receive recognition from others, in order to boost one’s self-confidence. Kandinsky and Goethe both share the opinion that green projects peacefulness, stability and quietness.

Figure 2-10:Excessive use of green

In children’s drawings green symbolizes many characteristics of childhood such as fresh start, different and unique view of situations, learning and a need for space. Consequently, green appears more often in drawings of children who like nature and outdoor games.

This drawing was made by a 5 year-old. No need to refer to the grass or stalk which are naturally green. However, it is clear that the child chose not to use any other colors, so that the house is made of green contour lines, as well as green windows and door.

Recall that we must examine a large number of drawings in order to draw conclusions about the child’s personality. In this case, as in other drawings by the same child, green is used extensively. Excessive use of this color may indicate compensation, for example, for the child’s need to learn, start anew and blossom.

In the case of this particular child, excessive use of green indicates his fears of learning. At the time of this drawing, the child started first grade and was afraid of studying and found it difficult to manage in class, mainly due to motoric difficulties not diagnosed before my analysis of his drawings. This child used to sit next to his classmates in front of the teacher and blackboard but could not compare himself to their capabilities, mainly because he could not copy quickly enough from the board. As already noted, the combination of excessive coloring with graphic indicators, such as the shaky lines representing the house walls and roof, lends further support to my conclusion regarding his emotional difficulty.

Gray

In nature gray is associated with fall and wintery weather. In many languages, a “gray” face is a weary facial expression. Gray life is a meaningless and boring life, and a gray job is similarly boring and lacking in glory. Nevertheless, somewhat ironically, shades of gray represent a balance point of view, as opposed to the sharp dichotomy of black and white.

The brain tissue is called “gray matter”, associating the color with thinking. The term “gray market” refers to semi-legal economic activity. Finally, a “gray area” represents territories or activities known to be problematic but that is not dealt with specifically by the law or enforcement authorities.

Lüscher associates gray with neutrality, a wish to “sit on the fence”, but also a border. This is why we often observe gray boundaries in drawings, which protect the painter from external threats.

In children’s drawings, gray is usually used topically, as in gray clouds. In addition, gray, just as any other color, has a range of qualities – positive and negative. Children tend to use gray mainly in its negative aspects. However, gray may also indicate positive aspects such as the ability to integrate or perform measured steps. Remember that the color analysis must be supported by other indicators, primarily graphic indicators and that it is this combined analysis that will determine the meaning of the color.

Brown

Brown is the most dominant color in nature besides green. It appears in landscapes, plants, animals, as well as in the color of our eyes, skin and hair.

Lüscher refers to brown as a symbol of sensation. Meaning, brown is the reflection of our physical aspect. In addition, it was found that when a person feels uncomfortable with his family, or experience physical insecurity or discomfort, he will tend to choose brown. That is, the choice of brown indicates an increased need for physical and sensory comfort. This could indicate lack of confidence or actual physical illness. The lack of confidence could stem from conflicts or problems the person feels unable to cope with.

In most cases, brown will be used realistically in children’s drawings. For example, the earth will often be painted in brown. Exaggerated use of brown indicates difficulty to deal with changes and tendency to prefer the well-known and familiar.

Figure 2-11:Excessive use of brown

The following example represents excessive use of brown. The child draws all figures completely brown, without any distinctions among body organs: eyes, eyelashes, noses, mouths, arms and torsos are all brown. Usually, in drawings by children her age, human figures are more colorful and their organs more distinct.

All shades of brown are characteristic of the human skin. Therefore, it may be that this girl attempted to find a color similar to natural body colors. However, other drawings by the same girls are also characterized by excessive use of brown. This means the girl may have needs associated with using that color, such as groundedness, stability, earthliness and confidence. She needs to know what is going on around her, down to the smallest details, to feel that confidence, otherwise she may suffer anxiety.

Black

One of the most commonly asked questions about children’s drawings is about the meaning of black. In western culture black symbolizes mourning, bereavement or depression. However, in other countries and cultures white is used to represent these situations and sentiments. In western society, if a person had a rough day, he would say that he had a black day. Black is also associated with dark and mysterious events – for example, a black cat as a sign of the evil eye, black lists, black humor and black magic.

However, black is also associated in our culture with authority and momentousness, as in “black tie” events. In Japanese culture, black is a symbol of nobility, age, and experience.

According to Lüscher, black negates any other color and as such symbolizes relinquishment, surrender and abandonment. But black also has an ability to emphasize and empower any color drawn next to it. Kandinsky associated black with eternal silence, without hope.

When analyzing drawings, recall that the use of black is not culturally dependent. In that it is similar to many other elements in children’s drawings, such as houses, which appear in the majority of children’s drawings from diverse cultures in the shape of a triangle placed on top of a square, regardless of the real-life appearance of their lodgings.

Likewise, the use of colors in drawings is not culture-dependent, and when a child draws exclusively in black, it definitely does not mean he is depressed or in mourning. Thus, you can find black drawings even in countries where mourning is represented by other colors, such as red in South Africa, blue in Iran, and the white flags hoisted along the streets of Colombo, Sri Lanka, following the Tsunami disaster.

Figure 2-12:Excessive use of black

Most children use black in their drawings simply because it gives a strong and dramatic effect to the drawing. Figure 2-12 was made by a 3 years and 5 months-old boy, who named it “The world in black”. By doing so, he increased his parent’s anxieties about his general condition. When I checked other drawings he made, it was found, in addition to other graphic indicators, that black was used sporadically, enabling me to calm his parents.

Figure 2-13:Black-less drawing from the ghetto

On the other hand, the next colorful and joyful-looking drawing was made by a girl who lived in a ghetto during the Holocaust, under severe stress and anxiety, before she was killed in an extermination camp.

There are some issues related to black that you must check. First, find out whether the colors in front of your child included only black, or did not include it at all. This may sound weird, but sometimes children simply draw with the colors in their possession. I once met a kindergarten teacher who consistently withheld black crayons from her children, explaining that she didn’t want the children to spoil their drawings by covering them in black. Such behavior could be the source of children’s strong attraction to drawing with black at home.

I do not recommend this approach, because colors are rich with personal meanings for children and it is important that they experience drawing freely and intuitively.

The next issue that you should check is the surrounding in which the drawing was made. Does the child draw differently at home, compared to kindergarten? Do drawings made while staying with grandparents include different colors than usual? Does the phenomenon repeat itself or appear in one drawing only?

If the child continues to draw exclusively in black, I advise checking his behavior when other colors are placed in front of him. Does he ignore them, or does he try them out but prefers using black? It is also important to note the length of time in which he chooses to use black exclusively, similarly to the “pink period” or “heart-shape period” common among girls, which passes naturally with age.

Many children who prefer black argue that it is “the most powerful color”, since it can erase all colors painted underneath. In addition, it forms a strong contrast with the page’s white color. Nevertheless, if the child persists in using black excessively, you must check whether he suffers from some visual problem, perhaps color blindness (if the child’s age allows you to make such a diagnosis). Interestingly, a study conducted among children with learning disabilities, perceptual and visual problems found that drawing on black paper made it easier for them to create a wider variety of shapes and details, probably thanks to the strong contrast provided by black (Uhlin 1979).

In any case, even if the use of black is exaggerated, you must refer to the overall drawing level: Does the child draw in an age-appropriate manner? Does he enjoy drawing? How much pressure does he apply while drawing? If the pressure is very intense, to the point of punching holes in the paper, the use of black may indicate emotional inhibition, internalized fears and fear of criticism.

To conclude, the colors in children’s drawing paint a fascinating picture. Nevertheless, it is important to beware of attributing far-reaching meanings and spiritual symbolism to little children. The combination of meanings of the colors in children’s drawings, combined with the meanings of graphic parameters and the various symbols in other elements, can add a deeper layer of significance to our interpretation of colors and shed light onto the drawing child’s subjective emotional world.

The Meaning of Colors in Children’s Drawings

Red – A dominant and extroverted child who likes to be at the center of attention. He is active and full of enthusiasm. Like challenges and competitions and strongly needs to be the winner. Usually, his behavior is goal-directed – he can get what he wants and does not easily let other children have their way.

Orange – An energetic, enthusiastic boy who loves doing. Usually, very creative and brimming with optimism. Willing to dare and join new experiences, and showing charming mischievousness. Obeying the rules does not come easy to him and he demands clear explanations for every request.

Yellow – A clever boy, highly sensitive to his environment. He is playful and full of joy of life, but not a “troublemaker” like his red friend. He is strongly connected to his family and does not need “the boys” to find interest. Has a rich inner world and good concentration.

Pink – Usually girls who love to be at the center of attention. They feel older than their age and require the environment to treat them accordingly. They are intensely interested in and curious about their femininity and end to give orders and act like “little mothers”.

Blue – An easygoing, calm boy. In his social conduct, he will seek quiet and harmony. He demands logical explanations and refuses to receive answers such as, “Because I said so!” Has a rich and intricate inner world, but it’s important for him to express himself and his wishes.

Purple – A boy with well-developed imagination and intuitions. Demands to be treated with exceptional tolerance, but conducts himself at a personal pace that suits him. He has principles and ideals that guide him and lead his thought and action.

Green – Curious with a passion for learning. He likes new beginnings and transition, and can examine situations in his life in a different and refreshing light. The educational approach to him needs to be liberal, with plenty of free space for action.

Brown – A judicious boy, who usually thinks rationally. As such, he demands and needs logical explanations. In his social conduct, he shows confidence and even leadership skills.

Black – A responsible boy with a presence, needs attention, prefers to be the social leader and decide for everyone.

3 Family Relationships

The parent-child relationship can be a challenging and empowering experience, but also a complex and exhausting one. Some may say parenting is one of the most complex and meaningful tasks in our lifetime and as such, it is rife with changes and internal conflicts. Drawings shed light on parent-child dynamics, helping us understand the reasons behind a child’s behavior and find unique ways to improve the atmosphere and relationship at home.

Family Coalitions

One of the keys to analyzing family drawings is identifying the common denominator to all family members. In children’s drawings this could mean similar colors, drawing style, clothing, accessories and so on. Children draw family members close to each other, even if they are distant in reality. By identifying the common denominator in a family, you will also be able to reach conclusions regarding inner family coalitions that are significant to the entire family dynamic.

Internal family coalitions refer to both overt and covert coalitions between parents and children that form the family power structure. For example, if children, during an argument, often tend to agree with the mother, it will be very hard for the father to stand up to all of them.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that the way a child draws his family does not necessarily reflect the reality he lives in. Children often beautify their lived reality or draw more desirable family power balances. Be that as it may, drawings will enable you to understand how family relationships are perceived by a child and reach conclusions regarding his general behavior.

Most approaches to analyzing family drawings rely on Salvador Minuchin’s structural family therapy (1974). Structural family therapy basically assumes that the family is a structure in which a person’s identity is shaped.

According to this theory, the family is a living and developing organism. Similarly, the inner dynamics of family drawings also change as the family evolves. Eventually, the goal of drawing analysis is to find family-relevant solutions rather or in addition to particular solutions tailored to each member.

In spontaneous drawings, based on the ambiguous instruction “draw a family”, you can clearly see whether a child is aware of his family boundaries. Drawings reveal how a child perceives the subsystems in his family. In other words, drawings will show his attitude towards parents and siblings. Some of the most common ways children use to describe relationships in a family are distance between figures, height and width of family figures, different colors and clothing.

Figure 3-1:Family coalition

At first glance, the drawing in figure 3-1 does not seem to indicate the existence of any internal family coalition, mainly because all family members are drawn in the same color and all seem to be of the same height. However, the topographical location of the figures on the page (the form of the ground line beneath their legs) indicates the existence of a coalition nevertheless, with the eldest boy standing on the same plain together with his parents, while the 5½ year-old girl who made this drawing and her little brother forced onto a different plain, with added “grass” to compensate for their stature and make them as “tall” as the eldest brother and the parents. In this case, height of course represents dominance in the family system.

The behavioral approach and its view on family therapy (Cordova, 2003) may also be represented in family drawings. This theory focuses on family members’ social relationships and level of involvement. When a certain family member is more involved in a life of a child, the latter will tend to draw that member bigger and in a more positive way than other family members. Conversely, when they lack emotional communication, this will be represented by poor quality line and color selection.

Other issues such as criticism, positive evaluation, and trust relationships will also be represented in the way a child draws his family figures. The main focus in this case will be on the distance and relationship between figures: Is one figure distant from the rest? Are the figures holding hands or looking at one another? Do the figures have similar clothing accessories or other things in common? (Spigelman, 1992)

Temper Tantrums Directed at Parents

Most studies on temper tantrums (e.g. Waska 1990) view this as a common or even normative phenomenon at age two. However, as many parents know, reality is a bit different and temper tantrums occur also at older ages (Koch 2003).

Figure 3-2:Low self-esteem as an antecedent of temper tantrums

I recommend referring to the two following key aspects of this phenomenon:

1.Location – Some children are liable to throw a tantrum anywhere, while others make a clear separation between home and kindergarten. Such separation is important, because you may learn from it about a child’s ability to regulate his behavior.

For example, some children will throw a tantrum each time they fail in a task at kindergarten. Their frustration overwhelms them, so they react in rage. In such cases, as you may see in the following drawing, a dominant trend is related to low self-esteem and a weak sense of achievement. The parents of this 6 year-old girl, who started first grade, reported that she bursts in anger every time they point to a spelling error or when she mistakenly messes up the page.

Her drawing style combines trends of weak pressure with a shaky line with trends of drawing body organs such as the legs – drawn with a thin and fragile line, so that the entire figure seems unstable – or the eyes which are drawn without pupils, suggesting difficulty deciphering peer society behavior codes.

Other children will throw tantrums in situations such as social frustration due to unfair treatment by their peer group. For example, they would get angry and say “I didn’t get what I wanted… it’s not fair…”

2.Expression style – There are two basic types of expression: extraverted and introverted. Children with an extraverted expression style will usually react to their environment and beat, scratch or bite their parents or other children. Introverted children, on the other hand, turn their anger into themselves – they will bite their fingernails, smash their head against a wall, have tics or otherwise behave compulsively.

The parents of the 7 year-old girl who made the drawing shown below consulted me because of her temper tantrums, which occur mainly during family gatherings at her relatives’ homes. During these events, sometimes things would not go according to her plan – for example, when playing with her cousins, she would claim they are unfair to her and get mad, screaming and running out of the house in anger. In such cases, she finds it hard to relax, despite her parents’ attempts to calm her down.

Figure 3-3:Emotional overload and stress as antecedents of temper tantrums

My work with her family included the following stages:

3.Understanding the scope of the phenomenon – It appeared she would not throw tantrums at school or at home on a regular basis. Most of her temper tantrums occurred at her grandfather’s house during family gatherings. Therefore, my first assumption was that the source of her behavior was related to the parental dynamic at her grandfather’s house. My discussion with her parents confirmed my suspicion, as it seemed that when she is at her grandfather’s place, she is faced with multiple authority figures telling her how to behave. In other words, during such family events, her parents are left aside, letting other family member rebuke her, creating a confusing parental reality for her.

4.Accepting the phenomenon as natural – Many parents fear any manifestation of aggressive behavior because they think it’s the tip of the iceberg and that they will soon find out something terrible about their child. Despite your need to be politically correct and maintain a pleasant social atmosphere, you must not forget that aggression is a natural instinct. I recommend teaching your child how to behave and how to control his aggression, keeping in mind that it is a natural part of all of us. This point of view facilitates family dialog as it mitigates the fears related to the phenomenon.

5.Exploring the reasons for the tantrums through drawings – Among other causes, temper tantrums may be precipitated by

a.Regressed emotional development – In this case, the child did not have temper tantrums until a certain point in time, from which a regression was identified. In general, such behavior indicates stress – the child is stressed and angry outbursts offer the only outlet. Thus, a temper tantrum may also serve a positive emotional purpose for the child (albeit being unpleasant for his environment). In drawings, you will see regression in drawing stages, parallel to the behavioral regression. In this particular case, this possibility was rejected because the girl’s drawings were advanced for her age.

b.Temperament types – Parents with several children will be able to confirm that children have different temperaments since birth. A temperament usually does not change and characterizes a child’s behavior throughout his life. Temper tantrums will be more frequent in impulsive children with a “warm temper”. In such cases, a child’s outburst is not a sign of stress, but part of a natural expression style. However, this drawing was not made in an impulsive style – she filled the page areas meticulously, drawing slowly and patiently and attending to the smallest details.

c.Stressors – Based on Freud’s theory, we assume that a child’s behavior has a reason and that he benefits from his behavior, in this case, temper tantrums. Adler argued that each outburst has a purpose. This could be trying to get attention. The solution will then be to prevent the secondary gain involved. I prefer to focus on the cause for the temper tantrums more than on their purpose. In this case, you can clearly see that the reason for the girl’s behavior is her stress. The figure’s hair is drawn with a rigid line and dense coloring, which overloads the figure. This overload symbolizes the child’s emotional burden, caused by her expectations from herself or others’ expectations of her. Whatever the exact cause, it is clearly out there and indicates a real-life difficulty. Once she became less stressful and her parents learned to disregard her negative behavior, her temper tantrums simply disappeared.

To conclude, temper tantrums are a way of expressing anger and usually occur when a child experiences frustration and difficulty finding a better way to cope with his reality. Note that anger and aggression are natural and convey this belief to the child, in addition to having a dialog from which he may learn about other ways of coping with aggression.

Figure 3-4:Following therapy: emotional relief as indicated by the more spacious hair

A child should understand that socially, there are more effective ways for him to cope with failure or frustration. When parents have difficulty coping with temper tantrums themselves, and these become a recurring pattern, they should consult a therapist or parental guidance expert.

Stubbornness and Power Struggles

The generic term power struggles will be used here to refer to struggles that parents have with their children. Unlike temper tantrums, power struggles might be prolonged and accompany almost every interaction. Power struggles may extend from the age of 1½ years to late adolescence. Often, but not always, power struggles involve temper tantrums.

Children who have adopted a power struggle attitude will be ready to fight over anything as if it were a matter of life and death – they will scream, become stubborn and act aggressively. In other cases they will lie or behave in a domineering way towards their family members (Madigan, 2003).

Parents living in such an atmosphere are exhausted and usually state that “there are shouts, threats and punishments all day long. Without them, nothing works”. When parents reach the point of joining in a power struggle, they will tend not to give up on their principles, even if leads to “a severe clash with my child, until he understands who’s the boss”.

Figure 3-5:Power struggles indicated by dense painting with intense pressure

The children’s drawings and the children themselves, in this case, react to this harsh treatment. In the drawings, this may be indicated by intense pressure on the drawing tool and the use of multiple and dense paint layers, to the point of tearing the page.

Eventually, despite their militant statements, many parents feel defeated and frustrated. They will often admit that “this is not how I planned on raising my child…” Their child usually shares this exact feeling, although his feelings are not as clear to outsiders.

Figure 3-6:Emphasized shoulders and exaggerated height as a way of indicating desired status in the context of power struggles within the family

He also feels humiliated and beaten, resulting in continued efforts to fight for his place and status at home. His drawings, such as that presented in figure 3-6, often include figures whose legs look like pedestals the figures are mounted on, in a compensatory attempt at enhancing his status and influence at home and stressing the shoulders by drawing with intense pressure, as the emotional meaning of this bodily part is associated with status within the family.

The 4 year-old boy who made the following drawings is charming and lovable. Eight months after his young brother was born he started his power struggles with his parents and never stopped since. He responds to almost every request with “I don’t feel like it”, even if they offer him something enjoyable in return. In other words, almost every interaction with him leads to a fight.

Figure 3-7:Spreading over the entire page and circular coloring

His rapid and circular drawing style represents his energy and activeness. The broad deployment of elements on the page represents his tendency to be dominant in social interactions. He knows how to find ways to receive constant quality attention from his family members. Moreover, you may conclude from the gaps in his scribbles that he is outgoing, with a developed sense of humor, which enables him to get applauses and remain at the center of attention.

However, his drawings are below average compared to his age. Such regression, as expressed in the following example, represents his behavior, turning every interaction into a fight. According to his drawings, he experiences his social environment as a battlefield, where one wins or loses.

Figure 3-8:Regression in drawing level indicating prolonged power struggles

No doubt any parent would be exhausted by such behavior, especially if it lasts long. Due to such behavior many parents report having lost the pleasure of being a parent. Naturally, children such as this boy give their parents many moments of joy and laughter. It’s nice to observe him running and playing, but his objection to simple requests makes his parents feel weak and frustrated.

How to improve the family atmosphere?

There are several ways to improve an atmosphere in a family with a child who constantly turns down requests and acts defiantly:

1.Coping with daily transitions – Some children have difficulty with changes, which is mainly expressed by filling the entire page with a variety of scribbles, using sharp transitions from circular to angular scribbles. Such difficulty may be expressed in events such as going to trips with friends, going to kindergarten, bathing in the evening, falling asleep, etc. Any transition should be made gradually and slowly while using the opportunity for motor activity in the form of competing to the destination, even if the child only competes with himself.

Figure 3-9:Sharp transitions between circular and angular scribbling: difficulty with daily transitions

2.In all such transitions you should first check whether the parents’ behavior is consistent – each separately and both together. In this case, the source of the child’s difficulty was an unstructured daily schedule. Note that going to kindergarten and dining on regular hours provide children with confidence and emotional calm. Consistency should not be merely technical of course, but accompanied by parental messages and other valued behaviors.

3.Use movement to reach out – Most children like to run, but some need to do so more than others. This child, for example, needs to move during most of the day. This is indicated by his rapid and inconsistent scribbling style. Every time you want to talk to such child, it would be better to do it while walking or combined with any other activity. When such a child is in motion, he learns better. When walking is not feasible, try to maintain physical contact with the child during the conversation – even if you just put a hand on his shoulder, it will improve his listening. Note that some children like this one need activity to improve their attitude, rather than long dialogs that tire them.

4.Positive feedback – This method, using words or stickers, can do wonders. The feedback should be gradual – every succeeding stage is rewarded. For example, first a child will get a sticker only for getting up and dressing by himself in the morning. Next, he will receive a sticker for other activities at home and finally, for outdoor or complex requests. Note that a child may object to some requests along the way, so expect progress to be slow.

All of the above solutions work only if parents have faith in them and truly believe that keeping boundaries and complying with their requests are important for their child, even in adulthood. If the parent’s standpoint is “he is only a child…nothing will happen if is late for kindergarten…anyway he will have, as an adult, to get to work on time every day…”, then it will be difficult for the child to cope with transitions. Every parent prefers raising his child in a positive and joyful atmosphere, without quarrels or anger, but you must be aware of the thin line separating positive and negative stubbornness. This child’s resistance is an example of negative stubbornness. He takes his energies and spends them in a negative ways, doing things on purpose. His parents could teach him how to spend his energies in a positive way, empowering his positive stubbornness, which will later help him achieve goals in life.

Positive feedback messages delivered gradually teach a child to be in contact with his powers even when faced with complex situations. Proper positive feedback must include encouragement by the parent, showing confidence in his child’s abilities. The parent’s confidence will then increase the child’s confidence that he can succeed in the task. It is important to continue and challenge a child, until he himself adopts a behavioral pattern that will make him feel calm and confident in his abilities. In this case, the child’s independence is important for him, so it would be wise to reinforce this element in his personality, while weakening his negative stubbornness, which does not make for a healthy relationship.

Delegating responsibilities to children also helps boost their self-confidence and empower them. In my example, following the birth of the child’s younger brother, his parents could have asked him how he pictures himself as a big brother and what responsibilities he would like to receive with regards to his little brother. At the same time, it is important to give him the privileges of a big brother. For example, sitting alone with the parents when possible, just like they used to do before his brother was born.