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

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

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

Psychodiagnosis of the child through drawing

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

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

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

How to interpret children’s drawings?

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

Therefore, Drawing becomes a language through which they express and project their mood, their feelings and their way of seeing the world..

Children not only draw what they see, but also what they feel. So by carefully looking at their children’s drawings, parents can get clues about their outlook on life.

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

The meaning of colors in children’s drawings

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

What does the size of the drawings indicate?

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

How to interpret your place on the sheet

• Stable and self-confident children tend to center their drawings; the withdrawn They choose to place their figures on the right margin; the left side is preferred by children extroverts although also by the most impulsive and non-conformist.
• Besides, if the drawing is lost and tends to come out at the bottom margin on the sheet the child is probably very insecure and has very low self-esteem, while the drawings that completely occupy the upper margin of the leaf may be the work of children who do not like the reality in which they live and tend to escape from it through imagination and fantasy.

​What do colors reflect in children’s drawings?

Without wanting to become our children’s psychologists, it doesn’t hurt to have some help that allows us to understand their drawings a little more. Color psychology can help us with this.

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

Each color usually expresses a mood and give us information both about some of your personality traits and how you feel:

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

What does the arrangement of the elements indicate in a child’s drawing?

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

• A well centered drawing usually shows a organized and self-confident childwhile an off-center drawing could indicate greater immaturity, insecurity and dependence.
• If the drawing tends to be on the right side think of a child with good stability and emotional controlalthough also with a certain tendency towards introversion.
• The left sideon the contrary, is the favorite of more open children, but with greater impulsivity and lower tolerance for frustration.
• The top of paper corresponds to fantasy. A drawing located predominantly in that area may be the work of a very fantasy child and that he could have problems with his environment, so he tends to avoid himself.
• The bottom denotes the contact with reality and it is used by children who have few problems and are fine with their environment; although if the drawing seems to come off of the sheet from below and in the center or above nothing appears, it could be very insecure childrenwith low self-esteem and relationship problems with others.

What does the size of children’s drawings indicate?

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

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

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

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

Warning signs in children’s drawings

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

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

Inhibition or insecurity

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

Sadness or depression

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

Tension and anxiety

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

If we observe a continued tendency to use the elements described and there are other signs that can reaffirm the impression that there may be a problem (general reluctance, sadness, permanent anger, rebellion, difficulties when sleeping…), it is advisable talk first with the tutor to share the concern and contrast the child’s status in class.

If from all this it is deduced that the child is having a bad time, a consultation can be made with a child psychologist who will provide the necessary guidance.

Learning to draw: a multi-stage path

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

Fine motor skills, which are developed with drawing, are the basis for being able to start writing, cutting, etc.

Obviously, Not all children have the same ability to draw: Some do it with more ease and that can cause some to back down and say that they don’t want to draw or that they don’t know how.

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

Evolution of drawings with age

At the same time, we must keep in mind that all…