Of great importance in the life of every person is self-expression. Children satisfy a similar need through drawing. Many parents understand this and they constantly buy their baby paints, felt-tip pens, pencils and albums. Having picked them up, children begin to apply various images selflessly and with great pleasure. This process allows them to convey their emotions. At that moment, the reflection of their feelings and feelings is transferred from the inner world.
What do children's drawings mean in psychology? How to know the inner world of a small person?
Drawings of children of different ages
It often happens that the parents of children attending kindergarten, the psychologist gives a conclusion that their child is observed rejection of the outside world, aggression and anxiety. At the same time, mothers and fathers come to complete bewilderment, because the main reason for this conclusion was only the cute scribbles of their baby.
How to decipher children's drawings? Psychology suggests analyzing them depending on the age of the young artist.
So, until three years old, the images left by the kids on paper are similar to the ācephalopodsā. Children draw people in the form of bubbles, from which dashes stick out, which are symbols of legs and pens. Young artists cannot yet draw details at this age. In addition, at the beginning, another āmasterpieceā appears on paper, and only after that the author begins to think over what exactly was depicted by him.
After 3.5-4 years, children already begin to plan it before creating a drawing. And only after the mental design of the plan, they begin to execute. A child at 4 years old has already learned to master a pencil well. At the same time, his ālittle capsā gradually evolve into people portrayed as cucumbers. People begin to represent two ovals with limbs, sticks.
Having reached 5 years, young artists are already capable of drawing large parts. This is the mouth, eyes, legs and arms. By the age of six, smaller elements can be seen in children's drawings. This is the nose of a man and his fingers.
And only by the age of seven young artists ādressā people according to their age and gender. Their characters appear hairstyles, hats and necks.
What do experts take for their analysis? The most accurate decoding of children's drawings in psychology is possible when studying images printed on paper by young artists of 4-7 years of age, because they are performed most consciously.
Family picture
The most popular topic for analyzing children's drawings in psychology is the image of the closest people to him as a young artist. It will tell a lot to an experienced specialist. Moreover, parents can draw a lot from this picture.
Studying the psychology of children's drawings, it is necessary to pay attention to some details. Among them:
- the sequence of applying the image to paper;
- plot plot;
- location and grouping of family members;
- the degree of proximity and remoteness of people;
- child's place among adults;
- the growth of each member of the family;
- color gamut of the drawing, etc.
We study some features of the consideration of the psychology of children's drawings.
Task sequence
Most often, after the child has received the installation on the image of the family, he begins to draw all its members, and only then complements his picture with various details. However, sometimes this does not happen at all. The young artist begins to focus on any details, while āforgettingā to draw himself and his relatives. Or, images of people on paper appear only after the outlines of secondary objects and objects are applied to it. In this case, adults need to think. Why does a child do this? What is the reason for such indifference to loved ones? Why is he trying to delay time until they are depicted?
An analysis of the children's drawing of the family in psychology is then impossible without leading questions. The specialist will have to clarify the nature of the relationship with relatives, while applying various techniques.
Usually, the use of such a sequence in solving the problem indicates a childās mental discomfort in the family and that the young artist is involved in a conflict relationship.
Plot plot
As a rule, building an image with relatives is extremely simple. The child seeks to depict his family in the same way as in group photography. It is sometimes attended by everyone. And sometimes one of the family members in this picture is not. It happens that each of those present in the picture stands on the floor or on the ground, and sometimes a young artist portrays people close to him as if hanging in the air.
Also, in the plot of the drawing, in addition to family members, grass grows green, flowers bloom, trees and bushes grow. Often, children portray someone in the house, and someone on the street. In addition to group portraits, there are drawings filled with dynamism and expression, in which all family members are engaged in some kind of business.
What is the decoding of children's drawings in psychology with various subjects? Everything is pretty simple here. If a child associates a family with tender and pleasant memories, then he will certainly illuminate all relatives or some of them with the sun, which serves as a symbol of love, kindness and affection. But sometimes a young artist places clouds over group portraits. Psychologists attribute a similar plot to the discomfort of the child.
Sequence of people
As a rule, the first person to appear on the childās drawing is the person who is his most beloved, most authoritative and significant in the house. Sometimes such a young artist considers himself. And he will not hide this, portraying his figure first.
Further, in deciphering the children's drawing of the family in psychology, they adhere to the principle that the child arranges all family members in the sequence in which he sees their role in the house, and also what is their attitude towards him. With an increase in the relative number of a relative, his authority, without a doubt, falls. That is why children who intuitively feel themselves to be unnecessary and rejected by their parents portray themselves as the very last.
Size figures
What do children's drawings say in psychology? Specialists pay attention to the size of the figure of each of the family members depicted by the child. The more they are, the greater authority the relative has in the eyes of the young artist. Often, small children portray the person closest to them in such a way that they simply do not have enough sheet to accommodate his entire figure.
The psychology of children's drawing of a person allows you to determine the specialist and that member of the family who in the eyes of the baby enjoys the lowest authority. The size of his figure, as a rule, is much smaller than that of other relatives. That is why rejected and neglected children paint themselves as tiny and barely noticeable. By this they emphasize their insignificance and uselessness.
Distance between figures
The analysis of the psychology of children's drawings is also carried out on the basis of what is the size of the space between family members. Such a moment may indicate either their emotional closeness, or, conversely, disunity. The farther all the figures in the children's drawing are from each other, the more we can talk about the presence of a conflict situation in the family.
Sometimes children emphasize such disunity even more. They place any foreign objects in the spaces between the figures of the relatives.
With emotional closeness, all family members in the drawings of young artists are depicted almost close to each other. In this case, psychologists also consider the degree of attachment of the child to one of the relatives. With emotional closeness to a certain family member, the baby will portray himself near him.
Finding a child in the figure
At this point, when considering the psychology of the children's drawing of the family, special attention should be paid. The place that the child has allocated for himself indicates his position among relatives. If the baby is in the center and stands between dad and mom, and also draws himself first, then he is sure that he needs relatives. If in the image of the family the young artist displayed himself after his sisters and brothers and at the same time away from his parents - this is a sign of jealousy, which he shows to other children. Moving himself away from everyone, the baby thereby shows that he is superfluous in the house and not needed by anyone.
The absence of a child in the figure
In the psychology of children's family drawing, one of the important points is the fact when a young artist āforgetsā to portray himself. In this case, adults need to look for a reason in the relationship at home. Most likely, they are not at all exemplary and burdensome to the child.
The image of a family in which there is no young artist himself can be a confirmation of the existing conflict between him and one of the household members. With his drawing, a kid who does not like his rejection in the family displays his protest reaction.
The absence of one of the parents or relatives
In the psychology of children's drawings, every detail matters. Specialists will certainly pay attention to the fact that the young artist āforgotā to display on paper any of his parents or close relatives. Most likely, this member of the family is a source of torment, anxiety and discomfort for the child. "Forgetting" to draw a specific relative, the baby suggests a way out of the current life situation, which will help defuse the negative atmosphere in the house. Sometimes, in this way, the child āeliminatesā competitors, thereby trying to repay his jealousy for other children.
Adding family to other people
What else can the psychology of children's drawings tell us? Sometimes a young artist complements his picture with strangers or non-existent relatives. Thus, he tries to fill the vacuum in his feelings. Also, a fictional person is used as a buffer to mitigate the feeling of inferiority among relatives. Sometimes children fill a similar vacuum with those people who, in their opinion, can establish close contacts with them and satisfy their communication needs. This leads to the fact that the kids begin to model the composition of the family, offering through drawing its improvement and improvement.
Sometimes a young artist complements his drawings not by outsiders, but by animals or birds. Most often in such images you can see dogs and cats devoted to humans. If these animals are not in the house and they are invented, then adults should understand that the baby dreams of them. At the same time, he wants a dog or cat to replace him with a relative who is not in the image.
An adult should think about such a plot. It is a symptom of a deficiency in communication necessary for the baby, insufficient amount of affection and tenderness for him.
Image of one child
The interpretation of children's drawings in psychology is one of the main methods of knowing the inner world of babies. Images in which the young artist paints himself alone, alarm specialists. A similar plot suggests that the baby does not feel like a full member of the family and believes that there is not enough space for him in the house. Most often, in such drawings, a similar state of the child is also expressed by a gloomy color scheme.
Sometimes young artists portray themselves only in order to emphasize their own significance. The idols of the family, who are not able to hide their egocentrism, do this, as a rule. However, from the drawings of rejected children, their images are distinguished by admiration for themselves. You can understand this by the detailing and coloring of clothes or by secondary objects that create a festive mood.
Body parts image
How to analyze the children's drawing? Psychologists also pay attention to how the young artist showed the faces of people, as well as other parts of the body. The most informative is the image of the head. If the author skips certain parts of the face or puts only its outline on paper, then this is an expression of the protest of the baby to these family members. It is possible that it is because of them that the baby is filled with negative emotions.
If the young artist depicted his face without mouth and eyes, this is a sign of his alienation in the family, as well as a violation of communication with people around him.
In the case when we see only eyes in the image of one of the family members, then most likely this person constantly watches the baby and does not allow manifestations of pampering and pranks. The same relative is the source of various conflict situations for the child. Similarly, you can analyze the picture in which one of the family members is depicted with ears, like in Cheburashka. Sometimes a young artist allocates only one mouth from a relative. This means that this person is raising a child by reading to him endless teachings and notations, while cultivating fear in the baby.
If the young artist paid the most attention to the head and painted all its details, then this indicates the significance of this close person for him. If the child likes to depict himself in this way, then this suggests that he is too concerned about his own appearance. Sometimes young artists, using a similar technique, brighten up their physical defect. And if a girl painted her face in all the details? She most likely imitates a mother who often smoothes her hair in front of her eyes, powders her nose and tint her lips.
In addition to the head, when studying children's drawings, you need to pay attention to the hands. If they are disproportionately long, then most likely they belong to that member of the family who is aggressive towards the young artist. Sometimes a baby can depict such a relative without any hands at all. Thus, he is trying to symbolically extinguish the aggression.
If an armless child has portrayed himself, this is a confirmation of his powerlessness in the family and his lack of voting rights.
Color spectrum
What are the tones of colors that the young artist used in his work? The colors in the drawings in child psychology are considered as an indicator of the palette of feelings that emanates from the baby at the time of memories of his close people, depicted on paper. In the choice of colors, you can consider the nuances and characteristics of the young artistās emotional attitude to certain households or to the whole family at once. All anxieties and doubts, hopes, love and dislike of the child are encoded in the colors used by him.
Everything that the baby likes, he will depict in warm colors. He will highlight his affection for a specific relative with a bright and juicy color. Cold tones in the pictures are confirmation of conflict situations. Most of all in this case, black is informative. He indicates the childās emotional rejection of the relative whom he included in the plot of his image.
Psychologists distribute the color values āāin the child's drawing as follows:
- green - an expression of security, aspiration, perseverance, independence and poise;
- dark blue - need for peace;
- red expresses aggression, willpower, excitability and increased activity;
- yellow indicates increased emotions, optimism, curiosity and spontaneity;
- purple is considered an indicator of intuition and fantasy, intellectual and emotional immaturity;
- brown indicates negative emotions, physical discomfort, slowness, and sensory support of sensations;
- black protests, the urgent need for change and destruction.
If most of all the child loves a simple pencil and does not paint his drawings in any way, this indicates his desire to close, about detachment and indifference.