A Developmental Approach to Understanding Drawings and Narratives From Children Displaced by Hurricane Katrina

Refugee children's play: Before and after migration to Australia

“…Art helps children externalise and interpret complex feelings. Examining children's drawings and narratives permits understanding of their experiences . Drawings completed during this study illuminated the nature of play and lived experiences of refugee children pre‐ and post‐migration to Australia.…”

Representation of dental care and oral health in children's drawings

“…17 Children's art expressions, like children themselves, are individual and must be considered as such within the larger context of their developmental, emotional, social and cultural experiences. 18 For Vygotsky,19 an understanding of the difference between what he termed a child's spontaneous concept and a child's scientific concept depends on one's understanding of these two assumptions. It is in the spontaneous concept, which occurs in a child's first encounter with an experience, that the referential use of language plays an important role.…”

Perceptions of diabetes obtained through drawing in childhood and adolescence

“…It is accepted that the figure drawn represents the experience of the child and his or her needs and preferences 13. Drawings are a “window” to a young person’s thoughts and feelings, because they provide an image of their particular world 15,16. This technique is both economical and easily performed, since it requires few resources and children generally enjoy the activity 16…”

“…Although authors disagree on various issues, there is general agreement that some characteristics of drawings reflect certain emotional features or problems in children 16,26–32. Drawing is also useful in encouraging communication between the child and the health team when relationships are strained by stress and the strong feelings provoked by diagnosis or treatment 16,21. Stressed children tend to show more emotional indicators in their drawings than their non-stressed peers 33.…”