The meaning of children's drawings
Draw Me A Picture

Draw Me a Picture

The meaning of children's drawings and play from the perspective of analytical psychology.

by Theresa Foks-Appelman, creative art therapist, playtherapist, Sandplay therapist ISST
The Netherlands. 

This is a  book for playtherapists, art therapists, teachers and parents

Learn more about the emotional life of your child 

Can a child's drawing tell us somethink about the child's emotional situation? How can we recognize signals that children try to give us in their drawings?

 In Draw me a Picture children's drawings from their very first scribbles to drawings by adolescents are desribed and analyzed. And, when doing so, the author repeatedly makes links to the world of children's play. She also offers illustrative examples from her therapeutic practice. 

The analytical psychology of Carl Gustav Jung, the ideas of Erich Neumann and modern developmental psychology offer excellend guidelines in the search for significance of children's drawings. Children actually live in the mythological period of their ancestors. Just as our ancestors'' growing process of awareness was reflected in mythological stories, rituals, fairytales and primitive art, a child's process of awareness if reflected in his or her drawings. There are similarities between the products from various periods of art history and the drawings that children make af various ages.

This book is a tool voor play therapists, art therapists, Sandplay therapists and teachers. It is extremely important to understand the normal development in both drawings and children's play before we are able to recognize a signal indicating that something is not in order.