The Family:

Drawing the family can greatly reveal children's personalities. It provides valuable knowledge and understanding of children's attitudes and feelings towards the most powerful forces of their environment, that being the members of their family.

In this drawing, all family members are included, even a baby that is yet to be born. No one is omitted from the drawing and even an unborn sibbling is included.

When asking children to draw their families, the results are products of their feelings, in other words, an emotional response. Certain features are regarded as important when looking at children's drawings of families.

Examples of these features are the size of individual figures (which shows their level of importance), the order of which figures are drawn (again, the level of importance), their position in the family group, inclusion and exclusion of family members including themselves (feelings of rejection from family or towards another family member), whether or not the sex of family members are distinguishable, and whether or not members of the family is over emphasized (which indicates power and aggression).

Expression of feelings is symbolic in children's drawings of the family.

 

Above is a drawing of the family by a girl of six years. Notice the rather unrealistic size of her baby brother of three years. It is also noteworthy that only the male figures have arms.

 

It is mainly through omission and over-emphasis by which children express feelings and attitudes in their drawings. Feelings may include frustration, jealousy, rejection, fear, inadequacy, aggression, and insecurity.

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