Children’s drawings: a mirror to their minds created by Isabelle D. Cherney, Claire S. Seiwert, Tara M. Dickey and Judith D. Flichtbeil

Children's drawings are thought to be a mirror of a child's representational development. Research suggests that with age children develop more complex and symbolic representational strategies and reference points become more differentiated by gender. We collected two drawings from 109 5-13 year-old children (three age groups). Each child drew their family and their school and participated in an independent recall task. The results indicated significant gender and age differences in the number of details depicted in the family drawings. There were also significant differences between boys' and girls' stereotyped drawings, usage of proportionality, and clothing. With age, children tended to draw more aerial views of their school. The results are discussed in terms of the contribution children's drawings can make to the study of cognitive development and vice versa, as well as their importance for education.