Do you think the pictures that kids draw of themselves and of family members can be telling?

I have a picture on my fridge that my oldest drew of the family when she was little.
Jellyfish. She sees us all as jellyfish.

Prophetic, no?

I think they very well can be,but not trained in that department to know what to look for.

Yes, I think children’s drawings can be representative of what they are feeling or how the interpret their family dynamics. Think there are some psychologists that may be experts at interpreting children’s drawings. It seems like, I remember reading a bit about it, at one time.

We had some training in teacher school.

Yes, I definitely do think there is meaning to be read in children’s drawings.

They can be but some children may not realize what they’re drawing

Meaningless.
Sort of like pre ancient humans drawing pictures on a cave wall. They didn’t even know why they felt something on their face when the wind blew, or why the leaves rustled in the trees, or why the sun felt warm.
Same with small children.

Make me wish I had finished my teaching training at school.

I think they can be very telling, or they might not have much meaning to read into. The drawings might be more detailed in the things the kids have practiced drawing or have seen someone else draw.

I remember when I was very little someone showing me how to draw a house and from then on my houses looked 100 times better than before the person showed me. We didn’t live in a house at the time, but I drew hills and a house and the sun in the sky a lot. If a kid practices drawing himself, he might draw himself in more detail than all other family members.

Sometimes, not always, and not always interpreted correctly. My Sunday School teacher kept asking me during coloring time what was wrong. I did not get what was her concern. Finally I asked her one Sunday why was she so worried about me. She said because my pictures were so dark, she thought I must be angry or upset. I told her I didn’t want them dark, but I wanted to fill in the spaces where the crayon had missed but I wasn’t getting it lined up right, so I was making it darker and darker without filling in the gaps. I haven’t had that problem since my parents took me to get my first pair of glasses.

No different to playing dress up, every child expresses themselves as an individual.

Out of all the family members, including his maternal grandma, his rendition of me was the only one that wasn’t a stick figure (except for the one he drew of himself as part of the family.) I was all fleshed out, with blond hair, blue eyes, a yellow shirt, a blue skirt (he has never seen me wear a skirt!) and a big grin on my face! Of course, since I was the one who asked him to draw everyone I imagine that’s the reason why. Still, it made me feel good, especially the big, full grin. I hope that’s how he really sees me.

It was by no means a comprehensive lesson, but in college they told us, for example, that the position the child feels he is in in the family can be deduced by where they place themselves in a family drawing. Same with where he views his siblings. The best place would be between Mom and Dad. In this case, he didn’t depict any of the kids between Mom and Dad. In fact, the baby was hanging out there all by herself. He was next to Dad, but depicted himself as larger than life. If you knew the child…well, he’s a glutton for attention. Gets so annoying sometimes.

They also said that if the mouth is missing, or crossed out, there may be secrets they aren’t supposed to tell.

And other stuff.