Understanding analytical drawings of preschool children: the importance of a dialog with a child

Figures & data

Figure 1. Drawing of a 6 years old girl.

Table 1. Dialogue between the girl and the researcher and analysis of certain details in the drawing.

The dialogue between the girl and the researcher	Parts of the drawing to which the conversation refers to
Girl: ‘Look, what I’ve drawn!’ Researcher: ‘Oh, what a happy girl! Is that you?’
	Girl (6 years)
Girl: „Yeah. But I'm not happy. See, what I have here?’ (she points to the mouth on the drawing) Researcher: ‘Teeth?’ Girl: ‘Yeah. But one is about to fall out!’ Researcher: ‘Aha, now I see. This one, right?’ (she points to the tooth with arrows next to it)
	Arrows next to the tooth below on the left show how tooth was supposed to move left and right, before it fell out.
Girl: ‘Yeah. Will I then look like this when I smile?’ (she asks worried and points to the mouth in which she only drew one tooth) Researcher: ‘Oh, no! You won’t have an empty mouth like an old lady if only one of your teeth falls out.’
	Sickle-shaped form on the drawing represents the mouth in which there is only one tooth. The dialog reveals the girl’s fear that when her tooth actually falls out her smile will change drastically and she will look funny. The researcher deliberately brings some humour into the conversation in order to ease the girl’s worries.
Researcher: ‘What is this?! (she points to two composed forms at the bottom) Girl: ‘Well, toothbrush and toothpaste!’ Researcher: ‘Aha, aha. And here I thought you almost stepped onto two birds that came by.’ (she deliberately provokes the girl)
	Scribbled circular form represents a dirty fallen out tooth that needs to be cleaned. And two composed forms at the bottom represent a toothpaste and toothbrush. The girl’s answer reflects amazement over the question asked. In her opinion the question does not make sense since it is clear from the drawing that these are the things, we need to clean our teeth.
Girl: ‘Oh, come on! Look how dirty the tooth is. It needs to be washed so that it’s clean when you put it under the pillow.’ Researcher: ‘For the Tooth Fairy?’ Girl: ‘Yes. I’ve drawn it, here.’ (she points to the circular form on the left side)
	A long arrow on the left shows the transfer of the tooth under a pillow.