Young children’s drawings: A methodological tool for data analysis

Abstract

Children’s drawings have been analysed in research for several decades, frequently using a narrative style. This article introduces an innovative methodological tool to analyse young children’s drawings. Taking a social semiotics perspective, the aim of this tool is not to replace narrative analysis but to complement it. The study was conducted with three 4-year-old children who were encouraged to draw freely at home and at school. The discussion begins by examining how the form of the drawing, that is, the type and quantity of the modes children used, was analysed; this is followed by an analysis of the content, that is, the type and quantity of the themes, the children drew. Consequently, a data cross-grid was developed, where a total of 223 drawings were plotted across three separate data cross-grids – one for each child. Once all the drawings were plotted, the three grids provided a different way of looking and interpreting the drawings. While noting the limitations of the study, it is concluded that the data cross-grids provide an instantaneous graphical impression of each child’s preferred semiotic (modes) and configuration (themes) styles, which reflect each child’s unique personality and identity as a drawer. Ultimately, such a tool could be used by practitioners and researchers to understand the children’s preferred ways of drawing. It can also be adapted and modified to analyse other modes children use such as playing, drawing, and movement.