Children’s drawing is the best way for child psychologists and pedagogues to learn about a child’s personality , as well as their inner strengths and fears. Depending on age, emotions can be more or less difficult to express, so the child can show a wrong truth about himself, finally causing the parents to be unaware of certain problems and insecurities that can take root in him, being unable to realize account and put solutions.
But, thanks to the so-called tree test, we can get a general idea of how the child feels and what his personality is like , and then we explain what it consists of and how to apply it.
How to perform the tree test
This test gives us the opportunity for the child to open up to us in an unconscious way , giving us certain information about their way of being or their thoughts. To perform the test you must follow these steps:
- Have a few blank pages and a colored box handy.
- Tell your child to paint a tree without providing any more information.
- Wait for it to finish, the details are the most important.
When the little one says that he has finished, we will go on to analyze the drawing with the following guidelines.
How to interpret the child’s drawing
There are four very important characteristics when making this drawing, which are:
Trunk: The trunk represents the way we see ourselves when faced with any problem or uncomfortable situation. It reveals the confidence and self-esteem that the child has.
- Width: security and confidence.
- Fine: insecurity, lack of self-esteem.
- Straight: shyness, afraid of going outside the established norm.
- Crooked: open, tolerant and sensitive.
- With holes: emotional voids.
Cup: The treetop represents how the child relates to the world around him and what is his perception of it.
- Round: sincere, honest, simple and generous.
- Round with big loops – great personality, but somewhat defensive with your ideas.
- Round with normal loops: responsible, polite and consistent.
- Round with many small loops: insecure about how others see you, always trying to please without breaking the rules.
- Branches upwards: happiness and joy.
- Branches down: worry and negativity.
- Large cup: imaginative and resourceful.
- Small Cup: Embarrassed, withdrawn, or shy.
- Cup with leaves, fruits or animals: perfectionist and with a lot of creativity.
The ground: The ground usually indicates the fears or emotional instability that the child may have, as well as his energy and emotional strength.
- There is no ground: insecurity and indecision.
- With a straight line: they always follow the rules established by parents and teachers.
- With distant line (with background): lack of interest and indifference.
- With several lines: simple and natural.
- With elements (grass, flowers, etc.): they show different personalities depending on the moment.
Tree position
- Focused on paper: constant, confident and with decision-making capacity.
- In a corner: shy, lonely or very reserved.
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