Psychology and creativity of the child. The "cactus" technique

Have you ever thought that the drawings of your children can tell you much more than you think. It turns out that with the help of colors and pencils the kid can “tell” everything that is hidden in his soul from his parents. Sometimes it happens that a child cannot even describe in words his problems, experiences, fears, but you can understand everything if you look at his drawing attentively. But how can we do it? There is a special technique called "Cactus" which is suitable for children over 3 years old. This technique will tell you about the state of the "emotional sphere of the baby." It will help assess aggressiveness, its direction, etc.

Give the child a large sheet of white paper and a simple pencil and tell the child to draw a cactus. Questions and additional explanations are not allowed.

Take into consideration such things as arrangement, size, the force of the pencil's pressure, the characteristics of the needles etc

Strongly protruding, long, closely spaced needles can evidence of the aggressiveness of the child. Strong pressure indicates his impulsiveness.

A large cactus, located in the center of the sheet is an indicator of egocentrism and the desire for leadership. On the contrary, a small figure located at the bottom of the sheet, suggests a lack of self-confidence and dependence.

The use of bright colors and the image of "happy cactus" characterises optimism, whereas anxiety is the use of dark colors, as well as the predominance of internal shading with broken lines.

Femininity shows the presence of jewelry, various colors, soft lines, shapes.

Estrangement shows the presence of other cacti or flowers in the drawing and on the contrary the picture shows only one cactus means introvert.

The desire for home protection, the sense of family unity shows the presence of a flower pot in the picture, the image of a houseplant. Lack of desire for home protection, a sense of loneliness are wild, desert cacti.

After the work is finished, you can ask your child about the drawing:

Is this cactus home or wild?

Is this cactus strongly pricked? Can I touch it?

Does your cactus like to be looked after, watered, fertilized?

Does the cactus grow alone or with a plant in the neighborhood? If it grows with a neighbor, then what kind of plant is it?

When the cactus grows, how will it change (needles, size)?

Try to do it with your child and tell us about results.

Autor: Ludmiła - Absolwentka Narodowego Uniwersytetu Pedagogicznego w Kijowie na kierunku: Anglistyka/ Lektor języka angielskiego. Od ponad 8 lat pracuje z dziećmi jako nauczyciel jęz. angielskiego.