Expressed Feelings in Childrens’ Drawings

This chapter aims to examine the children’s feelings expressed in the drawings made while they were strictly under home quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quarantine is the act of separating and restraining the mobility of persons who are believed to have been exposed to a contagious disease to ensure that if they manifest symptoms of the disease, they may not be able to infect others. The study used a qualitative approach called Participatory Action Research (PAR). In this chapter, Participation of 174 children from a suburb community was made possible through the assistance of their respective parents who served as co-facilitators of the researchers. Through the help of their parents, the children were provided drawing materials, written instructions for drawing activities and food packs. Thematic analysis was used to assess the qualitative data, whereas chi-square analysis was used to study the numerical data. The results showed that that the top 5 most common feelings expressed in the drawings of the children are desire and longing (223 or 20.4%); happiness, joy and excitement (100 or 9.13%); followed by the feelings of appreciation and gratitude (74 or 6.76%); love (50 or 4.57%) and fear and nervousness as well as boredom (which both got a frequency of 37 or 3.38%). Furthermore, it was discovered that there is no discernible difference in the emotions depicted in children's drawings according to sex (chi-square = .165 <.864); however, a discernible difference was found according to age group (chi-square = 81.509 >.00). It became evident in the children’s drawings that they also suffer the same effects of home quarantine such as worries, sadness, boredom and disappointments just like the adults do. It was established that drawings can be utilized as a barometer of children's emotional well-being since the children's drawings expressed their feelings, thoughts, and inner experiences. It was also determined that drawing activities can boost children's emotional well-being.