Children's drawings as an experience – scopeand limits of their revelations

O Based on a description of the theories and principles of the analysis of children's drawings, we propose an integrative approach that enables their use in research with children. We created a brief timeline of the concepts that involve children's drawings with emphasis on the evolutionary approach as the central axis of theorizations in the field. Approaching children's drawings with Vygotsky's concept of experience allows us to overcome classic dilemmas of the field, namely, the extent to which drawings are the result of imagination or a description of reality or, moreover, manifest personal or cultural content. By presenting and discussing some drawings collected in different studies, we emphasize the importance of children's drawings, from a multimethod approach, in research with children. We argue in favor of expanding the use of drawings in person-environment studies based on a careful perspective that does not culminate in the adaptation of participants and the content of their works to established theories.