Children’s Pictures in Research Practices across Academic Disciplines

With the aim of exploring how children’s pictures are made relevant and given meaning in research, this article analyses how children’s pictures are used, discussed, and studied across different academic disciplines. Altogether, 423 articles published between 2010 and 2023 were thematically analysed. Four themes were identified that run through the research: Health and wellbeing, Competence and the mind, Education, and Agency and opinions. Each have strong connections to academic disciplines but are not simply defined by them. They are connected to specific perspectives on children’s pictures, as well as specific notions of children. The study shows that very few studies focus on children’s pictures per se, or analyse them solely for artistic reasons. Instead, children’s pictures are often included in research with the purpose of making claims that extend beyond the pictures themselves, and beyond picture-making processes.