Kinetic Drawing System for Family and School

Howard M. Knoff, Ph.D. & H. Thompson Pront, Ph. D.

The Kinetic Drawing System for Family and School combines two projective techniques--Kinetic Family Drawing and Kinetic School Drawing--to create a single, comprehensive procedure for evaluating children and adolescents. It gives clinicians and school psychologists a simple, cost-effective way to assess children’s perceptions of important relationships at home and at school.

More Diagnostic Information

Unlike other projective drawing techniques, which generally yield static portraits, the kinetic approach focuses specifically on the child’s interaction with others. Kinetic Family Drawing asks the child to draw his or her family doing something, while Kinetic School Drawing asks for a picture of the child interacting with relevant school figures. The introduction of action increases the diagnostic information available in the drawings, providing more insight into the child’s feelings and functioning.

Easy Administration

To administer the Kinetic Drawing System, you need only a pencil, blank paper, a Scoring Booklet, and approximately 20 minutes with the child.

The family drawing is requested first, then the school drawing. In each case, the child draws the picture, and then the examiner asks questions in order to clarify its meaning. To guide this inquiry process, the Manual provides a series of suggested questions.

Scoring is simple and clear-cut. The examiner checks each drawing for the presence or absence of specific characteristics, all listed in the Scoring Booklet. Once scored, the drawings can be easily interpreted using interpretive hypotheses provided in the Manual, along with case studies.

A Picture of the Child’s Problems Across Two Settings

Because the Kinetic Drawing System addresses both family and school settings, it is an effective way to determine the pervasiveness of the child’s problems. It is particularly useful with younger children and with those who have difficulty with verbal expression. Kinetic Drawing provides a rich source of diagnostic information in a cost-effective and nonthreatening format.