When Embodiment Becomes Visible in Children’s Paper and VR Drawings Through Image Schemas

Immersive VR drawing tools are increasingly used in children’s art and design education. Research on embodiment in VR is mostly evaluated through self-report measures of presence or immersion. These methods describe the experiential qualities of VR, with limited attention to the externalization of embodied experience in children’s creative outputs. This paper takes an outcome-based perspective by analyzing the spatial structure of children’s drawings through image schemas. Thirteen Grade 5 students drew “a scene that left the strongest impression on you” on paper and in VR. The study collected 22 paper drawings and 16 VR drawings and followed by semi-structured interviews. Three trained coders analyzed the drawings using an image-schema framework that focused on container, path, and balance. We also conducted inductive thematic analysis of the interviews. Descriptively, VR drawings show more open containers, stronger directional paths, and more dynamically balanced compositions than paper drawings. The interviews revealed related experiences of extended space, changes in confidence between experienced and less experienced drawers, and the headset as a more private and experimental setting. These findings suggest that VR highlights some embodied possibilities in the spatial logic of children’s drawings. Other kinesthetic and social aspects are less visible at the level of container, path, and balance. From a methodological view, this study shows that image-schema analysis can complement self-report and behavioral measures when studying embodied design across physical and immersive media.