In pictures: children around the world display their lockdown art

Children have been some of the hardest hit by lockdown restrictions, which have seen at least a third of the world’s population confined to their homes. Unable to go to school, see their friends or go to playgrounds, many young people have been drawing and painting the things they are missing most – as well as what scares them.

From school friends and football matches to loneliness and the pandemic itself, their artwork reveals the people and things that are on the minds of the children kept indoors by the fight against coronavirus. Here, they explain the thoughts and feelings behind their lockdown art.

Missing a friend: Matilda Soto Quilenan, aged six, from Santiago, Chile, drew a picture of herself with her school friend Ema. “I miss going to the park, eating ice-cream and riding my scooter,” Matilda says. “I’ve felt sad because I can’t go out to play. When I get bored, I occupy my imagination to draw, I can be an artist. I’m happy with that. But sometimes I get angry because the drawings come out too ugly.”

My heroes: Ilhan Ruvic, aged five, from Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, says: “I drew firefighters because they are heroes. I used to draw numbers and letters before isolation... and now I watch a lot of 911 TV series and that is mostly what I draw.”

School blues: Sofiat Kolawole, 8, Olatunji Adebayo, 11, and Amira Akanbi, 11, with their pictures at home in Lagos, Nigeria. Sofiat, who drew her school, says: “What I draw now is different from what I normally draw because I miss my school. The lockdown has made me angry.” Olatunji drew a football and says: “I miss playing football with my friends. I feel sad about the lockdown.” Amira drew her teacher and says: “I miss my school.”

Feeling lonely: Sandithi Illeperuma, aged 14, from Colombo, Sri Lanka, says: “Before the lockdown, I used to draw fun and creative stuff. But after the lockdown, I started to draw the things I missed the most.” Sandithi drew a picture of a girl sitting apart, wearing a face mask, with dancers in the background. She says of the lockdown: “It has made me feel very lonely because I’m an only child.”

Over the rainbow: Bashierah Moos, aged five, and Hanaa Moos, aged nine, at their home in Cape Town, South Africa. Bashierah drew a rainbow, while Hanaa says: “I drew my family next to an ice-cream truck because I miss going out. I feel sad because I can’t see my friends and go to school.”

Painting the virus: Mila Brusovani, aged four, from Tel Aviv, Israel did a painting of the coronavirus. “Corona is kind of a crown that has spikes and is round,” she says. “I made plans with my mother and it ruined everything. We planned to go on a trip with Jan (my little brother), with my bicycle, and in the end we didn’t go because of corona.”

Harsh reality: Cristofer Lucas Reyes, aged seven, from Havana, Cuba, drew himself and his mother inside their house wearing masks while his father, who is a doctor, is outside going to work. Coronavirus falls from the sky and there’s a "Virus Forbidden" sign outside the house. “Before, I used to draw abstract things, but now I draw the reality of what is going on,” he says.

Missing their grandparents: Marie Lou Belenyesi, aged four, and her nine-year-old brother Paolo in Brussels, Belgium. Marie Lou drew her mother and said that she misses her grandmother the most. Paolo drew himself in a farm. He misses climbing, friends and his grandparents the most. “Quarantine is a bit boring because I don’t know what to do,” he says.