One of the most popular and frequent activity among children, along with playing, is drawing. Majority of children like drawing activities and they find them amusing and relaxing. Considering that drawing is a spontaneous activity, it can reveal a lot about the child's inner world. A child can express a lot more with a drawing than he could ever do with words. It is essential to have knowledge of development phases of children drawings to be able to monitor the cognitive, emotional and motor progress of the child. In this study were involved children from 1st to 4th grade, and they were requested to make one drawing free of choice and one that represents their family. The aim was to determine whether there is a difference in artistic expression between a healthy child and a chronically and acutely ill child. Comparison was based on the use of light and dark tones and use of space in the drawing. The results have showed that there is no statistically significant difference between the drawings. This result may be related to the fact that Children's Hospital Split is included in a campaign called ''For a child's smile at the hospital '' aimed at reducing the impact of hospitalization on children.