RESUMO
AIM: To explore the perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, as expressed in the drawings of Swedish children aged 4-6 years. METHODS: We analysed 91 drawings with associated descriptions submitted to the Swedish Archive of Children's Art from April 2020 to February 2021. RESULTS: The visual and text analysis resulted in three themes. First, illustrating the virus and embodying the danger showed that young children understood the invisible enemy, combining realistic elements of the virus particle with fantasies of the 'virus monster' that needs to be fought off. Second, life has changed for the worse describes the profound effect the pandemic had on young children's lives also in Sweden, with comparatively mild restrictions and no school closures. Third, the virus spreads across the world, affects people and infects their bodies conveys young children's understanding of the pandemic as an existential challenge affecting the whole world. Children displayed surprisingly high levels of health literacy related to COVID-19, including contagion routes and the importance of hand hygiene. CONCLUSION: The drawings of Swedish children aged 4-6 years demonstrated the profound, practical and emotional effects of the pandemic on their lives. Drawings also illuminated young children's level of health literacy regarding COVID-19.