Stages Of Drawing Development In Children 

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Are you wondering why Science says, "Encourage your child's drawing abilities"? Do you wish to know what drawing development in children is, and whether it can affect your child's growth? If you nodded along in agreement, then you should consider reading our post below. Here we talk about drawing development, and how it can help your child.

Drawing Development In Children:

Typically, drawing development stages include general art development guidelines, as each child has a different growth trajectory. Some kids may never reach their potential in terms of drawing development, due to reasons like a lack of interest. Such a thing is quite normal and does not affect your child's development.

Psychologists and educators have long researched the way children showcase their growth milestones through their drawing skills and various drawing development stages in a child's life.

[ Read: Drawing Ideas For Kids ]

Stages Of Drawing Development:

Child development drawing stages depend on your child's age [1]. Here are the five stages of drawing development in children:

1. Between 2 to 4 years:

Random pictures and scribbles define this stage as your child begins to move the arm and work with a drawing tool such as a crayon or a pencil.

He will draw lines and dots- just scribble away on a drawing surface [2]. It is here where the creativity of a child has the full room to develop as he has no notion of the real appearance of any object.

[ Read: Ways To Develop Creativity In Kids ]

2. Between 3 to 7 Years:

At this stage of pre-schematic art, your child uses different geometrical shapes and lines of varying lengths to draw the objects [3].

But he still isn't aware how these objects are organized. The pictures could be floating on the drawing surface before your child learns to arrange them logically.

3. Between 6 to 11 years:

The child can be in the range of 6 to 11 years during the schematic age. The stage is all about the 'schema', which means adhering to the same symbol to represent a specific object. For instance, your child draws houses the same way every time.

As he advances through the stage, he may begin to use multiple baselines and arrange the drawings into different layouts. Not all children reach the peak of this stage if devoid of adequate drawing practice.

4. Nine Years and Older:

It is the transitional stage and by this time a child's drawing skills improve to a great extent. Your child can produce art per the standards of an adult's understanding of the world. However at this stage, the childhood still takes over, and he transitions between this stage and the previous one of the schematics.

But one significant development at this stage is that the child begins to define gender roles for people he draws through items of clothing and other finer details in his artwork.

[ Read: Vegetable Painting For Kids ]

5. Twelve Years and Older:

The last stage is the stage of realism in a child's art. The child becomes an astute artist as far as his understanding the medium is concerned. The child now knows more about art, drawing tools, his subjects, and his environment.

He also knows what mature artwork looks like and begins to draw as per his new understanding of life. The self-critical aspect of his drawings also defines this stage.

Significance Of Drawing Development Stages In A Child's Life:

  • Drawing not only helps your child's growth in many ways, but the activity can also give you a glimpse into your child's development milestones and supplement his learning in many ways.
  • Drawing develops your child's fine motor skills (using hands and fingers for various tasks). You can introduce your kids to different drawing tools to further improve these child development drawing skills [4].
  • Drawing enhances a child's creativity. Help your child's creative development by letting him draw as he wishes to and not interfere by introducing coloring books or instructions during the first stage.
  • Drawing activities help a child's emotional functioning and hence help the child in other areas of his life such as academics. Use this great tool to assist your child's growth in many ways [5].

[ Read: Motor Development In Children ]

So, let your child draw to his heart's desire!

Did you help your child's development through drawing activities? Please share your tips and ideas with our readers.

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Debolina Raja came into the writing world while she was playing around with words and participating in various literary events. In the professional world, she found her writing interest in various genres such as health, wellness, parenting, relationship, and brand management. Having done a Masters degree in English literature from Delhi University, she loves reading, heading out on road trips,... more