In this article
- Why is drawing important for children?
- How to teach your child to draw?
- What are the different phases of design?
A wall is like a blank canvas to a child. The minute they discover they can doodle on a white surface, they look for every opportunity to show off their artistic skills. Drawing is a natural process for children, and the steps of drawing for preschoolers help them express themselves freely and easily. The drawing process starts with random scribbles on walls and paper, and eventually these scribbles start to make more sense as children move on to the next stage and grow.
To learn about these developmental stages of drawing that children go through, read on.
Why is drawing important for children?
Not every child is interested in drawing. But there are some interesting benefits of drawing for children.
Some of these benefits are:
- It builds their fine motor skills.
- Develops hand-eye coordination.
- Develop your creative expression.
- It is the foundation of prewriting skills.
- It builds your attention span.
- Develops your cognitive understanding of concepts.
How to teach your child to draw?
During children's early years, it is important for parents to focus on the drawing process and not the end result. There is no need to formally teach children to draw, but to provide them with exposure to drawing materials and let them express themselves freely. As they grow, their skills and presentations improve and become more detailed as they reflect the world around them and express themselves through their art. Some ways you can teach your child to draw are:
- Praise your child's efforts to draw rather than saying it's “not right” or “not good enough.”
- Help them feel proud of what they've created by pinning or hanging it somewhere in the house where your child can show off their masterpiece to guests.
- Make sure your child has access to different drawing materials like crayons, colored pencils, paints, etc. This will encourage them to be creative using different drawing materials.
- Providing your child with just one colorful fill-in book can limit their creativity. Instead, give them a blank slate and let them express themselves freely.
- Don't give your child steps on what to do and what not to do. Let them create whatever comes to mind.
Now that we have an idea of how to teach children to draw, let's take a look at the different stages of drawing.
What are the different phases of design?
Each child is unique and their way of representing things around them is different. Additionally, parents should remember that all children develop at different speeds and in different ways. Therefore, when it comes to drawing, there are certain stages of drawing development that all children experience. Let's take a closer look at these stages of early childhood drawing.
Phase 1 – 12 Months – Random Doodles
The scribbling phase of the drawing is the first stage in which the child explores and develops their motor coordination. Babies aged 15 to 18 months begin to develop random, uncontrolled scribbles that don't necessarily represent anything.
What forms can be taught
- Doodles
- Vertical and horizontal lines
- Various line drawings
Understanding the concept
Doodling helps children learn about cause and effect and their ability to make things happen. When they doodle, it allows them to explore the textures and use of objects, materials, and tools like pencils, crayons, paint, and paper.
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By around 15 months of age, children can usually pick up pencils and crayons with their entire hands. This grasp is also known as palmar grasp.
Stage 2 – 2 years – Controlled scribbles
The second stage is the controlled doodling stage, where children spontaneously scribble in circles or back and forth and in dots. Similar doodles can be found in almost all children's drawings at this age, which is necessary to develop drawing skills, pre-writing skills, and writing skills later on.
What forms can be taught
- Horizontal and vertical lines
- Multiple loops and spirals
- Roughly drawn circles
- Shapes that resemble the letters T and V
Understanding the concept
Children begin to discover the connection between the lines they make and the marks that form on the paper and, therefore, repeat these lines on purpose. At the end of this stage, these traces evolve into simple diagrams.
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At this stage, they can very well hold a pencil using their thumb and first two fingers. This is known as tripod grip. Children also use their preferred hand at this stage.
Stage 3 – 3 Years – Learning Basic Shapes
During stage 3, children begin to make some basic shapes in their drawings as their fine motor control and hand-eye coordination improve.
What forms can be taught
- circles
- squares
- crosses
- points
- Shapes that resemble T, V and H
Understanding the concept
A child's first drawing usually comes at this stage. Children are able to explain what they drew, but their drawings may not look like what they are trying to portray. Children usually only use one color at this stage and also name their picture before or after completing it.
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Children hold a pencil near the tip, between the first two fingers and the thumb. They use their preferred hand to draw and hold the pencil with good control. You can help your child develop a good understanding of the tripod at this stage by having them use triangular crayons.
Stage 4 – 4 Years – Pattern Representation
In this pre-schematic phase, some patterns begin to emerge in children's drawings. They make a pattern and interpret it as a representation of something, giving it a label.
What forms can be taught
- squares
- circles
- Rectangles
- Attempts to make triangles and diamonds
- crosses
- Cards
Understanding the concept
Children will be able to include small details in their drawings, such as eyes, arms, fingers, etc. They generally draw things they know; therefore, your design gains more meaning and intention. Children know what they are going to draw before they start. At this stage, the drawings look like the images they describe.
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At this stage, children can hold a pencil with good control, just like adults.
Phase 5 – 5 Years – Drawing Images and Portraits
At this stage, children begin to show creativity in their drawings.
What forms can be taught
- basic shapes
- triangles
- diamonds
- spontaneous letters
Understanding the concept
Children can now draw spontaneously and reflect their own backgrounds, interests and experiences in their drawings. They draw what they know, but their representation of people, animals and houses constantly changes. You can find their figures floating in the air while children are still developing their spatial awareness. One important thing you will notice is that they place themselves in the middle of a drawing due to their self-centered nature.
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Children develop good control of holding a pencil, crayon or brush at this stage.
Stage 6 – 6 to 7 years old – Own Drawing Style
At this stage, children have their own drawing style, which adults can easily recognize.
What forms can be taught
At this stage, children can easily make the following shapes in their drawings.
- circles
- squares
- Rectangles
- triangles
- Diamonds in your designs.
Understanding the concept
Children can draw people, animals and objects on a baseline and can show insights in their drawings. For example, trees are shown taller than houses. They take care of small details, like focusing on important things like a small door in a house. Children's sense of color also becomes quite realistic at this stage.
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Children's grasp is perfect at this stage. They know how to hold and use pencils and crayons effectively now.
Keep the drawing experience fun for your child!
We hope you enjoyed reading about the benefits of drawing and the stages of drawing development. Encourage your child to participate in lots of unfiltered drawing activities to express themselves.
Let us know in the comments below how you encourage your child to love drawing
