The Stages of Drawing Development in Children

Drawing is an important form of self-expression for children. It gives them a way to communicate what they are feeling and thinking without words, which is especially helpful when they have trouble communicating in other ways.

It also helps children develop cognitive skills that will support them throughout their lives. 

In this article, we'll look at the stages of drawing development in children so you can understand where your child is on this developmental journey.

Drawing Development In Children:

In most cases, drawing development phases include general art development ideas, since each child has a unique growth trajectory.

Some children may never attain their full potential in terms of drawing development owing to various reasons - this is quite common and has no impact on your child's progress.

The way children demonstrate their development milestones through their drawing abilities and the various stages of a kid's development have been studied by psychologists and educators for many years.

Stages Of Drawing Development:

The age of your child determines when they reach the various phases of drawing development. The five stages of child drawing development are as follows:

2 to 4 years:

This stage is characterised by a slew of scribbles and doodles as your kid begins to draw with a drawing instrument like a crayon or a pencil.

These drawings are often random and child-like.

Although your child may not have a clear image about what they are drawing, it is still an important step in their development as this early doodling helps them to develop fine motor skills.

It also teaches them about shapes, sizes of objects, etc., as the drawings will always be done within the frame or page boundaries.

This can help with coordination between vision and movement because children recognize that there are limits on where they should draw!

When you look at these scribbles, keep in mind that even if something doesn't resemble anything specific, it's just part of learning how to use art materials correctly.

There might be some similarities with other things such as people or animals but that's okay... It's not realistic to expect children to do anything that looks like the real thing at this stage.

It is important for parents and teachers/caregivers to provide positive encouragement during this phase, as it will help children develop their creativity through drawing development.

They need opportunities to express themselves creatively without judgment or criticism so they can build confidence in their abilities.

3 to 7 Years:

At this stage, your child will utilise various geometric forms and lengths of lines to sketch the things in this level of pre-schematic art. 

Children start to draw things that resemble real life objects such as trees and people.

They will also use their drawings to help them understand the world around them like drawing a bowl full of soup because they have seen you eat it or for other reasons.

Children in this age group can produce complex pictures with lots of detail but don't expect anything too advanced if your child is under three years old - stick to simple shapes and outlines until then.

It's all about practice so keep encouraging your child during these stages regardless of how good (or bad) their work looks compared to what you think they should be doing at that age.

You want them to develop self-regulatory skills by learning from mistakes rather than being rewarded with praise every time they get something right.

If you're not sure about your child's drawing abilities, feel free to consult with an art therapist or a trusted teacher for guidance on how to help them draw the things that are more complex at this stage.

6 to 11 years:

The age of the schematic stage can range from 6 to 11 years old. The ‘schema' is what it's all about in this stage, which refers to sticking to the same symbol to represent a specific thing, such as houses Your kid draws buildings in the same way every time.

This is because the schemas that they learned in previous stages of their development are still intact and will continue to influence their drawings.

It's important for children at this stage to learn about perspective  so they can add depth and realism to their work.

At this age, they need opportunities to experiment with different mediums such as pencil crayons or paints but we recommend sticking with watercolours if you're not sure what your child needs otherwise it could become frustrating when they don't get results quickly.

It's also a great idea to introduce colouring books into the mix - these activities help develop fine motor skills which may be necessary depending on how advanced your child wants/needs their art abilities (and coordination) to be.

9 to 12 Years:

It's the intermediate stage, and by now, your child's drawing abilities have advanced considerably.

They may create art to adult standards, but still retains their childhood characteristics throughout this period. They switch between this phase and the previous one of the schematics at this time.

Your child will spend time developing complex patterns on paper which are part of the linear thinking stage.

They are now able to work with things that don't have straight lines, for example; animals or people's faces and bodies.

This period of drawing development in children is also more about self-expression as opposed to just copying images from real life as they did before.

They may even create imaginary characters by themselves instead of recreating popular cartoon figures.

This shows how their imagination has grown since doing these activities help develop fine motor skills too without them even knowing it!

One significant change at this period is that your child begins to develop gender stereotypes for individuals they draw based on their clothing and other more subtle features in their art.

12 Years and Older:

The stage of realism in a child's art is the final stage. They become an excellent artist in terms of their knowledge of the medium -  they now understand more about art, drawing tools, their themes, and the world around them.

They are able to express their own personal feelings and ideas about the world through art. 

They may prefer more abstract styles, but it will be important for them to practice realistic drawings as this remains one of their strengths throughout these stages in their development.

At this stage of drawing development in children, they can create pictures that look so good you'll think they were drawn by an adult!

Your child would not draw anything unless there was a purpose behind doing so - their level of maturity allows them to understand complex concepts like social norms and standards.

This usually happens between 12-14 years old, making them better at observing things around them on their way home from school or during family gatherings.

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

Drawing can help your child's development in several ways, and it may provide you a look into his developmental milestones as well as supplement his learning.

Fine motor skills are developed as your child's drawing develops (using hands and digits for a variety of activities). To further enhance these child development drawing abilities, you can expose your kids to various drawing tools.

Drawing encourages creativity. Allow your youngster to draw as he likes and don't get in his way by offering him coloring books or instructions during the first stage.

Drawing activities aids a child's emotional development, which, in turn, has positive implications for their academics and social skills - a useful tool to support your child's growth in so many ways.

Wrapping Up:

Drawing is a valuable skill, and it’s important that we help our children to develop their skills in an engaging way. 

The information shared here should provide you with some insights into the process of drawing development stages in a child’s life and how you can encourage them through your words and actions. 

When they feel that what they create has value, both emotionally and monetarily, they will be more likely to keep practicing-it's not about having talent or being born creative; it's about feeling rewarded for hard work!