On stages and materials in the development of child drawings

The expression in creative materials develops in parallel with the motor, cognitive and emotional developmental stages and influences them.

It is recommended to expose the child from an early age to creating with different materials to encourage different experiences.

It is important to submit materials appropriate to the age of the child and the stages of development of the painting, to encourage an experience of success and prevent frustration.

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Steps and materials in the temptation of child drawings

Scribble stage: (age one and a half - two years and even three)

 

The scribble begins as a spontaneous movement activity, with little control over the movements that create the scribble. As children's motor skills develop, they begin to make repetitive movements in their scribbles, forming vertical or horizontal lines, round shapes, and different points.

 

At this age the child has no early intention to create representative signs or shapes nor is there a conscious use of color. At the same time, children are aware that they are creating marks and enjoy the experience of putting color on the page. At this point, it is appropriate to serve large wax chalks and be comfortable to hold. Toddlers will also enjoy finger paints that are easy to apply and pleasant to the touch. It is recommended to serve under adult supervision and attach the drawing page to the table to prevent movement of the page during painting.

 

The descriptive stage (pre-schematic) - basic forms (age 3-4)

 

At this age the nervous and muscular system matures and coordination becomes better. Also, a connection between the painting and reality begins to form. Lines and shapes still appear meaningless to the adult, but children may give them names and meanings from the world around them. In addition to scribbles, more complex shapes appear at this point such as triangles, circles, crosses, squares, and rectangles as well as mandalas (diagrams, shapes, or circular patterns). At this age you can also add to the art materials gouache markers (markers) that can be worked with roughly and even slammed on the table without being damaged and they allow the creation of controlled paint stains. It is also possible to serve gouache paints in small glasses, each with its own paintbrush, in order to eliminate the need to clean the paintbrush after each pull, since this requires a complex sequence of actions.

 

Scheme Stage - Human Forms and Preliminary Templates (Age 4-7)

 

At this point the child's thinking is still very egocentric and self-centered and he perceives the space as connected to himself and his body. The paintings stem from his experience and perceptions and not necessarily from reality. Thus, the use of color and the organization of the drawing on the page are affected by this and children can place things in the page space without reference to the ground line or aspect ratio.

 

The most important development at this stage is the appearance of the basic human figures, resembling their heads: head and arms or legs. At first, there is no distinction between the characters, although they may describe different people. Gradually the children are able to draw figures that look different from each other, and towards the end of the stage, most children begin to include in their drawings more details and characters such as toes and hands, teeth, eyebrows, hair, and ears. Figures also appear in different sizes and in different shapes to describe different representations: baby, father, nurse, etc.

 

The children also develop a scheme of houses from shapes with straight lines, appearing details from the everyday environment like sun, flowers, and trees. At this point, children are interested in creating more distinct and accurate drawings so markers and pencils will help them in this task. It is still important to continue to submit materials from previous stages that allow for release, investigation, and play.