Understanding the 5 Stages of Children’s Drawing Development

Posted on Feb 16, 2025 in Psychology and Sociology

Drawing Stages of Infant Development

A child, in the process of creating their world, goes through a series of drawing stages:

  • Involuntary Drawing (Scribbling Stage, 2-4 years). This is the most important part. It is involuntary, characterized by messy scrawls.
  • Realism Training (Pre-schematic Stage, 4-7 years).
  • Intended Realism (Schematic Stage, 7-9 years).
  • Visual Realism (Pseudorealistic Stage, 12-14 years).
  • Adolescent Crisis (14-17 years).

Evolution of Graphics

This process provides guidance to the teacher about what the child is learning through drawing.

  1. The curve appears before the straight line.
  2. Later, straight lines, or intersecting lines appear.
  3. Initially, color is not used.
  4. At two years, the child transitions from the sensorimotor stage to the symbolic stage. Graphic language becomes very important.
  5. Topological forms, rather than geometric ones, begin to appear. (Topological forms are the same form situated in space without geometric imitation).

The time a child spends focused is very short, and we must seize it. It increases as they grow.

Stages of Scribbling

  • Disordered Scribbling (18 months).
  • Controlled Scribbling (2 years).
  • Named Scribbling (3 years). Represents a much greater mental development.

Disordered Scribbling

  • Focuses on pencil manipulation.
  • Involves physical and psychological development.
  • All children go through this phase of disordered strokes.
  • Foster the opportunity to scribble.
  • Do not guide them.
  • Two years after starting, the use of the pen begins.
  • There is no real intention.

Controlled Scribbling

  • The child displays a connection between what they see on paper and their movement.
  • They conquer visual and motor development, changing movements.
  • They are not copying.
  • They need involvement and enthusiasm from those around them.
  • They are still experimenting with the stylus.
  • Strokes are still unpredictable.
  • Checking the doodle coincides with psychological progress. The controlled scribble is very important for psychological evolution.

Named Scribbling (3 years)

  • Naming represents a change of position.
  • Drawings do not change, but thinking does.
  • The child draws with intention (they want to make a circle and have the intention and control).
  • The resemblance to reality is not casual. Reality is *their* reality.
  • They continue enjoying the physical movement.
  • They want to know the utensils before use.
  • Color becomes important.
  • Provide tools that create strong contrasts with the paper.

Pre-Schematic Stage (4-7 years): Random Realism

  • At 4-5 years:
  • They learn to distinguish colors.
  • They easily shape forms.
  • They hold the pen perfectly.
  • They draw some lines thicker than others.
  • They know the difference between bright and opaque colors.
  • They recognize the outlines of familiar objects.
  • Their drawing is very much an imitation of the adult.
Contraindications
  • If their pictures are unrelated, there is no capacity for:
  • Letters (they will not learn to read well).
  • Numerical abstract relations (they will not learn arithmetic well).
  • They are not ripe for social relations. Their relationship is still ongoing and emotional, and tasks must be of that nature (according to Lowenfeld).

Schematic Stage

In the schematic stage, the idea of the body is much more developed. Children start making the same scheme. The schema depends on:

  • Personality.
  • Influence of the teacher.
  • Affective Meaning.
  • Experiences: tactile and kinesthetic.
  • The child’s behavior.
The Outline Represents
  1. The symbol of mental images that the child has of things.
  2. The concept that the child has and demonstrates their knowledge of the objects.
  3. The change represents changes in concepts through experience.

It is different from child stereotypes in that the child changes their images and what they represent. The scheme is the same, but it varies in some way; something is added.

Spatial Layout

Corresponds to the situation and the relations of objects together.

“I’m on the floor… The tree grows in the ground…”

Lines appear:

  • Baseline: Represents soil depth.
  • Horizon line.

This means that the child has discovered the relationship between themselves and the environment.

Sometimes the line can be bent; this is called depression.

In the Schematic Stage, these elements are present:

  • Stereotype.
  • Baseline.
  • Horizon line.