Most people are born with an interest in creating things. Children delight in the realization that they can make things appear on a blank surface. As most parents can attest, that surface is not always limited to paper. Some budding artists draw on the table, walls or anywhere they can reach. Unfortunately, many children lose their love of drawing as they reach adolescence.
Scribbling Stage
When children first begin to draw, usually at around 18 to 24 months, they are in the manipulative stage. This means they are making the association between moving, or manipulating, the crayon or pencil on the paper and seeing a result appear. The first part of this manipulative, or scribbling stage, is random scribbling. Children are just learning that the crayon produces colored lines where there were none before.
The second part of the scribbling stage, controlled scribbling, takes place about six months after the child discovers random scribbling. Patterns, particularly circles, begin to appear as the child's motor skills improve.
The final part of the scribbling stage is known as named scribbling, in which the child makes associations between his surroundings and the images he puts on paper. Though the art still appears as scribbling, it represents a person or thing.
Symbolic Stage
At around age 3 to 5 years, most children enter the symbolic stage of drawing. They use certain shapes and lines to represent specific things. Circles are a common symbol seen in the early part of this stage and often represent a person. As motor skills improve, symbols become more varied and complex. For example, a child may draw a square with a triangle on top representing his house.
Landscape Stage
Children enter the landscape stage as they develop spatial concepts. According to author Viktor Lowenfeld, "everything sits on the base line" in this stage. Houses and people appear at the bottom of a page, representing the ground. Later in this stage, items such as clouds, birds and the sun appear at the top of the page, representing the sky.
Early Realism Stage
At around ages 8 to 10, children enter the realism stage. They add details to their drawings, trying to make it look exactly like what they see. This is also when children begin to compare their artwork with their peers' artwork. Toward the end of the realism stage, children attempt more complex drawing techniques such as dimension and shadow.
Adolescent Stage
As children become increasingly self-conscious in their pre-teen years, they are easily discouraged when their artwork fails to live up to their expectations. This is also when emphasis on art in schools decreases. Many children at this age adopt other hobbies, such as sports. Generally, the children who pursue art beyond this stage will maintain a love for art into adulthood.
