This isn't an average 8 year olds drawing is it??

[delilabell]

I'm bad at art always have been. But we are worried about dds development in several ways including fine motor skills.
Shes proudly just created this and I'm so chuffed for her but it's not average is it?

Have you used any drawing tutorials on youtube? There are loads of them. Look for ones for kids. I cannot draw for toffee but i can produce some great pictures using tutorials. It is a skill you can learn. My children and i did loads of drawing using YouTube tutorials together during covid lockdowns. We have a drawing book each and I always get them to date the drawings so we can see progress.

People are very very hard to draw - I’m not sure I’d do much better tbh. My seven year old still mostly draws stick men.

I only got better at art when I started doing technical diagrams in science (labelled drawings of leaf parts etc). So now I can draw objects relatively well. Can’t do faces for toffee though.

Is she hypermobile? Friends son is and had lots of trouble with fine and gross motor skills and had occupational therapy to support him

Maybe conventional portraits just aren't her thing. Personally I find her drawings interesting. She's probably never going to be a Reynolds or a Sargent, but she might find the work of the Cubists and the Surrealists offers some inspiration for her future endeavours.

My drawing isn't much more advanced. I've always been shit at anything arty or creative with my hands. I did do well at school though and earn a decent wage in a good job. My writing is also incredibly bad.

Drawing not the best
Writing is neater than dd11 and ds 19

Maybe she's just not at art.

What's she like for drawing houses or objects for example?
Maybe portraits just aren't her strong point

I’m dyspraxic and this sounds like me at age eight, except her handwriting is way neater than mine is now let alone then. The drawing is similar to the ones I’d have did at that age too.

I eventually learned to ride a bike as I was so determined to get my stablizers off and again learnt to do laces, buttons and ties etc because I had to. But I was slow, always the last one out of the changing room!

My mum was a working single parent and I knew I had to be a bit independent so I was very persistent with a lot of things.

Still don’t do crafty things very well and still an avid reader.

I was a very clumsy child and still am today. I walk into things, drop stuff, walk into things left, right and centre. I always have bruises.

I could draw very well (I used to have some classmates asking me to draw them horses) and could easily ride a bike. I couldn't do cartwheels though or throw the greatest. I think I had dyshraphia as I could never keep to the margin.

I was diagnosed adhd as an adult and told I should have been diagnosed with dyspraxia as a child. So I don't know if the art work means anything? I'm unsure. I adored art and drew all the time. I could write joined up but I had to turn my book to keep on the line haha! Anyone else?

Could it be less that she can't draw, and more that she's not interested in drawing? That picture looks like it was drawn by someone who is able but can't be bothered. And that's fine...not all kids have to like drawing or want to draw. My nephew who has just turned 8 has terrible handwriting and his drawings are comparable to a 4 year olds. However, in contrast he is a brilliant footballer and high achieving in maths.

My 8 year old could draw better than that but your 8 year old has much better handwriting!

My 7 year old with SEN is much worse at drawing

Really???

You have a majority of the class WTS?

I know grown people (who are otherwise very accomplished) that can't even draw a stick man properly!

I wouldn't worry too much. and who knows maybe she will develop her style and be the Turner prize winner in a few decades?

Pretty much me to a t. Adored art. I'm shit at riding a bike too though. And a bit crap at swimming (can swim, but no technique)

Diagnosed AuDHD as an adult. Was told pretty much definitely dyspraxic, but nobody on NHS here diagnoses adults.

I also turned my book. (180°)

Honestly I wouldn't worry op. I wouldn't worry about her being hyper mobile or having dyspraxia or anything unless you have other concerns that are impacting her life negatively. Some people are just not artistic and some are not sporty or some love maths and some can't add up. People are allowed to have different strengths and weaknesses without having a condition.

For what it's worth I have a dc who is hyper mobile and has dyspraxia and she is an incredible artist.
Your DDs handwriting is better than my dc.

If it gives you any hope thats better than my 13 year old boy coukd draw at that age and your daughters handwriting is better than his now - hes been given a keyboard at school. Depsite being extremely bright and hacing lots of oractise drawing and writing just have not come easily to him. Its not holding him back though at all, out of all my children he has the most solid friendships, most humorous disposition and achieves the most academically. I think now hes been given a keyboard he might never write again so that'll only get worse, but hopefully it will never matter.

PS oddly he was also a fairly good piano player for a while

You would be surprised how much drawing is taught. If you’re not artistic yourself it’s not surprising this is the outcome.

And for someone entirely untaught it’s very good actually. It has an unfussy confidence which is actually very hard to achieve. Most people overthink and try to perfect. Confidence of line has its own charm I very much admire. There’s certain elements which are very advanced and intuitive if untaught - like the nose.

I like it.

I'm 42 and that's probably better than my drawing.

People are pretty hard to draw, and drawing skill depends on quite a lot of factors including how much you actually want to draw the subject (and how tired you are, whether the pen or pencil is the right size for your hand which many are not for childrens hands).

Proportions aren't bad - subject has shoulders which many kids forget about, facial features are a/in roughly the right places and b/express character/emotion, so those are all good things.

Something to look for (but I would not set her up to test it as likely you'll put her off drawing)...

Is she drawing what she knows is there, but cannot actually be seen/fully seen in real life?

For example the pony tail on the side of her drawings head - is it really on the side, or, knowing there IS a pony-tail there, but it's not visible from a front view, she's put it on the side even though you can't actually see it in real life.

Thats usually a big step in drawing skill... not drawing the things we know are there, but actually can't be seen. For example the legs you can't see on a chair because the other legs block the view - inexperienced/young artists will put them in because logically, a chair has four legs, they know this, thus they must depict it... it feels wrong not to.

I'd also look at pen/tool control - can she colour in the lines basically. If she can't, at 8, that suggests she struggles to control the tool so a hand/eye co-ordination issue (but again could be affected by unsuitable tool, unsuitable paper, and just not caring!)

I’m 35 and my drawings look like this 😂

It's better than my Sen child who's 8 can do.

You would be best to be referred to occupational therapy

My friend's daughter produces similar and she is ten with nothing wrong with her. As far as the writing goes, that's much neater than my DS who is much older than your daughter and absolutely nothing wrong with him. His father also has shockingly bad hand writing. All kids are different.

So I don't know if the art work means anything?

No, I teach in a Sen school and have had pupils who have learning delays, adhd, sp and lang difficulties, dyspraxia, autism and gross motor skill difficulties but are astonishing at realism in art.

Some of the other things might warrant flagging up with the school. Tables never made any sense to me until I became a teacher and was teaching in a particularly visual way.

Times tables rock stars is what all the schools seem to do for that, though my son hated it. We just learnt via an usborne lift the flap book and a tables pirate game he quite liked. And I taught him how to do tables squares

This is probably the point where natural variation comes through a bit. At the start of the year my y3 struggled with joined up writing but by the end of the year, she now has beautiful writing. I was shocked at the progress tbh but they’ve obviously done a lot in school. Her artwork though… let’s just say it’s not going to be an area of natural talent. There are some kids in her class who are really arty and the stuff they’ve done is bloody amazing- much better than anything I could do. For drawing I suspect there is an element you can teach and an element that is just innate.