losing ability or just lost interest?

[arsesandoldlace]

I have trawled through the search but must not be entering the right keywords. Sorry if this has come up before.

DD(3.3) has lost almost all of her drawing ability. She will grab a pencil and scrawl two lines on a sheet of paper and claim that it's 'mummy' or whoever.
If I try to encourage her to draw a more detailed face, it will be a scrappy oval with two dots and a straight line, either to the side or top of the oval. That, apparently is a face.

I found pictures drawn by DD over a year ago and they are wonderfully detailed, large eyes with pupils, hair in different styles, bodies, arms, legs and feet with shoes, rainbows, food, etc.

I am desperately worried, what could this mean?

Personally, I would just back off and pretend not to be particularly interested in what she is drawing. Perhaps she has just lost interest for a while? My DS is 3.8 and can be frustratingly contrary; I think they can be at that age.

Thanks for responding llareggub, I will try that. Now that you mention it, she is more into modelling things at the moment.
Do you find your DS abandons one interest entirely in favour of another?

I would get her eyes tested just as a precaution but if that yields nothing put it down to contrariness and stop showing any interest.

Only worry if she seems to lose any other skills too.

I hadn't even thought of eye tests! I'll have a chat with the GP next week when DD has her days off from nursery.

He absolutely does abandon activities in favour of another; in fact his likes and dislikes change frequently.

My DD sometimes draws beautifully intricate pictures. The ones I get from pre-school are just scribbles. I think it's just a case of what's going on at the time, whether they're interested or distracted. I don't think it's anything to worry about.

I've just remembered DD1 coming home from pre-school with pictures which were way behind her capabilities. Eventually curiosity got the better of me and I asked her why her pre-school pictures didn't have a head, hands fingers, etc on. She told me she didn't want to show them what she could do. Her drawing skills were well in advance of her peers at that time and she was working at their level in order to fit in. Could this be your explanation?