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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

toddlers and drawing, what is normal?!!!

28 replies

flossismum · 11/01/2006 22:37

My 2 1/2 year old has been scribbling for as long as she could hold a pencil! She has drawn faces, with eyes (including the iris), nose, mouth since before she was 2, and now adds teeth, hair, ears, arms with hands, legs and feet! Tonight she even made the legs extra thick and said they were trousers! She also likes to draw spiders, with hundreds of little legs and cartoon like faces!

We don't know any other children the same age, and have no idea if this is normal or not! We were the first of our friends to have a baby, so all the kids we know are younger.

If anyone knows anything about art and wether this is something we should be encouraging, I'd love to hear from you! Thanks!!!

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collision · 11/01/2006 22:41

She sounds very advanced IMHO. My ds (3.9) has only just started doing pictures that look like people with huge eyes and nose etc

Try her with some letters now and I bet she will write her name soon.

Hattie05 · 11/01/2006 22:42

Of course its something to be encouraged! I think the best thing for children is plain paper, and 'mark making' materials and let them get on with it.

My dd is nearly three and i love the way she draws people. I have to sit on my hands sometimes to stop myself showing her the 'right' way to do it. Her people are so much more unique and different to the average stick man but as you say, they include every little detail she can possibly think of.

Original poster

flossismum · 11/01/2006 22:48

She draws everyday and we've always got "art" materials available to her whenever she wants it. I get the feeling she has a real gift, but without others to compare with I didn't know wether I was just kidding myself!!
She has started doing wavy lines for writing, which is v. cute! So maybe I should start trying the letters soon!
Thanks for your replies! It's always good to hear from other people.

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collision · 11/01/2006 22:50

Hattie...I am going to keep a scrapbook of all of ds's developmental drawings as I think it is amazing. The way they draw one day is totally different to the way they draw the next and if you dont keep a record you will forget.

Hattie05 · 11/01/2006 22:51

At that age my dd could copy letters immediately after watching me write them, but wouldn't be able to do them without me writing them first.

Only since Christmas (writing her name lots of times in cards!) has she mastered writing her name without assistance.

This is my favourite child development to watch, i find it fascinating seeing how their skills can change from one week to the next, and hearing their descriptions of pictures and 'letters' they have written.

Enjoy it!

Hattie05 · 11/01/2006 22:52

LOL posts crossed, collision, i agree, i havn't got round to putting mine in a scrap book yet, but have a pile waiting to do so!

Original poster

flossismum · 11/01/2006 22:52

That's a great idea. I said to my husband tonight that we should frame them, although they come so thick and fast our house would be covered! I've also started dating them, so that when we look back we'll know exactly what point in time she did them.

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bobbybobbobbingalong · 12/01/2006 02:10

Ds is 3 next month and will reluctantly draw a squiggle, and the occasional not very good circle. I get the feeling he is at the other end of flossismum's dd's scale.

She does sound very talented flossismum, I haven't seen kids under about 3.5 draw anything that looks like much.

Ds can type though, and can write his name (not too difficult), mummy, daddy, the names he calls his grandparents, "nose" and "blob" from memory. So I think it's a pen control thing rather than not having anything he wants to commit to paper.

maomao · 12/01/2006 07:40

Hi flossismum,

Your dd sounds very talented! My 2.5 y.o. dd draws well, but not to the level of detail of yours (i.e. she draws eyes, but not the iris; faces, but not the teeth). We have gotten her a big blank drawing journal for her to draw in, which she loves.

FrannyandZooey · 12/01/2006 08:22

Flossismum, IME from working with children your dd does have a real talent there. How lovely for you and her

Ds is 2.9 and can just make a few marks on the page which he might say was a face. Some of his peers can draw a reasonably recognisable face and one can draw half recognisable animals. I did work with a child whose mother was an artist and she was an advanced drawer, but not as far forward as your dd at the same age.

Don't get hung up about it or make a huge thing of it - just enjoy it and give her lots of opportunities for art as you have been - not just drawing but modelling with dough, fingerpainting and painting with brushes, collage, chalks, etc.

There are some gorgeous fine art books for children around which you might enjoy looking at together - I like the ones by Lucy Micklethwaite and you could probably order them from the library.

Art · 12/01/2006 13:37

Flossimum - definitely more advanced than my ds. He didnt draw a recognisable person until about 3.7.

Original poster

flossismum · 12/01/2006 17:25

thank you for all your posts! Frannyandzooey, I shall look into some of the books on offer, especially the Lucy Micklethwaite ones. Great tip!
Shall sit back and let her fly I think!

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singersgirl · 12/01/2006 21:10

She sounds very advanced, Flossismum! Wish DS2 could draw like that now (he's 4).

MaloryTowers · 12/01/2006 21:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

flossismum · 12/01/2006 23:31

I love the collage idea MaloreyTowers. Must try that one with her, although she's not very good at being shown what to do. She just wants to get on with it, on her own, in her own way!!! It's a really exciting time being a toddler. So many wonderful things to explore and discover. Please keep the good ideas rolling...

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Original poster

flossismum · 12/01/2006 23:33

MaloreyTowers
I think it's so sad when schools don't pick up on children's talents. Do you still do alot of artwork at home with her, or has she other interests that take presidence?

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polly28 · 12/01/2006 23:39

flossismum...she sounds amazing!!!
My ds 3yr4m scribbles,i think it's great when he draws a circle!!

You've definately got a little artist there.

Original poster

flossismum · 12/01/2006 23:44

I can't beleive how many people have said how great her drawings sound! What an amazing response!
I'm sure every child's squiggles are a work of art really!

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philippat · 13/01/2006 04:37

you might find this article about the value (or not) of representational drawing by young children interesting

Do you go to art galleries?

Copper · 13/01/2006 05:15

flossismum
she sounds like my dd who is now applying to art college!
We have always encouraged her, sticking up her pictures, providing her with lots of opportunity to develop. It's been another method of communicaton and engagement with the world for her - there was a step change about 4 years ago, but even before then art just flowed out of her all the time.
Time, materials, your interest - and if you are lucky a very good teacher at secondary - should keep her going.

When she can handle a pencil try her with fine liner pens - its amazing what detailed pictures small children can do given the right tool.

Babyblue2 · 13/01/2006 08:00

Everyone's child develops at different rates and depending on their situation they will all excel at something. For example, my DD doesn't go to nursery and so therefore she spends a lot of time playing and drawing on her own and therefore she gets practice at such things. She's been drawing faces (with iris', eyebrows and beards (on males)) since she turned 2 (now 2.9). She can draw all sorts of things, bodies on people, snowmen, spiders, bananas, her favourite characters off tv, squiggles for her name and I think its great and i'm very proud but there are things she doesn't excel at which I wish she did, i.e. like sharing/taking turns. She lacks the social skills which i wish she had mainly due to not mixing with other children (no car, live in country) so I think that one outweighs the other. Personally, I feel that in the majority of cases its circumstance that determines things as opposed to being very gifted. I know children who go to nursery and who speak with a wider vocabularly, tidy their toys with no bother, share, can write their names etc, which my DD can't do, but i'm sure that when she goes to nursery in April, these will come with time.

Original poster

flossismum · 13/01/2006 10:38

I don't know that i agree with you. Your daughter sounds like she has a talent for drawing too. Just because you have the time to practise something doesn't mean you'll always be able to do it. You have to have the inherent ability, plus an observing eye!
Will finish posting in a mo, got to get on with some work. Sorry!

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Babyblue2 · 13/01/2006 10:58

What I was trying to say is that an alternative thought is that perhaps people think their children have a talent for something when may be the only reason they can do it is because they've had practice and guidance. Each child is obviously different, but at such a young age and with obvious different rates of development, its hard to make the definition of whether a child of 2 has a talent or whether its down to what they've been doing everyday. I know that my DD can draw at the moment, but I also know that she has watched me draw for her and so as far as I can see she's picked up on the basics early. She may not progress any further with drawing because something else may occupy her mind. She starts nursery soon so inevitably something else will be occupying her mind and who knows, she may hardly draw over the coming year which would mean that say in a years time she could still be at the point she is now. If that were the case any one looking at her drawing in a years time may not consider her to have a talent but to be at a normal rate of progression. Does this make sense, don't know if its coming out right. I am told I could count to 100 by the time I was 4. I know this was not down to being clever (i'm not - although my parents thought it at the time), but due to the fact that they counted to me everyday.

Original poster

flossismum · 13/01/2006 13:07

i can see what you're saying but i still feel differently about it. I think that human beings generally don't do things that we're not good if we don't have to. She obviously enjoys putting pencil to paper and uses this as a method of expression and communication. Surely not everything she draws is copied from parrot fashion and comes from her own imagination. You are just giving her the means to do that.
my dd has been at nursery since she was two and her drawing has gone to strength to strength even though she now has lots of things to occupy her. Infact, I think that it has improved because of her life being enriched in other ways.
I also think alot of things in life are "you've got it" or "you haven't", and for both our little girls, I hope they "have"!

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Babyblue2 · 13/01/2006 13:21

Ok, we'll slightly agree to slightly disagree I hope she does develop more when she goes to nursery. As she grows up, time will tell whether she was talented in this particular field or not.

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