4.5 year DS doesn't really draw properly

[hollingbury]

My son paints like a baby still - big swathes of colour all over the shop. When using pens he doesn't seem interested, or able, to draw people or shapes - maybe random ones, but certainly nothing that resembles anything.

he's just started school. Should I be concerned?

I wouldn't be worried.

DS1 was like this - I was worried, stupidly :) On the calm and lovely advice of his preschool teacher and reception teacher, I tried not to flap, praised any efforts he made.

Sometime during Y1 he decided that actually he liked drawing, and painting, and art, and designing things. Now at the beginning of Y3 - he is only just 7 - he draws the most amazing pictures and diagrams, and can capture facial expression and movement in his pictures in a way that I have never been able to.

So no, don't worry. As long as his fine motor skills are developing in other ways then he will be fine.

Hi, both my boys were the same. One is now 9 and draws fantastically, realy detailed and has beautiful handwriting too. My other is now 8 and is good at random things, like dragons, but can't draw curves and circles for toffee! The point being I worried myself sick that the pair of them just had no interest in even trying to write or draw and now they are fine. I am sure your DS will be the same

My DD is exactly the same and she's just started Reception. She can do circles and that is it. The page is usually loads of circles scribbled all over. I do praise her and will guess at what it's supposed to be!

My DS is nearly 5 and is / was the same. He's never been interested in drawing and would produce a few scribbles to please me then wander off and do something else. He quite liked painting, but mostly for mixing cool ours and making a mess! A bit gutting for his parents as I have an art degree and DH is an architect.

I say was because he started school in August, and in the first week produced this self-portrait. His teacher assured me that she didn't help him, and that he just watched the other children and copied them . I'm not sure I'll ever understand him...

If your DS wants to draw but can't and is getting frustrated, that might be a cause for concern. But if he doesn't seem bothered then it could be that he's capable but doesn't want to. School, with the expectations of his teacher and the influence of his peers, may sort that out.

Ds 4.5 also just started reception. He has shown no interest in writing or drawing at all. I was worried too but there are other boys in his class who are the same.

My DS is just 4, he's just gone into reception, he's exactly the same. The teacher has to bribe him with playtime to get him to draw! I'm hoping he'll learn to draw and write eventually!

I have twins. One that was brilliant at drawing at 4 (and still is) and one that filled pages of scribbles.

The scribbler is the highly academic one now.

I'm 56 and I still don't draw properly.

I am slightly heartened; my DS 6 in Feb and still draws people as a circle with two dots and a smile and two long lines as legs. His depiction of Jesus on the cross was hilarious - that exact thing except a frown, with a cross dissecting him through the middle of the legs.

That's really encouraging, thanks. I'll see what happens in reception. He does like drawing but his drawings don't develop, if that makes sense. He has hypermobile fingers, so i wonder if that will affect his grip/ease. We shall see. He can just about write his name - three letters - but badly.