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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

what can your 2.6-3 yo draw?

29 replies

hereidrawtheline · 04/03/2009 09:20

just wondering what your DC can draw around this age. DS is 2.7 and being assessed for ASD as his DX is up in the air. But he is most likely ASD.

Just wondering, he still scribbles just lines back and forth which I figured was pretty normal but yesterday a friend was over with her little boy who is only 5 months older, and he is drawing proper stick people, with eyes, eyeballs, body parts, all of it. And this friend works at a pre-school (that her DS attends) and said it is normal, all the kids of that age can draw like that. So I am just wondering if DS is behind in this. It is important for me to know as I am trying to provide the paediatrician with the relevant info for diagnosis. DS's drawings look exactly the same as they did when he was around 18 months old, I have some up on the wall and there is no change.

Thanks.

OP posts:

rubyslippers · 04/03/2009 09:21

DS scribbles

he can draw a circle - sort off

he couldn't draw a recognisable figure

he is 2.7 years old

TotalChaos · 04/03/2009 09:21

DS didn't do a proper stick person till he was 4, and the paed thought that his drawing skills were normal, so I wouldn't worry.

WowOoo · 04/03/2009 09:23

My son 2.9 can only draw lines, circles, squiggles and he practices daily.
Normal, I think. Sounds like friends son is quite talented!

francagoestohollywood · 04/03/2009 09:24

Ds didn't draw a stick person till he was 3 and a half (nearer 4 than 3, btw)

Dd was nearly 3 when she draw one.

TotalChaos · 04/03/2009 09:27

had a quick google, look at this, you should find it reassuring:-

eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?nfpb=true&&ERICExtSearch_Se archValue0=ED400095&ERICExtSearchSearchType_0=no&accno=ED400095

Astrophe · 04/03/2009 09:27

My DS is 3 next week. He draws the classic person with arms and legs coming out of the head. Sometimes he adds a belly button (on the chin!), or a willy (hanging from chin!!!). He can draw circles, today he drew a recognisable umbrella.

DD, on the other hand, is 4.5, and loves to scribble. She can draw people(pretty much the same as DS's) bt rarely does. She is just not interested in perpesenting things, just enjoys drawing and colour and paint for the process.

I would imagine there is an extremely wide range of 'normal' for this?

belgo · 04/03/2009 09:28

DD1 could draw recognisble people at this age but she's quite good at drawing.

DD2 is 3.5 and she can do little more then scribble.

Astrophe · 04/03/2009 09:29

er, perpesenting ??? sorry, I mean representing!

Nemoandthefishes · 04/03/2009 09:29

dd1 is 3.2yrs she can draw some shapes and will draw circles with 2 dots for eyes and a smile she is also trying to write her name however she has only been able to do both of those in the last 2months or so. Dd2 is 2.2yrs and just draws wavy lines and scribbles a lot.

BonsoirAnna · 04/03/2009 09:31

Very varied - at school we did a printed tea towel with pictures the children drew of themselves for Christmas - children aged between 2.10 and 4.10 - and some did amazing drawings of princesses with ballet shoes, lace dresses and crowns, while others could barely draw a head and a couple of eyeballs. And there wasn't much correlation with age.

Mung · 04/03/2009 09:32

DS is 4 in September and today drew a face for the first time. Up until now he has only drawn scribbles, dots and circles. I blame myself for that though, as I never sit and draw to show him how to do it. I have never really worried about it.

Hope all goes well with DS and the paediatrician.

Original poster

hereidrawtheline · 04/03/2009 09:34

ah thank you!! that is very reassuring! one less thing to add to my list! DS is very clever though he will take his pens and draw a line, sounding out sentences like

"DS... loves... Mama" - then "LOOK! I'm writing!!" which makes me chuffed to bits!! I was just worried when she said all the other children his age were doing the stick figures I thought "oh great here we go again another thing I have to address"

Feel I must explain I am not "looking" for things to be wrong I am just trying to help get DS assessed properly, long long story!

OP posts:

Original poster

hereidrawtheline · 04/03/2009 09:36

DS and I draw every day so he has lots of practise, it just doesnt really change much.

OP posts:

ohdearwhatamess · 04/03/2009 09:36

Ds1 2.10 does circles, lines, dots (and random scribble), but nothing you would recognise as a person. He'll tell me that he has drawn a man/dog/house/boat etc, but it is just scribble.

5 months can make a huge difference at this age, imho.

mistlethrush · 04/03/2009 09:40

Ds is 4 in April - recognisable 'people' with arms and legs (no body normally as yet ) only started appearing from when he was about 3.5. I think this time last year he was drawing dinosaurs - you could see the jagged teeth and perhaps a dot for the eye, but the rest was big loopy oval scribbles...

BonsoirAnna · 04/03/2009 09:44

On the showing children how to draw - I don't do much of this but I make sure there is always plenty of paper and a 36-colour box of Faber-Castell washable colour grip pencils (preferably sharpened) lying around so that DD can do drawing whenever she feels like it. And I also buy her lots of sticker books to help her with her art work - when they start off, it is very difficult for them to draw nice clothes etc so if you have a sticker of a dress to start off with, the child can draw the head and arms and legs.

I also buy lots of coloured/shiny/patterned papers for cutting out paper dolls, and we have lots of stencils (mostly of clothes) to draw around. And I make paper patterns myself for her.

belgo · 04/03/2009 09:49

we've just had a chunk of wall painted with blackboard paint - now that is fun for small children.

cestlavie · 04/03/2009 09:51

DD is 3 and immensely talented. To the untrained eye, her drawings of mummy and daddy look like they've been done by a demented spider dipped in paint, but personally I can see she's representing the nuanced depths of family relationships in a post modernist approach reminiscent of Pollock.

spinspinsugar · 04/03/2009 09:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

spinspinsugar · 04/03/2009 09:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BonsoirAnna · 04/03/2009 09:58

I'd love to be able to do that, Belgo - there is unfortunately nowhere suitable in our apartment.

lljkk · 04/03/2009 10:03

Neither DS could draw anything (assuming we don't count very occasional scribbles) at 3yo.
DD was drawing almost-recognisable animals and figures.

DS1 is now 9 and a fantastic illustrator (very detailed incessant drawing). He never drew a thing until about a month before his 5th birthday.

belgo · 04/03/2009 10:03

Anna -dh hates it, as it's hard to clean and chalk dust gets on clothes. But it's worth it when it keeps the children occupied!

BonsoirAnna · 04/03/2009 10:04

Also whenever we have a day out I try to get DD to draw whatever she has seen that she liked especially - sometimes she needs a bit of help to get going drawing a guinea fowl or a giraffe or something she hasn't tackled before, but once I have shown her how to do one, she normally gets very enthusiastic and does much better drawings than me...

BonsoirAnna · 04/03/2009 10:06

LOL Belgo DP is a bit about our dining-cum-play room having been transformed into DD's artist's studio... but I feel the way you do, it keeps her busy (mostly on her own, with a few enthusiastic smiles from us) for hours...

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