What can your just 4 yr old draw?

[nextphase]

We've just had DS2's 2 year check, and the HV also commented on DS1. He was 4 last month, and starts in reception in September.
Give him a pen, and he will hold it correctly, but just scribble on the page. Never seen a "drawing" from him - not even a face or stick man.
If he is in the right mood, he can attempt to colour. Can't really form any letters (been suggesting he writes his 4 letter name on cards etc).
HV has told me I need to get him drawing properly and forming letters before he goes to school.
Is she over egging things? And if not, how do I encourage a child who would rather be riding his bike, climbing the furniture, or pretending to be a lion than sat drawing or colouring to do just that?

Cheers

My daughter is 4.5 and if I hadn't done a lot with her. (Competitive private school assessments ) she would be able to draw nothing. I wouldn't have bothered had it not been for the schools, I figure it will come when they start school.

can do up his own buttons on shirts

TBH, my six year old who is in Y1 struggles with this quite frequently despite being pretty good at drawing so I wouldn't worry if I were you. I suspect they all manage to be able to write and button their own shirts in the end...

At 4, absolutely nothing. When she started reception she refused to pick up a pencil. At 5 she can do stick people.

The school were a bit worried. My attitude is that I don't know a single adult who needs to be able to draw as part of their job, so by the time she turns 16 it really won't matter.

I just wanted to add, you can 'fire' / opt out of health visitors at any time. When I had my first child, mine advocated a potential link between MMR and autism. When my second child was born, I made it very clear she was not welcome in our home, and I never saw her again.

I don't want to repeat what has been said, but there is a huge range of abilities at that age. Don't sweat the small stuff.

www.artjunction.org/young_in_art.pdf

www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html

I have seen other threads like this OP and lots of DC can't really draw at 4. My own DD could just about manage a head with some eyes and a mouth but no way write a letter....some of her classmates at preschool could. I do think you should begin working on his name now though...not that he has to be able to write it but they will begin that in September and if he can at least recognise his own name to look at, then he will find it easier.

Label some of his things and mention it...."Oh look this is Tom's cup...it says T.o.m. on it." but like you, I don't sweat it too much. My DD is 5 and struggled to recognise her letters for ages....her teacher got a bit whip cracky and I was as like you say....they are very small still!

In other parts of the world they'd be playing for another 2 years before even beginning to write!

I work in a pre-school and there is a huge range of drawing ability amongst our four year olds.

The more important things than drawing recognisable pictures or being able to write are holding the pencil correctly, drawing straight lines from top to bottom and circles using an anti clockwise movement. Does he attend any preschool or nursery?

If he has no interest you can encourage it with different media eg writing in sand, raindrops on window, a cutter in playdo, paintbrush and water on paving etc. We have some good letter guides that look like roads to encourage those that only want to play with cars for example.

Several reception teachers have told me they prefer children to start unable to write than to start already writing but forming all their letters incorrectly, easy for the ones we teach to write but not so easy for the ones who just pick up a pen and copy the general shape of letters all by themselves!

that's what I was told too Freakoid....one child in DDs class were able to write but unfortunately it was all in capitals.

thats very true - it is very hard to relearn something compared to just learning it one way.

If you wanted to get him to practice forming letters then you can get write on wipe off boards with the letters on and arrows showing which way to write them, probably worth having for next year anyway.

They do like it if children can write their own name when they start school I believe, and the same with buttoning clothes, doing up coat zips etc but plenty won't be able to.

I have a picture DD did of me on her fourth birthday.

I have a round body with stick arms and stick legs. My face is in my tummy, and I have eyes and a mouth. I have hair on my head and lines for fingers.

I love it so much, I framed it .

I would ignore the HV. If he isnt into drawing and prefers other types of play I dont see the problem.

Can't believe the HV is saying that - totally unnecessarily alarmist!

My DS was the same at that age - never drew anything recognisable, just scribbles. Then I remember at nearly 5 he drew a pic of our family at nursery and I was thrilled - but it was very, very faint and wobbly, and had obviously taken ages with close direction, as he never did anything like that on his own. We had another couple of years of scribbles - then at 6/7 he became art mad and now at nearly 8 produces endless artistic creations.

He still can't draw neatly, his pencil grip is difficult and his drawing is messy, but he is hugely enthusiastic and individual and does amazing colourful abstracts, plans for houses he'd like to build, loads of made-up flowers and monsters and all sorts of stuff.

Children are different. 3yo DD is already going down a much more familiar route of drawing stick people, suns and houses according to the kind of "set" patterns you see in most children's drawings. DS has never been interested in that - it's all much more wild, messy and creative. He's going his own way in his own time, and your DS sounds similar. A good HV should know that!

Your approach sounds great, I'd stick with that.

Ds can't / doesnt draw anything, he is 5 in two wks. I hadnt thought to worry about it. Maybe because they dont start school here til over 6 yrs (norway)

dd1 didn't draw anything other than scribbles aged 4.

She finished Reception forming letters beautifully, and starting to draw a little for fun - now aged 9.5 art is her favourite subject, and she is a talented cartoonist.

I would ignore the HV, OP, they all get there in their own time!

nextphase how would he feel about drawing pictures outside with a bucket of water and a large brush or pavement chalks and then wasing them away with a waterpistol or squeezy bottle

mrz - thanks for the links further up the page.

Outside is the same as pen and paper (paint brush is preferred - which interestingly one link says is harder to control) - random scribbles. Tipping over the water and making foot prints is fun tho!

The aquamat was popular for a bit, but again, think that was more the taps, as we got "needs more water Mummy" far more often than the amount of images required!

It sounds like all I can do is encourage more "mark making" - maybe I need to figure out a very simple helicopter drawing. That might be interesting enough for him to try and copy! He can recognise his name, and a number of letters, so it sounds like its just the transfering it onto paper that doesn't interest him!

Thanks all

My dts are in reception. Before they started dd could write name and drew/coloured lots, mainly stick animals. Ds found anything involving a pencil frustrating, it distracted him from his trains, cars, building and outdoor pursuits. At first parents eve teachers mentioned that he had willingly spent over an hour very neatly and precisely colouring a man from head to foot. In green. She expressed surprise as he was showing above av ability in all other areas until i told her i was delighted that he'd finally done it willingly. She asked if i'd like her to work on what colour things usually are with him. Now he chooses colouring at some point each week and has started writing well too. I never suggest it, i just leave the things available for if he chooses to ever get off the trampoline or stop lego play. Some hv are not as highly skilled as those working with people should be a little pushy based on personal experience, of the 3 at our docs i would only speak to one.

DD1 can draw people very basically. The sun. Rabbits. She attempts other things and I can see the thought process even if it doesnt look right. She can also write her own name.

It kind of just happened. She was scribbling only 10 or so weeks ago. Then suddenly shes writing and drawing legible things.

I agree with the others. Theres such a big range. I really wouldnt be worried and he definitely doesnt need to be able to do it before school.

My just 3 year old draws accurate people, castles, houses and animals and has done for the last couple of months. My 10 year old has barely progressed past stick men and at 4 did black paint blobs on a page. I wouldn't worry

DS2 started drawing this year. And he is 6 almost 7. I was worried and tried to encourage him, but it's just something he doesn't like.
What we do now, is watch a You Tube video (just google "How to draw a ... monkey, truck, or whatever... step by step") and just follow the artist. There are tons of videos, some are very easy and funny.

The good news is, his handwriting is just perfect, nice, clear. So the two aren't linked. He hated coloring books but enjoyed pre writing worksheets, so we did plenty of that.

Not every child is a Picasso and it's just a question of personality, not of parenting. DS1, now 10, can spend days (and nights) with a pencil in his hand drawing dragons, airplanes, ....
Don't worry, and let your child enjoy what he likes.

As a reception teacher I wouldn't expect children to be writing or even using pen/pencil and paper but most show an interesting in large scale mark making, which as you say is harder but develops the shoulder girdle which is essential for later and often missed out by those who push small scale paper and pencil exercises too early.
Making marks on a vertical surface like a wall or chalkboard is the best so if you can stand it let him paint the outside wall or fence with water using big brushes or rollers. Cleaning windows/cars is great (again if you don't mind having to clean afterwards)
If you are visiting the beach draw on the damp sand large scale (wave shapes circles straight lines all feature in letter formation later)

Mrz can I ask a question and hijack the thread? Sorry OP! Mrz...my DD is in reception and was slow to learn all the letter sounds by sight....she knows them, all now after some work at home...her teacher expressed concern about 3 months ago about it and I had a panic about it and went into helping her a lot. As I say, she knows them now and can sound things out quite well...it's still very much C.A.T. though...how behind is she? Her letter formation is good though and her teacher said her pencil skills are excellent.

I have tried to get time off work to speak to her teacher but it's hard for me.

Do you mean that if she sees the word cat she says /c/ /a/ /t/ cat rather than saying cat straight out?

Yes...but she's begun to read some words right out but I assume that's just memory sort of thing...hard to tell. If we get a new book, she sounds it all out "C A T.....CAT!" like that.

Then she is perfectly fine and not behind at all.
Some very lucky children can sound out a word once and assign the word to their long term memory other children might have to see the word dozens of times and others hundreds of times ... the important thing is she has the skills to read words .