The Evolution & Benefits Of Drawing: 3 to 5 Years

The drawing allows to develop the child’s artistic sense and assert his personality. It is also a means of acquiring skills that prepare them for writing. From the age of 3, child drawings become more and more detailed. Follow their steps.

If your baby is below three years old, see our fact sheet The evolution and benefits of drawing: 1 to 3 years old.

The Evolution Of Drawings In Children From 3 to 4 Years Old

At this age, the child’s hand-eye planning improves. He has the best control of the pencil: he can now lift it and put it back in the same place. He begins to draw a closed ring, which requires reasonable control of his movement. It can also copy a plane line, a vertical line, and a drawn process.

The child also begins to want to represent something with his drawings. However, as his pictures are created randomly from the lines he draws, the toddler recognizes what he has drawn afterward. For example, he will say that he made a bear after seeing that his drawing reminded him of this animal. The colors that toddlers use are also random.

It is hard for anyone other than the baby to acknowledge what their drawing represents at this age. He may even change the description if you show him the same drawing sometime later. Instead of guessing what your child drew, ask him to tell you about what he drew on his paper.

The Evolution Of Drawings In Children From 4 To 5 Years Old

Around four years old, the child’s drawings become a little more practical and more detailed. It is easier to acknowledge what a toddler has drawn as they become more skilled. His drawings are closer to reality and objects, even if the proportions are not yet good.

In addition to the circles, the baby now draws squares and rectangles. Around five years old, he also learned to draw triangles. His first geometric shapes are often marked by accident. Step by step, he reproduces them voluntarily. At this age, the toddler also likes to produce specific shapes or patterns that are recognizable. This prepares him for writing.

The toddler draws what is essential to him in a large format. Thus, his figures are often as significant as the houses he draws. His spirit usually also has a disproportionate head compared to the rest of their body.

Children rely on what they know about objects to reproduce them in their drawings rather than what they see. So, since he knows that a table has four feet, he will draw them consistently, regardless of the table layout.

Likewise, if you seek him to draw his house, he will probably draw a home as he imagines it: a square, a roof (most often sloping), a door and windows, even if he lives in a flat. There is also clarity in his drawings. If he draws a child sitting in a car, his legs will also be visible. We will see her entirely through the wall if he draws mom in the housels.

Therefore, at this age, the child’s drawings do not accurately represent reality, but they gradually approach it. He will draw what he sees at around nine years old. He will then rely on observing objects to reproduce them while respecting their concrete particularities.

How To Encourage Your Child To Draw?

• Provide them with various materials: colored pencils, paint, pictures to stick on, glue sticks, etc. When you motivate your toddler to create with multiple materials, you foster their interest in drawing. Let your child explore. It is essential to accept that he uses a lot of gouache or glue, that the paper has holes and that it is all “crooked.”
• Observe your childish whims and let him choose his colors. He draws better and better, but his drawings remain more creative than graphic. Is he drawing a blue sun? Are her flowers bigger than her tree? It’s not severe.
• Avoid always showing him how to draw, for example, a flower or a tree. This attitude makes him less confident in his abilities. He then thinks that what adults do is better. This can limit his creativity and initiatives.
• Prioritize the white sheet. It leaves more room for the imagination than a coloring book that gets your little one to follow a role model. If you want to teach your child to be more precise and not overshoot, it is better to ask him to draw lots of circles and color them. He will thus learn to control his gesture. You can still present him with coloring books occasionally.
• If he doesn’t know what to draw, encourage him to observe and describe his surroundings. The clock on the wall is round. The window is square. The roof of the house is in a triangle. This will help your little one see how he can represent things in his drawings.
• Get your little ones thinking when they don’t like their drawing. Ask him, “Whatwant’t you like about your drawing? You can also explain to him: “You know, sometimes the hand does not listen to us. It takes time before you can do what you want. By simply putting your child in front of reality, you teach them to trust themselves, to develop their self-esteem, and to deal with their frustration.
• Accept that he smears or throws away his works. The child does not try to do something beautiful; he wants to play. He draws simply for the pleasure it gives him. Make, undo, glue, take off, re-glue: it’s his favorite game. This helps to boost his self-esteem as he learns to have control over objects. Around four years old, he moved on to another stage: he wanted to create more and keep his drawings. He begins to display them, accumulate them and give them away as gifts. You will then be entitled to an industrial quantity of pictures!
• Suggest different ways to draw to make this activity even more enjoyable. For example, provide a variety of pencils (e.g., felt-tip pens, wax crayons, window or bath pencils, wood pencils, chalkboards, etc.). Also, invite them to draw on different surfaces: on cardboard, on a blackboard, on a magnetic tablet, on the sidewalk, on a window, or a mirror.
• Have your toddler draw the “ugliest in the world” picture. It works well to encourage removing a child who does not feel good.