Art and Your Child

 
by Danielle Schultz

From the time a child picks up his first writing instrument, until he is an adult, he goes through several developmental stages of art. All children progress through these stages, yet the paces of each child may differ.

Developmental Stages of Art

Manipulative:

Random Scribbling

Random scribbling begins with the first marks a child makes. This typically happens around the age of two and children remain in this stage until around their fifth year of life. Children in every culture go through this stage, which begins with mark making. As children in this substage get ahold of materials, they begin to manipulate and explore randomly. This exploration delights and pleasures the child, therefore leading to further manipulation and discovery. This is important because it leads the children to understand that they can influence their environment with something tangible. Muscular development, general health, intelligence and experience determine the length of time that a child remains in this substage.

Controlled Scribbling

As children gain muscle control, they move into the controlled scribble substage. In this stage, repeated movements among the spastic scribbles begin to appear. At a basic level, they are beginning to try to organize their environment. One universal from of these repeated movements is called mandalas. They are a variety of circular patterns. During this substage children also make sweeping, wavy, bold and rippling lines.

Named Scribbling

Soon the children begin giving names to their scribbles. This is evidence of a transition into the third substage, named scribbling. We as adults probably won't recognize the artwork, but it is very meaningful to the children. They may associate their scribble, by the looks, they way it feels to draw it, or the sound it makes. Nonetheless, they are connecting their work with the things around them, which is a beginning of the next stage.

Symbolic:

Children are in this stage usually from six years of age until nine years of age. In this stage, children are assigning meaning to the shapes they make. The shapes will stand for whatever the child wishes regardless of whether or not it truly looks like it.

General or Undifferentiated

In this substage, one symbol may stand for many things. As the child becomes a more sophisticated drawer, his drawings begin to show his direct experiences coming from his cognitive schemata. The symbol for "Mommy" acquires limbs and facial features instead of just a general shape. The more observations and experiences a child has, the larger his cognitive schemata becomes.

Relationships Among Symbols

We see the beginning of this substage as several symbols are drawn in the same picture. In this stage, children are beginning to realize that things do not exist alone. Also, in this substage, emotions influence their drawings rather than reality. For example, Mom may be larger than the house in a drawing. The child knows that Mom isn't really bigger than the house, but she plays a larger role in the child's life. The child also knows that mom isn't really green, but green is his favorite color, and mom is his favorite person.

Relationships among Symbols and the Environment

Spatial schema begin to develop during this last substage and we begin to see baselines. A baseline is the line at the bottom of the page that represents the ground. They realize that things just don't float in the air. Sometimes we will see a line representing the sky at the top of the page. The children also use multiple perspective at this substage. They don't know how to draw three dimensional objects, so they draw it how they see it. They are likely to draw one object from several different angles. They also do something to make sense of their world, they use what is known as X-ray. If there is something on the inside or behind something that is important to their drawing, they simply draw it so that you can see it. For example, if their mother is pregnant, they may draw Mom and then show the baby inside. Also, when they use color, they aren't necessarily trying to use it realistically, they are using it as a form of expression,. At the end of this stage, they begin to run out of symbols. The symbols become cliche'. It is important that they be encourage to look closely at things, for example, all of the colors that leaves can be.

Preadolescent:

The preadolescent stage is the last stage of development that children go through. Children are typically in this stage from the ages of ten to thirteen. At this point, their peers become the most important critics in their lives because they are developing more of a social awareness and social conscience. They want to be accepted by their peers and are embarrassed very easily. They want their art work to look realistic, and often times are discouraged by this difficult task. Therefore, they may discontinue expanding or practicing their art abilities. It is important for any teacher or parent to intervene and encourage a self accepting attitude in the student. They need to realize that they can still practice before they lose the desire altogether. Unfortunately, many people remain in this stage through adulthood because they do not continue trying. But that is where parents and teachers should step in with encouragement.

Skills enhanced by arts and crafts:

Logic
Aesthetic Appreciation
Creativity
Self-esteem
Free Thinking
Fine Motor
Expression of Emotions
Gross Motor
Social Awareness
Individuality
Hand-to-Eye Coordination

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