Does your 4 year old draw?

[marieangela]

Just curious. I have a four 1/2 year old niece that we visited during the holidays and she draws specific things like houses and people and such. I was kind of surprised to see this since my ds1 (4 years old) pretty much just scribbles still. He can draw a D (the first letter of his name), but he doesn't really attempt much else. It seems that if he can't get it to look the way he thinks it ought to look, he won't even try. I don't push it and he doesn't sit still for long anyway, but I just wanted to hear a little more about what other kids his age are drawing...

[marnie]

my daughter will be 4 in april. she draws a lot, mostly people she knows, our family, etc. but also recognizable objects. she writes her name and several other letters.

she is in preschool and there are definitely kids drawing and writing more recognizable things than she is, and definitely kids who scribble and don't write letters at all.

i think the important thing at this age is to be exploring and experimenting. some kids do it with color, some with shapes, etc.

[michelle1k]

My 4 year old dd draws houses (with details like window casements, chimneys with smoke), trees, fairies, butterflies, people, slides / play-structures, rainbows and clouds. But there is definitely a recurring "house and butterfly" theme.

[oceanbaby]

My son didn't draw much at all at 4yo. He is 5.5yo now and is drawing up a storm. Still not enormously complicated, but getting more so all the time. I'd say he was about 5 before he was very interested. I remember sitting at the desk and he said "I'm going to draw a picture of you mommy." I was like "Sure, okay," not really thinking much of it because his pictures up to that point were mainly scribbles. But when he handed it to me I almost fell over in shock because it was an actual picture - he had even drawn me wearing glasses!

[Houdini]

Seems like a boy thing in my house. My daughter was drawing from a young age and loves drawing still at ten. My boys have never been much on drawing. My 5.5 yr old rarely draws anything. My almost nine year old and 11.5 yr old are just starting to draw much at all.

[Beth-TX]

My dd just scribbled at age 4, but then we discovered that she very badly needed glasses. Once she had her glasses, she started drawing recognizeable stuff within weeks. Her sister is 3 now and beginning to draw "people" (a stick body with 2 legs, no arms and a head with eyes and a mouth). I'm amazed at the difference.

Anyway, I'm not saying there's necessarily anything wrong with your child's vision, but if there are other clues (like, leaning way in to see pictures in a book), it might not be a bad idea to have his vision checked.

peace, Beth

[katallen]

My dd doesn't have any interest in drawing recognizable figures or writing her name. She does scribble write, knows her letters, and uses a finger grip, but she likes to be creative. To be honest I will be sad if she loses that creativity and wants to draw like her peers and color in the lines. Her art is personal to her and I want it to be that way as long as possible. I don't believe it is right to suggest that children do art a specific way, I still remember the day I stopped liking art and it was because of a simple comment a lady in sunday school made about how I could color something better, I lost all confidence in my artistic abilities after that (I didn't have much to start with though due to the family dynamics but it has shaped how I view art for dd).

[StellasMommy]

Dd will be 5 in May and has been drawing forever. When she was 3, a kindergarten teacher saw her work and said it was better than most of the drawings her students did. She's been drawing motion lines for over a year. She's starting to use perspective. She'll tell me "that's small because it's very far away". It's cool, but kind of freaky. Oh, and she HATES coloring books. She'll look for blank spaces where she can draw faces.

[MamaFern]

im nak..

yes my son loves to draw, paint, colour.. he is very precise and careful when colouring in a book, making a picture.. loves drawing faces, people, cars, trucks especially and has started writing simple words, he especially loves E for elwynn (his name)
im very artistic and crafty, so we do a lot of crafts..

all kids are different!

[OakBerry]

My ds is 4.5 and mostly scribbles still. He is just learning how to draw circles and very rudimentary letters. I see some of his peers at preschool writing their names already, with the letters lined up and fairly the same size. Ds is no where close to that.

Generally speaking, girls are better with fine motor control skills at this age than boys. I know not all kids follow this pattern, but I saw an example of the other day at library craft hour. The kids were coloring in a bear cutout. Ds and some other boys were sitting together, across from 3 little girls.
The girls had drawn detailed faces, with the features neatly in place, eyes had pupils, eyelashes and some of the mouths had teeth. They were coloring in the lines pretty well. The boys had much more rudimentary faces, for example, ds's only had one eye and a nose, and no mouth. The eyes were just open circles, as was the nose.
This is a generalization, of course, some of the other boys in the room had done more detailed faces and some girls not so much, but I found it interesting!

[famousmockngbrd]

DS is 4. He draws recognizable things. Today he drew a yellow squash and several bowls of macaroni and cheese, and forks. The forks looked like rakes. Sometimes I need him to explain what it is, but once he does I can totally see it. I wouldn't say his drawings are particularly detailed, but they are descriptive nonetheless.

DS has always been interested in drawing and writing, though. He can write pretty much anything if you spell it for him. He has good fine motor skills and he just likes it.

[MaryLang]

My DD started drawing stick people just before her third birthday. She loves drawing! She starts with a circle, puts two little eyes and a mouth and four lines where arms and legs should go. I was pretty surprised when she first did this I must say.

[~ATenthMuse~]

Mine does. Her specialty at the moment, whales and octopuses. She has been drawing, painting, and coloring for a long while. Last year, I'd have to ask about some of her drawings, but now they're really clear. I do agree with what a previous poster said about girl's having better use of their fine motor skills at this age. My in-laws/dh are all really artistic though, so I think she just comes by it naturally.

I think my ds was scribbling still, at the same age.

[spsmom]

So happy you started this thread! I have been wondering about the same thing. DS1 will be 4 in April. He has shown no interest in drawing/writing up until these last couple of weeks. He is really bright, no doubt about it (has known colors, shapes, ABC's, etc since he was 2) but I am realizing that I just have to trust that he will learn the things he needs to when it's his time! He just drew his first person recently and it is on the fridge. it is the typical head with the legs and arms coming out of it, no body! So proud, I about fell off my chair when he showed me! And today, he attempted his name for the first time. It is kind of legible but for his first time, again, proud moment for mama!
For my son, when he finds out one of his friends who is the same age is doing something he isn't doing yet, he all of a sudden is interested. His friend, who is 3 months younger, just learned to ride his bike without training wheels. I am so not ready to go there with my son!!!!!
I have noticed that in general, girls are interested in it a lot sooner than boys (not always), just generally.
For us, I just decided this week that we will spend 10 minutes a day on writing/drawing. Mostly to build his fine motor skills. He is having trouble figuring out how to hold the pencil properly. any suggestions there?

[MaWhit]

My oldest daughter started drawing recognizable things when she was 2. My son just started at almost 5. My youngest daughter is just starting and she's 3.

[Amylcd]

Both of my DD's draw and paint daily. Right now my 4 1/2 year old is into drawing houses (ours, her grandmothers, etc. very specific, down to the number of windows and where the mailbox is located). My three year old mostly draws animals (cows and chickens lol)

[MOM2ANSLEY]

DD draws all of the time, mostly people-smily faces with arms and legs, she writes a few letters and traces fairly. Each child is different kwim

[blackrivermama]

My oldest is 5.5 yo .. he began drawing recognizable objects at age 5, and his artwork now in just 6 mo is so detailed compared to what he was doing... I think of it like learning to talk - he is strengthening his skills all along and will manifest them when ready...he now draws castles with distance knights in the background and seahorses and pictures of his friends -

my youngest is 4 and is not drawing anything but scribbles.. he has excellent fine motor skills otherwise, so I am interested to see when he begins with the more detailed pictures

[dillonandmarasmom]

Originally Posted by MamaFern

im nak..

yes my son loves to draw, paint, colour.. he is very precise and careful when colouring in a book, making a picture.. loves drawing faces, people, cars, trucks especially and has started writing simple words, he especially loves E for elwynn (his name)
im very artistic and crafty, so we do a lot of crafts..

all kids are different!

This sounds like my ds...he started adding a hook to his trucks to make them tow trucks. His people now have pupils, teeth, eyebrows. It's so amazing to watch as their art evolves from simple to really detailed.

[hottmama]

My 4 yr. old doesn't like to draw much, but he can, if urged, write his name and draw a smiley face. He really likes to paint and he mostly experiments with mixing colors together. He thinks it's really cool to mix blue and red to make purple, so lots of his paintings end up all purple.