CHILD ART (ART AND THE GROWING CHILD)

Introduction
Children of different age groups express themselves artistically in ways that show distinct characteristics.
We will look at the works of children of ages between 2 to 15 years. It is important to mention that the
characteristics of these age groups will overlap. So, descriptions given are only those which are
dominant in those specific age groups. However, these characteristics will spread to other age groups.
In preparation for the topic, the resources suggested should be made available.
• Samples of children’s work from different age groups.
• Text books
• Charts
• Paper
• Pencils
• Crayons
• Water-based paints
• Brushes
• Clay
• Palettes
Rugs
Containers
Containers
Artistic development stages of a growing child
2-4 years - Scribbling stage
Children of this age group have not started formal schooling yet. They may be in kindergaten or pre-unit.
At this stage, teaching them specific skills does not make sense. They are still discovering their new
environment and the best the teacher or guardian! parent should do is provide the relevant materials
like crayons, pencils, paper, clay or plasticine and allow them to create whatever images they fancy.
The word scribbling means things to cover with illegible writing or marks or to make illegible,
meaningless marks and lines.This is called scribbling stage because the marks made by the children in
this stage are meaningless. They are not writing or drawing anything in particular. It is simply part of
their discovery All that the guardian may need to do is to demonstrate how the different materials are
used and let the children do the rest. The children in this age group still need close supervision because
they have a short concentration span. The work of children in this stage is further divided into three
phases, namely:
• disordered or random scribbling.
• controlled scribbling.
• named scribbling.
The child will not draw anything in particular The first marks are random. They will vary in length and
direction although there may be some repetitions. The child will not have mastered how to handle the
different media. See the example below.
(a) Disordered scribbling
The child will not draw anything in particular The first marks are random. They will vary in length and
direction although there may be some repetitions. The child will not have mastered how to handle the
different media. See the example below.

(b) Controlled scribbling

The idea of control becomes more apparent here by repetition of certain images. These may be liners,
attempts to draw circles. Some may look like crude patterns. See example in the Figure below

(c) Named scribbling

At this final phase of the scribbling stage, the child begins to identify with some of the images he/she
makes. He/she does so by giving them names. The names will always be with reference to self e.g. my
cat, my toy and my mother. These images may not resemble anything recognisable to an adult or
another child but do not doubt the child’s seriousness. The child should just be encouraged to explore
more.
5 -6 years: Preschematic stage
The word schematic is derived from the word schema or scheme. Schema is a diagramatic
representation of ideas. These figures are usually drawn in offline. The children of this stage have not
developed specific symbolic images to represent the different things they draw.
This is the age at which most children start formal schooling. Some will be in nursery school while others
may just be starting primary education. The images they produce will start showing some remote
resemblance to certain things in the environment although they remain very simple and don’t show any
proportion. Urban children may start drawing cars and human figures. Rural children may start drawing
animals and human figures. See the figure below.

The human figures are simplified into circles and lines to represent the head and legs respectively. They
will also model simple forms like human and animal figures. The names they give to whatever they make
will remain centred on self
7-8 years: Schematic stage
As it has already been mentioned, schema means a diagramatic representation of an idea. As opposed
to pre-schematic stage where the children’s work do not show any specific symbolic images, in this stage
the children’s works show repetitions of similar images that represent specific things. These images are
symbolic and may vary from child to child. It is as if the children adopt a schema or series of symbols
which they use over and over. That is why it is called schematic stage or descriptive realism stage.
These are children in standard two and three. These images are depicted in their simplest form. Another
unique characteristic for the children’s work in this stage is that the images are arranged on a line
running across the bottom of the page.
This line represents the ground. At this stage, the children have not developed the sense of space and
distance or perspective, so, the images do not overlap. This is also shown :n what is called x-ray
representation where people in a house are not seen through the window or door but through the wall.
Their work also show reverse perspective where, for example, a table is drawn with the narrower end
facing the viewer. Given below are some of the common symbols.

Note that the fingers are three in the first two drawings. In the last one, the doors are small squares at
the bottom while windows are way above the door. Since the children are still small and cannot see
through the window while standing, the windows appear quite high to them.
Even when children are given forms to draw from observation, they will draw them in their simplified
symbolic form. Even the colours they use will not resemble the natural colours. They will paint green
cows, blue human figures and orange trees. So, it is more sensible to ask pupils to draw or paint from
memory rather than observaiton.
9- 10 years: Visual realism
Most children in this age group are in either standard four or five. As the name above suggests, the
children of this age group start expressing themselves in a more realistic manner. Their colour schemes
also become more realistic.
For example:
• green trees and leaves.
• blue sky and water.
• brown soil.
The trees will be depicted with branches, and the hills will overlap. Human figures are depicted with
muscles and not mere sticks. These children’s work become more detailed. Shown below are typical
images that characterise works of children in this age bracket.
11-14 years - Repression stage (gang age)
To understand the works of children of this stage, it is important to understand the characteristics of
children in this stage bracket. This stage marks the onset puberty for most children and they are more
acutely concerned about their identity, so they form peer groups which, largely, define what they
perceive themselves to be. They seem to want to identify themselves only as members of a group but
not as individuals and hence, gang age. This makes them sucumb to peer pressure, resulting in
compromise of moral values. Boys become fascinated with physical strength while the girls seem more
concerned about their physical beauty Both boys and girls of this age bracket will look for role models -
heroes and heroines and fantasize about them. It is a stage characterised by an identity crisis. They will
come up with drawings such as the following.

This identity crisis is reflected in their work of art. In their search for role models, they lose their
individuality and tend to copy pictures from magazines and those painted by other artists. Boys show a
marked preference for cars and sports personalities. Portraits also seem to dominate their work,
particularly those of musicians and cover girls. The girls will also tend to concentrate on personalities
they admire who may include models, cover girls of different magazines. Some will copy pictures from
post cards, like those depicting wild life. So the most dominant characteristic of the work of art for
children in this age group is that most of it is copied.
Because of their tendency to copy, it is the best time to teach the children drawing and painting from
observation. Give them exercises that involve the use of accurate observation and reproduction of what
is already there. These are children who are in the last phase of primary education.
15 years and above - Artistic revival
This is the age when most children join secondary school as teenagers. At this stage those who are
talented develop a renewed interest in creative work. This is the stage when children can be trained as
artists. In the earlier stages, the main role of the teacher is to provide the materials and general
guidance.
Experts have raised objections about marking and grading children’s art work.Their objections are based
on the fact that the standards for this assessment and grading are those used in adults’ work. Children
simply record their impressions of the environment, so, they argue. Whichever way you choose to look
at it, the grading of works of art of whatever age group raises more protests than applause. And though
the protests will remain, the children should be given as much opportunity to exercise their creative
ability and have fun.

THE END
BY
FACILITATOR MD. SIMIYU