Jean Piaget (1896 t0 1980) was born in Neuchatel Switzerland.  He studied the Cognitive Development of first animals then humans.  Like Freud and Erikson, Piaget believed that a number of developmental milestones occur throughout childhood.  He group his Theory of Cognitive Development into 4 stages: Sensorimotor Stage, Preoperational Stage, Concrete Operational Stage, and Formal Operational Stage.  

Piaget also went on to identify Schema, which are structures that allow a child to gain knowledge.  Each level of development had a different schema such as the sucking relex in infants.  When something does not fit an existing schema, such as the first time a child eats solid food without needing to suck, it presents a problem where the child must learn to adapt. 

Piaget believed that cognitive ability was an inborn trait that deals with adapting to the world around it.  He also believed that children learned through two different means.  These were assimilation, where the child learns by using and adapting an already existing schema, such as sucking moves to the developmental stage where a child mouths objects, and accommodation, where a child will change her schema to accommodate the encounter. 

 Now that I touched on Piaget, let’s look at each of his stages separately.

Piaget’s Stage of Cognitive Development:

• Sensorimotor Stage:  This stage occurred during the age of birth to 2 years of age.  It is the stage where a child’s cognitive development is encouraged by the senses and the child’s movement.  Piaget went on to break this stage into 6 sub-stages.
  • Reflexes:  This is the stage when the infant is still relying on reflexes to understand the world around him.  Things like the Morro Reflex, which is when a child startles, or the Rooting Reflex, when the baby turns its head when the cheek is stroked. 
  • Primary Circular Reactions: Occurs between the ages of 1 to 4 months of age and is the stage where the child will do something unintentionally but will repeat it to form a new schema. 
  • Secondary Circular Reactions:  This next stage occurs between the ages of 4 to 8 months and it is when the child will use an action, and repeat it, to see a reaction from the world around him.  Things like pointing to a bottle will trigger the response of mom or dad to give her a bottle. 
  • Coordination of Reactions: Occurring between 8 and 12 months, this is the stage where the child will intentionally use a schema and may begin to combine schemas together to start exploring the world around her.
  • Tertiary Circular Reaction: 12 to 18 months of age is when you will see this sub-stage and it is basically your child trying to figure out the world around him through trial and error style of learning.
  • Early Representational Thought: This sub-stage occurs between 18 to 24 months and is the period where the child begins thinking with symbolic representation.  Exploration of the world around him is no longer through actions but is through thought as well.
• Preoperational Stage:  This stage occurs during the ages of 2 to 7 years old and it is the stage where the child’s language is significantly developed.  In this stage, children are using representational objects for the world around them and they are unable to understand concrete logic.  Piaget identified this stage of development as the one where children are egocentric. 
• Concrete Operational Stage: Occurring between the ages of 7 to 11 years old, this is the stage where children begin to develop their logical thinking.  They can understand the concrete operations of the world around them but they have a harder time understanding abstract thinking.
• Formal Operational Stage:  This is the stage that goes from 11 years and throughout adulthood.  It is the stage where a person is able to think in abstract ways and also able to use deductive reasoning.

There are many pros and cons to Piaget’s theories and it is important to note that while Piaget had some excellent points to make about the importance of education and the cognitive development, there were some weaknesses to his theory.  One of the biggest weaknesses is the fact that most of his work focused on the development of his own children.  He also failed to consider differences in culture, emotional and personal development and also on the differences in education systems.  Lastly, Piaget often underestimated the abilities of the children that he was studying.

So there is a rather long summary of Jean Piaget.  Please check back in a few weeks and I will go over behaviourists.

Sirena Van Schaik

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As I mentioned in the previous post, I am a big fan of reading. Life wouldn’t be the same if I couldn’t curl up with a good book or two or three. My husband is always shaking his head because I will read several books at a time and I used to keep a book for each level of the house (or room). A book upstairs for when I wanted to read in bed, a book in the living room for when I was relaxing, a book in the baby’s room so I could read while I rocked him and a book in my oldest son’s room so I could read while he fell asleep. My husband has never understood that although I could get up and retrieve the current book from a location, it was difficult to get up with a cranky baby and search for a book. Having several on the go made it much easier to read along to the flow of life without disrupting other people’s routines.

Yep, not too obsessed with books and reading and thankfully my kids are almost as bad as I am.

As many of you know, the toddler stage is the age where mimicking begins and many children will continue with mimicking for many years. It is important that you demonstrate excellent reading habits, even at such a young age. It has been proven that parents who read will have children who enjoy reading as well. It is important for both mom’s and dad’s to read. In regards to boys, having dad read is an excellent way to teach boys that it can be an enjoyable past time for men and women.

Now that I have you reading, let’s look at having your toddler reading. Below are a few tips:

• Read every day: Set up a time that you read with your child everyday. I liked to have free time each day where my kids could bring me a book to read and I would stop whatever I was doing (usually housework) to read a story. I also had a set time where I would read for 15 minutes. This was always the bedtime story and it not only laid the foundation for reading but it also settled them down for sleeping.
• Picture books: Picture books are very important at this stage. Children can look at pictures to decipher the story while you read it. This will build on imagery and on creating stories of their own.
• Nursery Rhymes: Finger Plays and nursery rhymes may not have a book associated with them but singing little songs and nursery rhymes will help your child develop an interest in stories and rhythm.
• Turn the book: One of the key ingredients to reading is having the pages facing the right way. Watch your child while she flips through a book and take a moment to turn it so the book is right-side up.
• Point to the words: Like the little bouncy ball following the words on a sing-along, your finger teaches a child that reading is from left to right. He will begin to follow your finger, taking in the words that you are saying and eventually, he will start remembering the words that you point to.

Reading at this stage can be filled with a lot of trials and tribulations. Children may have a shorter attention span than before and with all the new things to explore, they may not want to sit down for a moment. It is important to make reading a part of your daily schedule and another layer of foundation will be added to your child’s reading development.

Sirena Van Schaik

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So for don’t sweat the two’s, and when you get to the three’s just smile and think, “Well, it could be worse, she could be a teenager.”

I’m not saying all teens are difficult but I just wanted to illustrate the point that every stage in development can be difficult, be it 2, 3, 13 or 43.

But enough with all the terrible stuff, let’s look at how far your little boy or girl has come along and go over a few developmental milestones that you should be seeing before or around your child’s second birthday.

Please bear in mind my long rant about “range of normalcy” and remember that when we talk about any developmental milestone, we are talking about an average age when that milestone occurs.

• Improved balance and mobility. He should be able to walk by himself without any support. This includes being able to walk backwards and also being able to bend down and pick up toys from floor without falling or stumbling.
• Is able to manipulate objects and use basic puzzles.
• Should be able to label things such as parts of her body (up to 6), and pictures that she sees in books. Cat, car, tree, etc.
• Is more aware of the actions of those around him. This begins with imitation play and also wanting to help out in activities such as cleaning. One activity that I always gave my kids both at home and in my class was to simply wash a table. They loved it and I would have regular arguments in my class over whose turn it was to wash the table.
• Able to feed herself and can use both a spoon and a fork.
• Able to build a tower of blocks that are 3 high.
• Enjoys dancing to music
• Able to walk up and down stairs with support.
• Should be able to throw a ball
• Is able to turn doorknobs

Over the following year you will begin to see many other milestones occurring and will also start to see an interest in potty training, if you don’t already. Remember to look at the two’s, not as something terrible but as something wondrous as your child learns and grows, a journey that you always look back at and wonder, “Why on earth did I want to get through it so quickly.”

Trust me, take the time and splash in a few mud puddles during that journey.

Sirena Van Schaik

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As with adults, or any age for that matter, each milestone is reached after the skills are built to reach it. This means that developmentally the child needs to be ready, both physically and intellectually, for the milestone to occur. Once the milestone has occurred, the child must continue to use it, to practice the skill and to build upon it. A child learns to sit up, then to pull him self up and then to stand without assistance.

The same building of skills can be said with fine motor skills. A child begins with a Palmer grasp which evolves into a pincer grasp and the more practice a child has with using a skill, the faster it develops.

I have found over the years, that cutting is one skill that is often ignored by parents. This is an excellent skill to build on and it helps the child build in many developmental areas. Obviously, one of the skills built upon with using scissors are fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination but did you also know that scissors also help with spatial awareness, since the child needs to judge the distance between the scissors and the paper. It also builds on coordination and allows opportunities for a child to learn how to use their thumb and pointer finger in a smooth motion.

As with the gain of any skill, if the child is successful, this builds more self-confidence and a higher sense of esteem…and all of this is from a silly pair of scissors. Amazing, right?

Now back to actually getting your child to use scissors. I often find that many parents are terrified of allowing their child to use scissors and some of their worries aren’t unfounded. Yes, children have been hurt using scissors but if you have strict rules concerning scissors and are present when the scissors are in use, the likelihood of injury goes down significantly.

When you are getting ready to set up an opportunity for cutting with scissors, there are a few things that you should have. Good child safe scissors are important. Make sure they are sharp enough so they cut well and the child won’t become frustrated with his inability to cut. Next, use cardstock with younger children. The cardstock is less likely to bend in the scissors and the child can cut much easier. As they become more competent with the scissors, you can begin to use regular paper.

After that, simply explain scissor safety with your child. They should never run with scissors, or climb around with them in their hand. Scissors should be pointed away from their body and they need to hold paper far away from the scissors. You will have to correct hand placement every once in a while but they eventually get the picture. As for carrying scissors, teach children to hold the metal of the closed scissors, point down. If your child is young, just place a rule that they are not allowed to carry scissors from their seat but illustrate how to properly carry scissors by doing so yourself.

And now a few exercises with cutting.

Exercise 1:

If you don’t want to start with regular scissors, start with playdough scissors. This will help build the coordination and will provide lots of opportunity for cutting. Although this is a great exercise, it is important for children to also learn how to cut paper since this is a different experience and requires some problem solving.

Exercise 2:

Allow your child to snip cardstock while sitting at a table. Position hands and show him how to use the scissors with a hand over hand technique. Praise, talk about shapes he is cutting out and enjoy the time. Also get ready to settle in for a long time. I find that when children are successful with scissors, they will sit there for a good hour snipping away.

Exercise 3:

Take a large sheet of paper and tape it to the wall on the top. The child sits in front of it and cuts the paper. The wall serves as a guide and helps in keeping the scissors straight. The child also learns about angling his wrist so he can get a smooth cut.

Exercise 4:

Print out some sheets of lines and shapes for your child to cut out. This helps build a lot of coordination and you can also incorporate learning about shapes. Enchanted Learning has several sheets that you can print out for this activity, or you can make them yourself.

Oh, if you are eco-conscious, which is always a good idea, take the little bits of paper and place it in a bits container. When your child wants to do some gluing, take out the bits and let him create murals from the already cut pieces.

Sirena Van Schaik

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I am always amazed at the leaps and strides in development that children have over the first five years of their life. There is so much going on and before you know it, you have a person with a complex personality that can be almost mind boggling. Not only do they have distinct dislikes and likes, they have separate personalities traits depending on where they are.

One of the funniest experiences I had with this was with one 3 year old that I taught. She was a great child in my classroom and every day she would ask me to do her hair, either a french braid, two french braids or a multitude of other hairstyles that I can do. She would go home almost neater in appearance than when she arrived and I would often sing her praises to her mom at pick up time. “Oh, no, there was no problems with little S today. She helped bring down snack and she went to sleep right away at nap and…”

Her mom would stare at me, slack jawed and answer, “Are you sure your talking about my kid? You’re not confusing her with someone else are you?”

The moral to this long story was that S behaved completely different with me than with her parents right down to the hair battle, which was so bad that her parents would ask me to do her hair if something special was going on that evening or weekend.

And that brings me to four-year-olds because even though I was chatting about a three-year-olds personality, hers were nothing compared to the difference that you see in a four-year-olds.

By the time your child is 4, there are a few developmental milestones that you should be seeing. Remember that this is a range of normalcy so there may be things where your child is advanced and things where they are behind. Don’t worry, all children catch up.

• can feel and express many different feelings verbally.
• Is able to take turns and should begin to play cooperatively.
• plays role playing and other imaginary games
• begins to recognize patterns
• is beginning to have more spacial awareness
• grasps the concept of time but not the actual duration.
• able to manipulate scissors
• can use the pincer grip while holding a pencil
• has more control over stopping when he or she is running
• can stand on one foot
• should be able to jump
• can catch and throw a ball
• should be able to dress and undress by himself. He may need assistance with some items.

And the biggest one that all children seem to share regardless of age or developmental milestone: Continues to amaze you each and every day.

Sirena Van Schaik

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All of them decided to spend a few moments sitting around drawing pictures and I found it enjoyable to be able to look at the little artists that had turned my living room into an art studio. It really brought home the last two posts that I have made about your budding artist and it sparked my interest in finishing off the stages of art.

The stage that I am going to talk about today is the stage of art development between the ages of 4 and 5. Again, I like to stress the “range of normalcy.” I know I have said it before but it is very important to repeat this point since it can alleviate any worries for parents that may be comparing their children’s art with what I am talking about in these posts. For those of you who are just joining us, the “range of normalcy” is the normal range of age where a skill or milestone is developed. Drawing, during the early years, is separated into three stages.

“With art, as with all milestones, a child may fall before or after the range of normalcy. I have seen 5 year olds that are only beginning to grasp the ability to form simple shapes; a skill generally developed between 3 to 4 years and I have also seen 3 year olds using symbolic representation, a skill usually developed at 4 or 5.” -this was taken from my first blog on the first stage of art: Scribbling.

Since we have already covered scribbling and basic forms, today we are going to cover the third stage, which is the representational stage of art development. This is the stage where the first drawing is believed to take place.

Generally, the first drawing will occur during the ages of 4 and 5. Children will begin to look at the world around them and try to incorporate them into their drawings. A box is a house, a circle a face, a triangle is a roof. These basic shapes will begin to become more defined and the child will begin to create more detail in the pictures. No longer will a square simply represent a house, the square will also need windows, a door, flower pots, etc.

Also during this stage, children begin to pay more attention to the detail and will begin to make shape more representational to things in the world around them. A dog is smaller than a person so in their artwork, the dog is smaller than the person walking it.

The world is a big part of this stage of development and children will draw images from their own “world”. A child who has never seen a zebra will not draw a zebra since it does not have any symbolic meaning in their own life. They are more likely to draw items that interact with them on a daily basis. People such as friends and family, are often the first drawings, or symbols as it is often called, that a child will draw. From there the child moves onto trees, houses and other things in their world.

During this stage, as well, children will begin to label their drawings more often. You will see less artwork that is labeled after the drawing takes place and more pre-thought going into the artwork. A child will sit down and say, “I’m going to draw my dog,” before he or she starts drawing a dog.

From this stage of art development, a child moves into perfecting his or her skill in art and drawing and this improvement in basic skills will continue as long as the child continues to practice it. Art is an enjoyable pastime for any child, regardless of age and allowing them the time to explore their creative sides, is a great way to help your budding artist flourish into a creative individual.

Sirena Van Schaik

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For this reason, probably not the only reason, I am a firm believer that reading should be part of the daily routine, not only for the child but for parents as well. Studies have shown that children who see both of their parents reading, are more likely to read themselves. So the whole idea of children learn through example is evident when it comes to reading.

What many people don’t know, is that a love of reading is not something that you pick up when you are old enough to read. It actually starts in the early years and it can be fostered in children as young as a few days old. Sure you won’t see the effects of this reading until they are much older but you will know that the groundwork will be in place.

Many children learn to read around age 6 when it becomes a necessity in school. This can start sooner and I know that my son’s Kindergarten class brought books home on a weekly basis to begin reading. I was actually blown away by how well my son picked up reading and experienced a confusing mesh of disappointment and pride when he asked me if he could read not only his own bedtime story but his brother’s bedtime book as well when he was 6.

Reading is such an important skill for everyone to learn and starting off right can encourage not only the skill but a life long enjoyment of reading and learning.

So how does this apply to infants?

Although an infant is not going to understand exactly what you are doing, it will set a routine that will become as cherished as bath time. It will also encourage later skills and will help build attention spans. People were always amazed when my active toddler(s) would sit for a half hour just to listen to three or four picture books and I remember the only way I could get through long car drives was by reciting by memory Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams and illustrated by Megan Lloyd and many other favorites that I had read hundreds of times (so many times that they are forever burned on my memory)

The reason for this love of story was started when my kids were only 3 days old and we began reading together and this is something that I recommend to all parents.

Encouraging Reading in your Infant:

• Start when they are young: Start reading to your child when they are only a few days old. The luxury of this is that you get to have some quiet time, read a nice story and spend those moments snuggling with your baby. This builds trust and a parent child bond, which have nothing to do with reading, exactly, but help your child’s development across the board.
• Start with the classics: When you are reading with your child, start with the old classics. Childhood favorites that you loved. There is no need to stick with picture books since your child isn’t really looking at the pictures but is instead looking at you and listening to your voice. I started with E.B. White’s The Trumpeter Swan and moved on to his other books Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little but you can start with any children’s treasure.
• Move up to fun books: Just as simple as that, as your child becomes more aware of the world around her, start looking at picture books and pops up. My kid’s favorite was a Clifford book with a big Clifford head coming out the front of a dog shaped book.
• Be silly: At this stage, when your child is sitting up, books do not have to be serious. Sit on the floor in front of your child, read the book, make silly faces and play with the book. One of our favorite pastimes was to sit with my kids in the recliner, me on my knees in front of them, holding up a pop up book or the Clifford book. At the end of the story, Clifford, or in the case of one pop up, a big Moose, would lick their noses. They would squeal in delight and want me to read the book again in hopes of experiencing the squeal inducing ending again.

I know that it may not seem like much but there is a lot going on behind the scenes at this age. Over the next few weeks, I will look at ways parents can encourage reading for all the age groups.

Until then, pick up a good novel. I know I will.

Sirena Van Schaik

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If you want to review the first part of these posts, please click here but to give you a recap, Freud is the father of psychoanalysis and he believed that the human personality was made up of three parts: The Id, the Superego and the Ego. Each one works to temper the other and the ego works the hardest to fulfill the needs of the Id.

Freud also went on to explain the stages of development which included Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genital stages. Each one occurs at a specific age of development and if you are interested in learning more, please read Theorists of Child Development Part One.

So why the little recap on Freud, the main reason is that Erik Erikson (1902-1994) was a psychoanalyst that not only studied Freud’s theories but expanded them. He felt that our development was affected by the social and cultural influences that are around us. He also believed that even a child who suffered during some of the developmental stages has the ability to overcome the obstacles and deficits from the earlier stages.

Erik Erikson felt that each stage in development was faced with a crisis and that successfully overcoming the crisis would help build the skills necessary to good mental health. He also believed that each resolution was a combination of both positive and negative experiences and the key was to find a balance between the two.

Many of the theories of child development are the result of Erik Erikson’s work and for the purpose of this post, I will look at the developmental stages that Erik Erikson identified and a short little explanation of each one.

Erik Erikson had 8 stages of development, but he did not focus on child development only. These stages span the entire life of a person from infancy until old age and ultimately death. For the purpose of this blog, I am going to stick to the stages of development which affect children from infancy until 18 years of age.

Erikson’s Stages of Development:

• Trust vs Mistrust: Since Erik Erikson looked at the outcome at the end of a stage, his stages are labelled differently than other theorists. He believed that the ego would suffer or benefit from each stage and gave the desired outcome to the stage. For Trust vs Mistrust, it is fairly obvious that the positive outcome would be trust while the negative outcome would be mistrust. This stage occurs between the ages of birth to 18 months and is the stage when a child learns that his needs will be met. The bonding that goes on between parent (or primary caregiver) and child is important to fostering the trust necessary to build on greater self esteem and self worth later in the child’s development. If needs are not met or the child is not held, comforted or cared for properly, mistrust begins to form and can lead to even more detrimental feelings as the child grows.
• Autonomy vs Shame: This stage occurs between the ages of 18 months and 3 years of age and as you may have guessed, this is the toddler stage where children will begin the process of autonomy. Toilet training occurs during this stage, along with many exciting and frustrating aspects of development such as dressing and feeding one self. If there is a balance of positive experiences, a child will come through this stage with not only autonomy but a strong feeling of self esteem. If the experiences are negative, such as parents becoming frustrated and angry at potty accidents during toilet training, feelings of shame will be evident.
• Initiative vs Guilt: Spanning the ages of 3 to 5, this stage is when children begin to take the initiative in activities. This may be small things or they may be large but the key is that children are taking the lead and parents are allowing them to do so (as long as everyone is safe). If initiative is not allowed or encouraged feelings of guilt may occur, and as with all the other stages, may lead to feelings of worthlessness.
• Industry vs Inferiority: Occurring between the ages of 6 and 12, children are beginning to branch out and interact with peers and at school. There are moments of industry where the child is learning and creating and there are moments when children may feel a little inferior to the other people around them. A balance between both builds on feelings of competency.
• Identity vs Role Confusion: The teen years are always confusing no matter how well the other stages of development went. During the ages of 12 and 18, children are in a limbo of sorts where they are expected to act more grown up, actually feel the need to do so, but are still limited in what they can do since they are not grown up. It is a stage where limits are tested, more than others, self identity as both an individual and a peer takes place and morality is developed on a more personal level. It is no longer a simple matter of “Because my parents said it was wrong.” Again, self esteem, self worth, independence and many other traits can be harmed if there are too many negative experiences.

Erik Erikson went on to explore stages after these but they deal with adult development and not child development. It is interesting to note that for all of these stages, Erik Erikson identified key relationships that are important in the development of the child. From infancy to the age of 6, the important relationships are with parents and family. After 6 there is a shift in relationships from family to school to peers, and although family is still important it is not the key relationship.

So that is it for Erik Erikson, in a few weeks, I will look at Jean Piaget and go over his theories. After that, I will touch on a few other theorists, although not in the length that I have done with Erikson and Freud.

Sirena Van Schaik

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It is always amazing how quickly a child grows. One moment they are nestled safe in your tummy and you are worrying about the delivery, being ready and a whole number of other things. The next, they are raiding the fridge and asking you why you forgot to buy the volcano flavored Yogurt Tubes.

It can be overwhelming at times but usually it is a constant state of wonder as you watch your infant grow from newborn to new adult.

For many parents, the amount of development seen in the first three months can be mind boggling and you quickly realize that this isn’t just a cute bundle of joy but also an individual with a personality. Sure there will be times when your child will show larger developments such as walking or potty training but all the small developments that are taking place now are the first in bringing your baby from the cute, sleep all day newborn to the rambunctious preschooler.

Below is a list of what your newborn should be doing by three months of age. Remember that this is a range of normalcy and many factors can come into play when you look at the rate of development. Also remember that if your child is premature, he or she may not develop as quickly as a full term infant but eventually (usually around age 4 or 5) he or she will catch up to other children in that age group.

• Is able to lift head while he is enjoying tummy time.
• Can turn head from side to side
• Should be able to lift head when he is resting against your shoulder
• Recognizes mom and dad (or any main caregiver).
• Begins to tract objects and will look at them and follow them by moving his head. He won’t track objects with his eyes only.
• Turns head towards sound.
• Watch people in his life when they are feeding him, playing with him or simply holding.
• Is able to be calmed when he is comforted.

At this age, a baby will still need lots of attention and one on one time. There is no such thing as “spoiling” a baby and you shouldn’t listen to those who say that you can. This is a time when trust is being development and reaffirming, through actions, that you will be there when your baby needs you, is the best way to help nurture the bond that you have created.

Sirena Van Schaik

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If you remember, I have already posted about the development of artistic skill already. If you haven’t read it yet or need a refresher, you can read it here.

Just to recap a few things, when I talk about any type of development, I am really looking at a “range of normalcy.” I know that I have mentioned this before but for anyone new that is joining us, I really like to reiterate my points. “Range of normalcy” is a term used to describe an average age range when a child develops a skill or reaches a milestone.

“With art, as with all milestones, a child may fall before or after the range of normalcy. I have seen 5 year olds that are only beginning to grasp the ability to form simple shapes; a skill generally developed between 3 to 4 years and I have also seen 3 year olds using symbolic representation, a skill usually developed at 4 or 5.” -this was taken from my first blog on the first stage of art: Scribbling.

Since I have already written about the first stage, scribbling, I am going to move on to the second stage called Basic Forms.

This stage usually occurs between the ages of 3 and 4 and again, some children may experience this stage sooner or later than what is the expected “range of normalcy.”

Much like the scribbling stage, I probably don’t need to really define what I mean by basic shapes. This is the stage where children begin moving away from scribbles and start forming shapes such as circles, ovals, and all the other shapes that are the staple of geometry.

This is also the stage where children are gaining more control over their fine motor and hand-eye coordination skills. Things are happening both physically and intellecutally which is enabling him to create more concrete drawings and more controlled strokes with the pencil and/or brush.

Like scribbling, this stage is still a very experimental stage in art. It is a gradual progression of experimenting with the lines that he is creating on the page and you will see it throughout that year. The first part of his 3rd year, he will draw circles and ovals and then he will progress into creating the curved line. This can often be referred to as the rainbow stage (at least by me) and I remember with my oldest, his love of drawing rainbows with any type of medium that I gave him. Rainbows was where he saw true manipulation of his lines and it pleased him to not only create one curved line but many connected to each other in a layered pattern. My youngest son is at this stage right now and I am back to a world of rainbows once again.

After he has learned to control his drawings, a child will begin drawing more complex forms such as squares and rectangles.

Also in this stage, a child begins to understand that what he is thinking and feeling is responsible to what he is placing on the paper. He is not going to sit down and say, “I’m going to draw a 5 star hotel with ocean vistas,” but he will sit down and draw a tower of squares. When he is finished, he will often tell you what he drew but it is usually a end thought. Sort of like, “My picture looks like a truck so that is what I drew.”

After this stage is the third and final stage that occurs between 4 and 5. This is considered to be the stage where the child’s first drawings take place and it is the stage where representational art begins.

Until then, I hope you enjoyed this post on your budding artist and I hope that you have already filled your shelves with art materials.

Sirena Van Schaik

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