Drawing is one of the truest and most original forms of expression of the child's personality,
a game that involves, engages, stimulates the child and, at the same time, reveals his achievements on a cognitive level and his emotions. Being able to understand our children's drawings allows us not only to appreciate the small big daily steps, but also to grasp their thoughts, worries, joys and affections.
René Baldy, professor of developmental psychology and writer (he is the author, among others, of the volume 'Fais-moi un beau dessin', 2011) explained: «Like language, drawing, which develops in successive steps that are clearly distinguishable , is a marker that allows us to understand at what stage our child is at a cognitive level». If the first graphic attempts generally take place around
18-20 months , it is good that even before that children live in stimulating environments from a creative point of view: therefore, in a house where
white sheets, colored pencils, crayons and felt-tip pens never fail. In fact, drawing is a gymnasium for the mind, in which the motor skills of the hand are developed – for Maria Montessori, «the expressive tool of human intelligence» – and the spirit of observation. Every child loves to draw and it is therefore necessary to create times and spaces to encourage him: the result will be an ever greater capacity for expression.
THE INTERPRETATION OF CHILDREN'S DRAWING
Each drawing can be the subject of at least a twofold analysis: on the one hand, the
objective aspects (how it was made, with which graphic forms, which colours, what is different from the previous drawings, what it represents…); on the other,
an interpretative investigation – the prerogative of psychologists and specialists – which starts from the assumption according to which the child projects a more or less profound part of his unconscious into the drawing. Although every parent knows his child and certain aspects of his drawings cannot escape him, in general this is the advice of the experts: limit yourself to objective considerations, noting the progress of our little budding artists, and
leave out any judgment or concept of right and wrong . Rather, when we don't understand what the child has represented, it is better to ask him: «Can you tell me about it?». And the little one will begin to 'tell himself' in an increasingly elaborate way, age by age.
1-2 YEARS THE FIRST SQUIRTS The first pencil marks on the paper, which can be placed for the precocious as early as 15-18 months, are essentially the product of hand strokes, sometimes so energetic - and combined with such limited motor control - to cause holes in the paper. Around the age of two, the child begins to sense that there is a
relationship between his movements and the signs he traces , and that the latter can have different purposes and outcomes. So he varies them and discovers the pleasure of alternating horizontal and vertical lines, circles and dots. Generally, he prefers to draw in one color.
2-3 YEARS FIGURATIVE INTENTIONALITY When your child tells you that he has drawn his father, grandmother or cat, compliment him, even when, objectively, you really fail to recognize the subjects depicted. Indeed, it is at this age that a figurative intention is revealed for the first time – in advance of actual artistic skills – and
the child begins to give a name to his scribble , attributing a meaning to it. He no longer draws for the mere pleasure of movement, but to represent things, people and intensely experienced sensations. He also discovers the beauty of using multiple colors in the same design. This stage is called the 'scribble with meaning'.
3 YEARS OLD AND OVER , THE CEPHALOPODIAL LITTLE ONES At the age of three the child begins to produce identifiable shapes, which resemble sketches of houses and suns: crosses, pseudo-squares and bar configurations appear, often along the edge of the paper. At the age of four, the scribbles acquired organicity and a meaning comprehensible even to adults. Furthermore,
the first schematic human figures emerge: the so-called 'cephalopod men' – large head (only later with eyes, nose and mouth) and radial limbs – common to all children. Between the ages of four and five, the first draft of the trunk arrives, often even with the navel. At the same age, the child is able to depict a landscape.
By Sara Lanfranchini | Taken from the magazine Nascere Mamma
