FM.F.126 DRAWS A PERSON WITH AT LEAST 3 PARTS

By the 4-year-old level of development, the child can be expected to draw a figure that has at least 3 recognisable parts.

Most children start by drawing simple faces and then add limbs that come directly out of the head. Many add details such as hands, feet and hair before they start to include a body. A complete figure, with body as well as limbs, may not appear before the child reaches school age. While you may encourage your child to add more to his drawings, the emphasis should be on praising him for what he has included.

How to Assess

Materials: A crayon and paper.

Method: Ask your child to ‘Draw Mummy’ or ‘Draw Daddy’.

Score plus if your child draws a figure with at least 3 parts. Pairs of parts, such as eyes or legs, should count as one part. A drawing will score plus is it includes a circle, a pair of eyes and a mouth, or a circle with a pairs of legs and hair, and so on.

How to Teach

While only 3 parts are required to score on this item, you can, of course, teach your child to draw more parts.

If your child is not yet drawing faces, start there, teaching him to draw a circle with eyes, nose and mouth. It is a good idea to teach him to draw small circles for eyes, as dots are often hard to see. Use plenty of repetition in your teaching, so that your child learns the rhythm of drawing a face. For variety, you can draw a face with a part left out, for him to add.

Once he can draw a face, you can teach your child to add first legs, then arms, coming out of the face. Count the arms and legs as you draw, or as your child draws.

Later, you can show him how to add a body, hands and feet. Let his interests determine the order in which you introduce these other parts.

There is rarely any problem about teaching your child to add hair, as most children enjoy the chance to have a good scribble!

Give your child plenty of opportunities to draw figures without your guidance, so that you can observe his progress.

Playtime and Round-the-house Activities

Make figures with paste and scraps, as well as crayons. Making a life-size cardboard figure is fun, or you could make little figures to hang on the Christmas tree. In the kitchen, you could make gingerbread men.

REMEMBERING AND EXTENDING THIS SEQUENCE

Once your child has completed this sequence, you can go on to the following 4-5-year-old skills:

• Draws a figure with at least 7 body parts.
• Draws pictures (other than figures) with 4 or more parts.
• Draws a square (start by teaching your child to join 4 dots).
• Paints figures or simple pictures.
• Draws within parallel lines, 1 cm apart – horizontal, vertical and circular.
• Traces lines – horizontal, vertical, then circular.
• Copies simple alphabet letters, such as t, c, w, i.
• Copies the first letter of his name, progressing gradually to his whole name

Many of these 4-5-year-old skills are really writing skills. These can be just as enjoyable for the child as drawing skills, but do continue to give your child opportunities to draw and paint freely, following his own imagination.