Drawing People

By 2½ years, your child will start to draw people that resemble a tadpole/amoeba - with arms and/or legs attached directly to the face.  The face may not have any features.

By 3 years, your child will add features e.g. eyes and mouth.  It is not until after the age of 4 that your child may start to draw a separate body.

Drawing is a way for your child to be able to show their thoughts and understanding of the world.  Drawing develops through a number of stages and by 4 years old a child should be able to draw a basic representation of a person.

Activity Ideas

• Make sure you always name body parts when washing or dressing your child to reinforce them.  Also sing songs that encourage naming body parts (e.g.’ Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes’).
• Try getting your child to draw a face on a paper plate to make a mask or cut out different facial features from a magazine and stick them on a paper plate to create a face.
• Draw somebody together; you draw a circle on a piece of paper and get your child to add the facial features and then limbs.
• On the back of a large piece of wallpaper ask your child to lie on the paper and draw round  them.  You can then get your child to add features and clothes to the outline and name body parts.
• Play a game of Simon Says and get your child to touch different parts of their body include facial features.

• Get your child to trace round their hand or foot on a piece of paper, also try doing self-portraits or a family portrait.