Stages of Writing

There is a sense of happiness as a parent when I see progress in my child’s development. I saw him as a helpless infant and now he is at a stage where he is attempting to “create” on his own. So that is indeed a milestone to celebrate.

Art and writing may be the same for very young children. This made me think what are the stages of writing and drawing. These stages are just approximate. Let us always remember that children develop at their own pace. No matter how fast or slow a child develops, we must be proud of the small steps. Remember that any progress is still progress.

The examples below are my son’s drawings which I have documented over time.

Stages of Writing Guideline

These are the Stages of Writing as described in the website zerotothree.org:

Stage 1: Random Scribbling (15 months to 2 1/2 years old)

Young children at this age get fascinated that drawing tools can create marks. Kids at this age make random scribbles.

Stage 2: Controlled Scribbling (2 years to 3 years old)

Overtime, you will notice that from random scribbling your child has more hand control. His fine motor skills are improving too.

Stage 3: Lines and patterns (2 1/2 years to 3 1/2 years)

At around 2 1/2 year old a child may be learning to draw lines, circles, and squares. He also has more fine motor control.

Stage 4: Pictures of objects or people (3 1/2 to 5 years old)

At this age, a child can more or less draw pictures of objects. At 3 1/2 years old, this is my son’s portrait of himself.

Stage 5: Letters and word practice (3 to 5 years old),

At this age, a child is beginning to learn to write words and short sentences. I noticed that art and writing skills are closely correlated based on the observations from my son. He started with random scribbles and over time his drawings made more sense.

Art and Writing Development

Art promotes early literacy skills such as early writing skills. In addition to that it also stimulates brain development. Plus, art nurtures creativity and it helps develop visual perception. There are a wide range of art activities that can foster writing development.

What is the role of the parent in helping a child develop art and writing skills?

As parents, we can provide our child with different art and writing materials needed. We can help shape an environment that fosters creativity. Let us allow our child to express his ideas about his standards of “beauty”. We should not to impose our own standards. We can respond positively when our child shows us his art and writing. We can also make a display wall to exhibit his art works.

Activities that help foster art and writing skills

Paper Activities

Folding

Tearing

Crumpling

Paper Mache

Mosaic/ Collage

Crayon Activities

Drawing

Coloring

Etching

Resist

Shaving

Melting

Paints and Prints

Finger Painting

Finger Printing

Water Color

Bubble Painting

Hand/ Foot Painting

What can we do to encourage art and writing skills

💜 Make art a regular part of playtime.

💚 Let your child experiment and explore on his own. Let him be creative! But be sure you are there to supervise.

💙 Be engaged with the process and not just the product. You can comment “Oh look, that’s a lot of lines and circles you are making!”

🧡 Experiment with a variety of art materials.

You may also check zerotothree.org for more information about children’s writing.

Reference:

Learning to Write and Draw. 2016. https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/305-learning-to-write-and-draw