Free-drawing for Young Imaginations

“Today is a blank canvas. Create a masterpiece.” – Will Bowen

We asked the children in Loch Lomond to draw anything they wanted using their own imaginations and working theories. It is always a delight to watch children draw ‘off the cuff’ without expectation or assignment.

Drawing is an important skill children master within our early childhood curriculum. It affords opportunities for children to build theories about their surroundings; often the sketches and drawings precede their arguments and hypotheses and support the process of understanding reality. Thoughts and marks feed each other endlessly in an interchangeable and unique relationship.

Children’s drawing skills change over time. Stage one is the random scribbling stage (from 15 months to 2.5 years); stage two is controlled scribbling (2–3 years); stage three is lines and patterns (2.5–3.5 years); and stage four is pictures of objects or people (3–5 years old). In Loch Lomond, children are in stages 3 and 4, able to draw lines and patterns and moving into drawing objects and people.

This experience allowed our children to be creative and imaginative. The beauty of course is that each child drew what they knew in their own individual style. Much development is learnt through drawing, including the development of motor skills, emotional development, psychosocial development, and perception. Drawing enables the drawer to see and comprehend that which is beyond words.

We were so proud of the drawings our children created, ranging from T-rexes, family members, water, forests, the fridge at home, and a rocket ship. Drawing is a large part of our learning programme and children have access to it at Preschool if and when they feel the need to let their creative juices flow!