theory: stages of art-development

adapted from: http://www.kiddiecampus.com/artcook.htm#artdevelop

1. Manipulative - pre-school

• manipulation of materials (paint, clay, chalk, markers, glue etc)
• random scribbles
• pound, squeeze and tear clay
• paint thickly over entire paper
• children are not yet making representations (see point 4 below)

2. Design or Patterning

• typically develops by age 4
• experimentation with materials
• beginning to master implements (pen, brush, chalk, scissors, glue etc)
• children discover line shapes (straight, curved, open, closed, etc.)
• dots and spaces are used

3. Naming or Symbolic

• often during age 4
• creating pictures or models of things
• voluntarily telling what they made and often tell stories involving their work
• there may not be a clear and sustained objective in mind as they begin to work
  (frequently begin making one thing and then identify it as something else)

4. Representation

• typically develops by age 5 or 6, sometimes earlier
• children's art resembles the objects represented
• at first many details are missing and objects do not represent reality