Art Motivations
2-4 years: The Scribbling Stage
4-7 years: The Preschematic Stage
7-9 years: The Schematic Stage
9-12 years: The Dawning Realist Stage
12-14 years: The Pseudo-Naturalistic Stage
14-17 years: Adolescent Art
17+: Adult Art
- Provide age-appropriate materials (paper, crayons, markers…)
- Provide plenty of exploration and discovery time. (Allow children to mix colors together, cover an entire page with paint, etc.)
- Provide time for your child to explore and master materials before bringing out something new.
- Ask process-based questions.
4-7 years: The Preschematic Stage
- Provide paper, scissors, and glue and let your child experiment with cutting, combining, and attaching paper.
- Write a list of drawing prompts. (Include prompts that make your child think about adding arms/legs to his/her figures.)
- Ask more questions about the art process (rather than the final product).
- Ask your child if there is a title for his/her artwork and write it down.
7-9 years: The Schematic Stage
- Ask your child which materials s/he prefers to use.
- Provide a list of different objects/animals for your child to combine into a single drawing.
- Ask questions about the images/stories in your child's artwork.
9-12 years: The Dawning Realist Stage
- Make or purchase a personal sketchbook for your child to use frequently.
- Encourage your child to draw from both observation and imagination.
- Print images for your child to observe/reference while drawing.
- Ask questions about the images/figures in your child's artwork that will encourage him/her to add more details.
- Visit a local museum or gallery with your child.
- Check out a book from the library based on a famous artist of interest.
12-14 years: The Pseudo-Naturalistic Stage
- Visit a website or check out a book from the library that explains perspective.
- Ask questions about the artwork your child creates that will encourage him/her to add more sophisticated details to the art piece.
- If your child is interested, consider registering him/her for art classes at a local art studio.
14-17 years: Adolescent Art
- Provide magazines and glue sticks for your teen to make collages with.
- Encourage your teen to write a response to an art piece s/he has created.
- If your child is interested, consider visiting an art college and taking a tour of the facilities.
17+: Adult Art
- Keep a sketchbook and use it to take notes, make sketches, and record ideas.
- Find a theme that holds personal interest and create artwork based on the theme in multiple mediums.
- Work in series.
- Sketch outdoors. Draw from observation.