What does a typical five year old's drawing look like?

October 28, 2013 7:46 PM

Please help me find examples of drawings made by children at ages three through seven. I have found many unlabeled images, and many lengthy written descriptions of what drawings "may" or "should" include at certain ages. Why do the writers not post some examples? I have found lots of vanity posts, "look what my precocious little darling drew!" This is not what I am looking for. I want drawings typical for the age group, labeled with the age and gender (secondary importance) of the child. I am not looking for art class products, but just drawings that kids draw on their own.
posted by woman to Education (10 answers total)

Why are the "vanity" posts not representative? In my experience every single time I've been shown something "incredible" done by someone's kid that age, it's been a totally typical drawing and not special at all. I can show you a thousand drawings by my 5 year old and I'm sure I'll proclaim them to be masterpieces but I bet they're just totally average drawings.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 8:15 PM on October 28, 2013

When I was in Art Ed, studying to be an art teacher, I found a book at the library that discussed milestones in children's drawings with numerous examples. I don't remember the book title but perhaps you could ask at a University library.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:32 PM on October 28, 2013

I took my (5yo) son to his check-up last week, and one of the things they did was a drawing "test": a circle, cross, square, triangle, and diamond. The pediatrician explained afterwards that the circle and cross are a "3yo" shape, square is "4yo", triangle is "5yo", and diamond is "6yo".

So I would look in child development textbooks etc for representative illustrations at typical milestones.
posted by misterbrandt at 8:45 PM on October 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

People post "art progression" albums on reddit once in a while, but I guess it would be hard to say if the drawings of people who become decent artists could be considered "typical"

Here is one such album.
posted by davey_darling at 11:39 PM on October 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

These are just a few examples, but I think they fit what you're looking for.

It's based on work by Viktor Lowenfeld, who offers more examples.
posted by Ms. Next at 1:45 AM on October 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

drawings typical for the age group

Based on what's hanging on the walls of my kid's preschool, there is such a wide range of variation here that I'm not sure that "typical for the age group" is a meaningful statement, beyond the obvious broad stages of scribbles -> symbols -> realism. Some of the three and four year olds are drawing recognizable figures, and some of the five and six year olds are still at the stick figures and "oh that's nice honey what is it?" stage.

FWIW here's my son at 3 and 5; that's a self-portrait and a spaceship, respectively. I'd suggest heading to a local preschool, talk to one of the teachers and explain what you're after; they'll have tons of examples you can look at.
posted by ook at 6:19 AM on October 29, 2013

You might also look at the Goodenough-Harris Draw a Person test. That's just a random link that I found - you should google for others. Basically, the test uses the elements of the drawing to assign personality and maturity, not necessarily chronological age.
posted by CathyG at 8:00 AM on October 29, 2013

Lynda Barry just posted this video of a six year old doing a drawing on her Tumblr.
posted by Riverine at 11:27 AM on October 29, 2013

Best answer: I am an art teacher. Students often make drawings for me outside of class as gifts or cards. They are spontaneous and without any adult direction. Some of them reflect ideas we work on in art class (break down complicated things into shapes, etc.) and some.. not so much! These frequently show up in my mailbox and on my desk. I usually leave them at school, but I had a few of the cards here at home, so I took cell phone pictures of what I have handy. If this is very important to you, I have more of these at school from kids in grades K-3 (so ages 5-9)... let me know.

Girl, age 8
Boy, age 8
Boy, age 5
Boy, age 5 (that's supposed to be me, you won't like me when I'm angry)
Boy, age 6
Boy, age 6
Girl, age 5
posted by Marit at 3:53 PM on October 29, 2013

Best answer: Ranger Rick magazine features art by readers every month. I don't know how representative it is, but they do try to have a range of ages and (as far as I can guess from names) genders printed in the magazine. There is more submissions available online in a slideshow and a tumblr. They all include the child's first name and age.
posted by Margalo Epps at 4:52 PM on October 29, 2013