How Young Children Draw People II

Last week, my friend came over with her 33-month-old daughter ‘A’ and 3-month-old daughter ‘B’.

“Will you draw baby ‘S’?” asked 33 month old ‘A’ as she handed me a piece of paper and a green crayon. I’m not one to draw for children, but I wanted to accept her invitation to create something together.

“Okay,” I said as I took the crayon. “What part of her should we draw first?” “The head,” she replied. “What shape is the head?” I asked. “Circle.” I’m a lefty, but I drew a circle-ish shape on the paper with my right hand.

“And what part should we draw next?” “The eyes,” said ‘A’. I handed the crayon back to her saying, “You do it” and she made multiple dots inside the circle.

“And then what?” I continued. “A chin.” She made a small mark at the base of the circle. “And ears,” were made by two marks on the perimeter of the circle, one near the chin and one near the top, which then turned into zigzagging lines for hair.

“Okay, what next?” “Feet.” Two closed circular shapes below the head. Finally, she drew the circular shape between the head and feet and said it was the chin. I wonder if she forgot she drew a chin, or just wanted to draw it again? I should have asked but at that point she declared the drawing done by asking me to write the letters of her sister’s name, her name, and my baby’s name along the bottom.