Art Therapy

Source: Understanding Children's Drawings, by Cathy Malchiodi

Stages of Development in the Visual Arts

• 18 months - 3 years
  Scribbles of various types

• 3-4 years
  Naming scribbles
  Circles, crosses, rectangles, etc.
  Mandala forms

• 4-6 years
  Pre-schematic
  Subjective use of color
  First human figures

• 7-9 years
  Schematic
  Baselines/skylines
  X-ray pictures
  Folding over
  Objective use of color

• 10-12 years
  Differentiation of sexes
  Detail/design
  Attempts at perspective
  Notice color in nature
  Caricatures/cartooning

• 13 years +
  Greater detail/mastery
  Color in nature
  Abstraction