Pre schematic stage

The pre-schematic stage is the second stage in the development of drawing in the child ; This occurs between four and seven years approximately, when the scribbling stage ends. 

At this stage it takes elements from the scribbling stage that it will later transform. As the child progresses from the stage of the brand, he will be able to draw his first human figures, which emerge from his scribbles. The conscious creation  of the form appears , in other words the conscious intention of drawing this or that thing begins to appear; the child will want to start  creating . Said representations will be two-dimensional .

What does the child draw in the pre-schematic stage?

In the pre-schematic stage the child begins by drawing the human figure as a circle with two circles inside it (representing the eyes), a line (representing the mouth) and vertical and horizontal lines that go in different directions (representing the lower limbs. and higher); It can also represent the human figure as two circles and two vertical lines, this is because the child will draw what he knows about himself and not the visual representation specifically.

As time goes by, the  child will begin to add details such as hair to the head, clothes to the body, and at the age of five he will be able to make a primitive human figure.

Finally there will be gradual inclusion of additional parts of the body , such as fingers and toes, and at six years that primitive figure will be more recognizable, being able to draw some element that speaks of the person next to it, due to the expansion of its environment.

He draws what surrounds him , the relationship between what he draws is capricious, the meaning is emotional and relates objects according to their affections , that is why when representing the family members he does so in a certain order because the child’s perspective of the world it is egocentric, that is, focused on what he does and thinks.

As for the color, there is no relationship between what is pictured and the real object, since the choice of color has more to do with the child’s preferences, so it is not necessary to correct the child when he uses a different color from the real object. It is also necessary to observe the flexibility of the drawing since the changes speak of the evolution and the fixity of stagnation in the development.

At this stage they will begin to seek approval for their drawings – if they have not yet done so in the past – taking them to adults for confirmation, and pointing out the various people and other objects they have drawn.

They like to use different materials to express their ideas . They begin to understand and draw the third dimension in their drawings; for example, they will try to show part of the hidden object behind another object.

What should we take into account in the pre-schematic stage?

From this stage, children begin to capture their emotions, thoughts, fears and desires in their drawings. We must take into account the representations that the child makes, since they can say a lot about his personality or his perception of the world around him.

Let’s look at what he draws, what gives him greater prominence, what colors he uses and the positions in which he places the drawing.

When drawing people , we must observe their size. The larger ones tend to represent dominant people, who maintain control, and the smaller ones can represent unstable or insecure people.

If you draw imaginary figures such as monsters or other fictional characters, you may be acting out their fears or desires.

Dark colors tend to represent negative feelings, unlike light colors, which represent harmonious feelings.

If he draws himself or another person at the bottom of the sheet, it may mean that he feels insecure , with low self-esteem and lack of self – confidence – the same for the person represented. If it is drawn at the top, it can represent pride, excess self-esteem and can even become a determining factor that helps diagnose a narcissistic disorder .