Toddler Drawing – tips for getting started

How do you know if your toddler is ready for drawing, and what do you do next?
Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered with lots of information about the stages of drawing, tips and ideas for toddler drawing.

This post contains affiliate links, as an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

At around 15-18 months or age, young children stop putting absolutely everything in their mouths, and their fine motor skills are developing. It’s at around this time that a toddler might start being interested in making marks and drawing.

Early Stages of Drawing in Children.

It’s important to remember that children all develop at there on pace, so the age ranges given here are just a rough guide. Some children will be start drawing early, where as others won’t be all that interested at all until much later, there is not right or wrong. What is interesting though is that almost all children move through stages of drawing.

Stages of Drawing for 1 – 2 Year Olds

At around a year old, the first stage of drawing is all about cause and effect, and learning control.

In these early days, drawing is all about the joy of movement and making marks on the paper, colours are not important to kids at this age. At this stage children usually hold the crayon or marker with a ‘fisted grasp’ using their whole hand with their thumb up. They often drawing with their whole body, swinging their whole arm in large strokes over and over.

Drawing Ideas for 1-2 Year Olds.

At this stage try offering BIG sheets of paper taped to the table or floor (so they don’t have to worry about the paper moving about), fat, soft crayons that make marks easily, and lots of room so they can draw with their whole body.

Stages of Drawing for 2 – 3 Year Olds

At around 2 years old children enter the stage of controlled scribbling.

At this age a child’s drawings become more controlled as they develop better control of the muscles in their hand, better eye-hand co-ordination, and a better understanding that they control the marks being made on the paper. At this stage toddlers often make purposeful lines, shapes and patterns on the page, and the marks are often smaller and more deliberate. This is an important pre-writing skill. They still hold the crayon or marker with their whole hand, but now with the thumb down in a ‘digital pronate grasp’.

Drawing Ideas for 2- 3 year olds

At this stage big sheets of paper are still good, but you might need to have lots of them, as toddlers in this stage often want to draw, a LOT! Large, fat, drawing implements are still a good idea, but toddlers at this age may be able to manage fat markers if shown how to put the lids back on and keep them on the paper.

Stages of Drawing for 2.5 – 3.5 Year Olds

After children turn three they begin to draw more recognisable images as their imagination and skills increase. They may start drawing with a definite idea of what they want to draw, and tell elaborate stories about their pictures.

At this stage child begin to use their thumb and fingers to control the crayon or marker in a four finger grasp which later develops into the refined pincer grasp. This grasp is important for learning to write later on.

Drawing Ideas for 2.5-3.5 Year olds

A three year old who likes drawing will want to draw with all kinds of implements and on all kids of surfaces. Having lots of options for drawing always available is a great way to encourage kids of this age to draw and practice all those important pre-writing skills.

Tips for Drawing with Toddlers

When your toddler shows an interest in drawing here are some simple tips to make drawing with toddlers fun and stress-free.

• For young toddlers use large, thick crayons or markers that are easy to hold. Choose markers with strong tips that can cope with the force of toddler scribbles and crayons that have lots of pigment so they make strong vibrant marks on the paper without much effort.
• Offer older toddlers a variety to drawing tools in all different shapes and sizes. Try pencils, crayons, markers, chalk, oil pastels, or pens.
• Make sure whatever drawing tool you offer is non-toxic and safe because toddlers still sometimes put things in their mouths.
• Be prepared for drawing to end up in places other than the paper. Supervise your toddler when they are drawing and gently remind them to keep the drawing on the paper, and stick to washable options just in case!
• Use BIG pieces of paper. The usual rule is – the younger the child the larger the paper. Buying a big roll of paper is a great option as you can cut whatever size you want.
• For young toddlers, tape the paper to the table or floor so they don’t have to worry about it sliding around.
• For younger toddlers make sure they have a lot of space to move around while they are drawing. Taping paper to the floor is a great option for this age.
• Once your toddler starts engaging in drawing they will probably want to do a LOT of drawings, so be prepared with a good supply of paper, and teach them early that it is ok to draw on both sides, or use recycled paper.
• Don’t be surprised if your toddler makes one mark on a piece of paper and then moves on to the next one. It’s hard not to think of the waste of paper, but this is a normal stage, and you may be able to reuse the paper later, or maybe not!
• Drawing on a vertical surface is great for developing fine and gross motor skills, so try taping some paper to the wall, or using an easel.

Should I Teach my Toddler to Draw?

For young toddlers you can talk to your child about the lines they are making, the colours they are using and how much they seem to be enjoying drawing. As your child gets older and they begin labelling their own drawings, simply asking them to tell you about their drawings is a great way to encourage them and build their confidence.

Try to resits drawing pictures for your child as that can often make kids feel like their drawings are not ‘good enough’. Instead, draw with your child – grab your own piece of paper and drawing next to them, mimicking the stage of drawing they are at. You’ll be surprised how fun it is to use your whole arm to scribbling in big wide arcs!

What if My Toddler Doesn’t Want to Draw?

Children move through developmental stages in their own time, so just because your child is two, it doesn’t mean they will automatically be ready to draw or interested in drawing, and that’s perfectly fine.

Having drawing materials available to use any time is the perfect way to encourage drawing when your child is ready. So pop a big pad of paper and some crayons on the shelf next to their favourite toys and let them explore it at their own pace.

Letting your toddlers see you drawing and/or writing is also a great way to encourage an interest in drawing. Children of this age often want to do the things they see adults doing, so sit next to your child when you write the shopping list and offer them some paper to write their own and see what happens.

Easy Toddler Drawing Ideas

You don’t need to do any fancy drawing activities with toddlers, especially when they are just starting to draw. The best toddler drawing activity is simply to give your child something to draw with and lots of paper to draw on!

Here are some of our favourite toddler drawing supplies:

• A roll of paper
• A large pad of drawing paper
• Fat, chunky crayons – we like Honey Sticks or Triangular Crayons
• Large markers – we like these tripod grip markers.
• Chunky coloured pencils
• An easel