First Strokes: A Visual Essay on Early Childhood Graphic Development. 13 Months, 13 Days, 13 Photos.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17561/rtc.29.9742Keywords:
Scribble; Children’s drawing; Children’s graphic development; Prepared environment; Creativity; Graphic expression; Children’s cognitive process.Abstract
This visual essay captures the daily process of the first graphic marks made by a thirteen-month-old baby, through photographs taken at specific moments during her creative exploration. For thirteen days, she was offered a table at her height, covered with paper, where the child, at the same time each day, made her first drawing attempts. The photographs do not aim to show the final result, but rather focus on the evolving process of her scribbles, allowing us to observe how curiosity and play are transformed into small graphic gestures that mark the beginnings of visual language. Through this project, the cognitive and motor development of early childhood is explored, revealing the beauty and complexity of the creative act—even before shapes take on a more figurative form. This essay also shows how interest and creative focus at such an early age can shift and evolve, influenced by, among other things, the relationship with materials and the surrounding environment.
Downloads
References
Edwards, C. P., Gandini, L., y Forman, G. E. (Eds.). (2001). Los cien lenguajes de la infancia: El enfoque de Reggio Emilia en la educación de la primera infancia. Barcelona: Editorial Octaedro.
Erikson, E. H. (1970). Infancia y sociedad. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Hormé.
Gardner, H. (1987). Estructuras de la mente: La teoría de las inteligencias múltiples. México D.F.: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Kindler, A. M. (1997). Child development in art. Reston: National Art Education Association.
Lowenfeld, V., y Brittain, W. L. (2008). Desarrollo de la capacidad intelectual y creativa. Editorial Síntesis.
Montessori, M. (1986). La mente absorbente del niño. México D.F.: Editorial Diana.
Piaget, J. (1952). The Origins of Intelligence in Children. International Universities Press.
Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1969). The Psychology of the Child. Basic Books.
Stern, A. (2016). Del dibujo infantil a la semiología de la Expresión: Introducción a otra mirada sobre el trazo. Samaruc.
Vygotski, L. S. (1979). El desarrollo de los procesos psicológicos superiores. Barcelona: Editorial Crítica.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sara Arias Ortega
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Those authors who have publications with this magazine, accept the following terms:
The authors will retain their copyright and will guarantee to the journal the right of first publication of their work, which will be simultaneously subject to the Creative Commons Attribution License that allows third parties to share the work whenever their author is indicated and its first publication is this journal.
Authors may adopt other non-exclusive license agreements to distribute the version of the published work (eg to be deposited in an institutional telematic file or published in a monographic volume) provided the initial publication is indicated in this journal .
Authors are encouraged to disseminate their work via the Internet (eg in institutional telematic files or on their website) before and during the submission process, which can produce interesting exchanges and increase the number of citations of the published work..
In case of being accepted works will be published under Creative Commons license.
