make marks, much as at a later period the child used a pair of scissors to cut paper. He cut paper because he liked to; paper-cutting was an end in itself. And so scratching, making numberless, aimless scribblings was something sufficient in itself. To have asked the child, What are you doing? would have brought the reply, could he have answered, "making marks."
Fourth Stage.—The next step was the awakening of interest in the letters and figures which I drew for the child as copies. During the twenty-second and twenty-third months, I often made for him and tried to teach him the letters B and O; and also, for his entertainment, made many rough sketches of men and horses. Occasionally in the twenty-third month, the child asked for a "pǔtu" (a pencil) to make "mŭms" (horses), Os, Bs, and balls. In the course of the next four months he often begged for a "putu," and if asked, What do you want to do with the putu? would say "mŭm," or "baw," or "O Bob," meaning probably that he wanted to mark as I had when drawing a horse, ball, or letter for him.[1]
- ↑ At this time, the child's favorite subjects for drawing were O, "mum" (horse) and ball. He was greatly interested in those objects and they were selected because it was thought it would be easy to arouse his interest in drawing them. Contrary to the observations of others, I have not found that the human figure appeals strongly to the little child as a thing to be drawn either by himself or by others. It was not until the last month of his third year that R. was interested in making a "man," although the figure was frequently made for him, and a special effort was made to make it attractive. One of my students found that the first object
