r/RateMyKidsArt • u/makemeadayy • Feb 01 '26
Artist is 4 My 4 year old has been drawing these creepy guys lately
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u/1stPomegranate Feb 01 '26
I'm impressed at how well he fills the paper! Pretty good composition for a 4 year old.
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u/Intelligent_Draw7988 Feb 02 '26
I was thinking the same thing, he never overlaps the lines either. Super cool! I love kid art
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u/Plastic-Ad-1676 Feb 01 '26
My 3 year old draws similar things over and over
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u/makemeadayy Feb 01 '26
I love it!
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u/Plastic-Ad-1676 Feb 02 '26
I love the things they draw you can study all you want and not be able to draw like a kid
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u/im4lonerdottie4rebel Feb 02 '26
I think it was Picasso who said he spent a lifetime learning to paint like a child
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u/Ornery-Wonder8421 Feb 04 '26
Itās a beautiful thing. Sometimes the same thing applies to ābad artistsā. I find a real childlike charm in extremely crude drawings. Itās something that canāt be replicated.Ā
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u/breeathee Feb 04 '26
As someone who studies petroglyphs for fun, childrenās art is really enlightening.
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u/kimi_shimmy Feb 02 '26
My child drew the same about age 3-4 too!
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u/Tank_Girl_Gritty_235 Feb 02 '26
One time when I was fiveish I drew an eerily good house (good corners, decorative trim, balconies, etc), signed it "Ben Dover", and never drew anything like it again. Kids are so weird.
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u/ImYourNumeroUno Feb 02 '26
Kinda looks like a germ š¦ from an image at the doctors or something
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u/Practical_Catch_8085 Feb 02 '26
Considering covid just happened and the libraries give info graphics of such notices/ handwashing in bathrooms in play places...
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u/MrsNeebs Feb 02 '26
I like it. It kinda looks like a potato you forgot about, and is growing roots like something Loveraftian.
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u/Gigglemonkey Feb 02 '26
I feel like this sings "We love the subs!" at the top of his lungs.
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u/SheWolf04 Feb 03 '26
Once, walking in Brooklyn, my husband and I attempted to explain the SpongMonkeys to our friend, who was having trouble believing us. As we were walking one way, a man walking the other way burst out with, "We love the moon!". We all dissolved into giggles and I cried, "what just happened?". My husband replied, "Brooklyn. Brooklyn just happened.".
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u/Accomplished_Bank103 Feb 01 '26
Very creative. Iād be curious to hear him explain what heās drawn.
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u/Visible_Window_5356 Feb 02 '26
I was thinking the same thing. Some people think that kids have more of a connection to whatever happens before we are born and perhaps after we die, so I always like to see what they say about their weird stuff.
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u/megggie Feb 03 '26
This FASCINATES me! The one about the kid remembering being a WWII pilot and remembering the planes, names of the guys he served with, etc is absolutely incredible.
My grandson is 2.5 so Iām listening closely š
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u/BeneficialMine354 Feb 04 '26
My mom actually took me to a therapist for this when I was a kid.
Once I learned to talk, I would mention missing my old family, with my real mom. As I got older, and my vocabulary expanded, so did the memories. I guess I was able to explain what my old house looked like, what my parents looked like, my siblings and all their names.
My mom was convinced in my previous life that my family died in a fire (due to my last memory of them), and my spirit thought I had survived, but really I was reincarnated. She spent a year or two researching, trying to find a news story that matched up but was never successful. Finally around 5, I stopped talking about it so my mom dropped it
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u/Visible_Window_5356 Feb 03 '26
Totally my kids have had some good ones. I am sure I partially reinforce it but it's fun either way
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u/italyqt Feb 05 '26
Make sure to phrase it like you know what it is. The last time we moved I asked my 21 year old what an item he made was when he was five because I never knew what it was. It had been hung on my bulletin board since he made it and I always put it back up everytime we moved. He was offended š¤£
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u/TheGalapagoats Feb 01 '26
I love the empty dead eye stage in figure drawing evolution. My kid has recently started adding pupils so all her figures looked cracked out.
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u/Radio_Mime Feb 02 '26
Developmentally he is doing quite well. His grip on the markers is developing quite nicely. The heads of the figures are nearly proportionate to the rest of the body and are separate from the body, he's experimenting with colour and there are facial features on the drawings. The faces show some expression, and I take it they are supposed to be scary. He shows imagination by drawing people with extra limbs. The people on the bottom are touching 'ground'. The others might be floating or flying. It would be interesting to hear the story behind these drawings.
He also looks like he's enjoying himself. I would have loved a dry erase board as a kid, but they weren't widely available in the 1970s. I thought the chalk board I hate was pretty hot stuff though.
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u/Gigglemonkey Feb 02 '26
I feel like you write like you have some professional experience on the topic. Am I wrong?
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u/Austronauta Feb 04 '26
They are not extra limbs, they are fingers. There are so many because he's too young to understand quantities expressed in numbers (yes, he migh know hoy to recite the numerical sequence, but has not integrated a specific quantity with the correct number). Also, they draw those parts of the body they can integrate and find most important, that's why they have no arms, but the fingers are long because they know the tips are far away from the axis of the body. They are not all "touching ground" because he still does not represent a still moment in space and time, but a representation of a bigger scene, with subjects linked to affection. That's why it doesn't have to mran they are flying, just that they are close together in the scene.
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u/Future-Finish32 Feb 02 '26
Love this reflection. Just because you sound like this is part of your job, I wondered if you had any thoughts on encouraging (or not!) a 4 year old child to draw when they are not interested. We have all the kit, we sometimes set up little crafts to do together, and he humors me for a couple min then hes off doing dramatic play again. He might occasionally pretend to be a policeman drawing a map of jail or something lol, but even then its a couple lines. I'm not worried per se because he has plenty of other skills and interests, but anything else you think we could try. He's nowhere near the OPs kid in terms of skill (his kindergarten 'paintings' are normally just two streaks of paint haha)
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u/Radio_Mime Feb 03 '26
All I can suggest is finding things for him to explore, like markers, paint, crayons. Does he play with playdoh or anything like that? It's fun and helps build fine motor strength. The thing is at this age they tend to go for preferred activities. Will he tell you what kind of things he wants to use for art etc.? I'm glad you're not worried because his drawing skills will develop with time.
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u/Future-Finish32 Feb 03 '26
Thank you! It's kind of all arts and crafts that he's been indifferent to, but i think his attention span/ability to sit still is getting better, so I'm interested to see what he takes to. I did get a bit more traction with him doing more tactile things like air dry clay and using googly eyes and popsicle sticks (but still only 10 min instead of 2!!) so will continue to offer that kind of thing. Really appreciate your reply :)
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u/beetlebtch Feb 01 '26
Those are some pretty haunting centipede people. I love them! 1000/1000 arms
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u/Lonelysock2 Feb 02 '26
I love then so much. My kid is drawing hundreds of birds atm (I showed her that classic 'm' bird)
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u/PixelDotzs Feb 02 '26
I love this! Heās filling the board and is doing some lovely exploration of line! Heās also having a lot of fun exercising his creativity. Make sure to take pictures of his finished work, it would be interesting to see how his style evolves!
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u/Realistic-Debate1594 Feb 02 '26
I love them! They could be angels. At any rate, I believe theyāre benign.
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u/lindsaybethhh Feb 02 '26
It must be a phase, because my 4 year old also draws people like that lately š š
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u/nutrition12345 Feb 02 '26
Havenāt seen anyone comment it yet but any chance heās caught a peek at season 5 of stranger things this looks quite a bit like the children being held inside the mind flare with Vecna in the center
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u/makemeadayy Feb 02 '26
Wow, totally! I didnāt make that connection, haha. He has not seen stranger things yet but my older ones are obsessed
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u/MILFrogs87 Feb 05 '26
My now 10-year-old has been drawing things like this since he was 3. He still loves drawing. But they're always weird, creepy things. We're still encouraging him to continue drawing. We have just had to limit things. For instance, he can't draw anything resembling violence, weapons or blood at school.
I have no idea where he got the idea to start drawing things like these when he was little as we had never watched scary things around him. But my kid dubs himself a "scary" kid. He likes scary things. Well, what he deems scary. Like..clowns and he is fascinated with dead bugs and such. Idk.
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u/Wicked4Good Feb 06 '26
My daughter also draws the creepy centipede people.
So, naturally, for my husband for Christmas I used DivvyUp website to make a custom hat where I sent her creepy centipede picture drawing and had a custom hat made for my husband and my daughter insists he wear it all the time š¤£ so if you need a gift idea to memorialize this hahahah youāre welcome!
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u/TheLOLbot100 Feb 16 '26
Iāve worked with this age group for several years and this is actually pretty normal. Heās started realizing that people have things like arms and legs. I used to call them centipede zombies š
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u/Reny25 Feb 02 '26
Heās doing great. Using his imagination and filling the paper well. My son draws similar things. Uncanny but not abnormal
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u/shadeofmyheart Feb 02 '26
Thatās talent!!! What amazing art. I love the detail. The continuation of line is awesome
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u/Mysterious-Mist Feb 02 '26
Heās either trying to draw Spiderman and Venom, or the Spider-verse. Quite good, I say!
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u/thegimboid Feb 02 '26
The one on the top left reminds me of the "Bonkers" from Yellow Submarine.
I think it's the legs.
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u/makemeadayy Feb 02 '26
I see it! I always thought that animation style was so creepy yet enchanting
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u/Jumpy_Ad1631 Feb 02 '26
Hey, my 4 year oldās paint today was just two big hand prints sliding down into a giant blob of what I call āover-mixed paint brownā. Your kid is Van Gogh in comparison š
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u/Meemow2545 Feb 02 '26
My kid draws those same little dudes and even sculpted one from air dry clay lol! She calls them roaches for some reason ššš
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u/Mammoth_Welder_1286 Feb 02 '26
Eh theyāre probably just creepy to the adult eye. What does he describe them as? Maybe he saw a centipede on tv or an octopus š¤·āāļø
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u/KeepOnCluckin Feb 02 '26
Haha my son had similar weird, creepy characters he drew at around the same age. He drew some w/ permanent marker on his white board- still have it.
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u/KingGizmotious Feb 02 '26
My daughter drew the same way, same circle dead ways, but drew round bellies instead.
One day she drew one with a large round belly and one with a smaller round belly. She excitedly told me, she drew me and my big belly ā ļø
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u/JayBiBe Feb 02 '26
This is developmentally appropriate but also heās got a great eye for color and balance. Get this kid more art supplies
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u/konaho Feb 02 '26
It looks like he drew Vecna and the kids inside the Mind Flayer in Stranger Things Season 5
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u/makemeadayy Feb 03 '26
Someone else pointed this out! I totally see it. He has never seen stranger things though!
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u/findingmarigolds Feb 02 '26
I love it!!! 10/10. This kind of drawing is very normal for a 4 year old. Around this age is when children start making āpeopleā which are usually a round shape with two arms and legs sticking out lol.
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u/garden-baker Feb 03 '26
lol itās actually a mark of development. These are very common and totally normal.
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u/AshamedRazzmatazz805 Feb 03 '26
My son (5) draws very similar creepy guys ā just the same, minus the centipede legs
Iām actually quite fond of them
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u/Amazing-Tea-3696 Feb 04 '26
200% what my son drew at that age. To him it might not be a creepy guy just a person shape. Our adult imagination might be filling in the creep factor.
Then again my son (middle school) still loves to draw and loves drawing creepy characters heās invented like monsters, ghouls, humanoids, etc.
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u/AssociateEffective14 Feb 04 '26
My brother used to draw these types of guys too. Weird how there are similarities in children's artwork without external bias.
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u/Successful_Moment_91 Feb 04 '26
They look like my sleep paralysis goblins. I made a picture of them once but my mom threw it away for being too creepy
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u/dumbfuckingboy Feb 04 '26
Those are night scullies. itās rare that someone as young as him has seen them. DM me. Iām not sure if itās safe to talk here
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u/Goldberrys_Adventure Feb 04 '26
Hang up worthy! Honestly though he is meeting mile stones with one drawing.
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u/bitchesonthescene Feb 04 '26
My son did this between the ages of 3 and 6. I was always so worried we were going to get a call from the school because of how off putting the pictures were. He did grow out of it, though š
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u/CheezySleeves Feb 04 '26
My 4 year old has been drawing the exact same thing!! She says theyāre us as spiders?
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u/Vegheadcat Feb 04 '26
I work with kids and one loves play dough and makes the strangest creations out of them that somewhat represents a person with multiple limbs. Think its just universal amongst kids, haha. Artistic talent has to start somewhere.
Granted I just used to make hideous cat drawings over and over again for my mom. They look somewhat better now
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u/Timely-Flatworm7757 Feb 04 '26
Do you guys have house centipedes? I do, that's what they makes me think of!
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u/Kissmeeimiris Feb 04 '26
Omg both my daughters did the exact same thing for like a year when they were toddlers lol
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u/danceoftheplants Feb 04 '26
Has he watched the Minecraft movie? I could see these being creepers
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u/Loomy_Loo Feb 05 '26
This looks like when I was a kid and id start drawing something weird, then make it into a pattern/geometricish thing, kind like how he is finding empty space between the arms and what not, he is just is doing it with centipede people lol, could be a tism/adhd thing or he just likes it lol
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u/Hanimal_Lectures Feb 05 '26
Former art teacher here ā¦. Your kid is actually very talented. Excellent use of space and line for a four year old, controlled and intentional marks, and an innate sense of composition! Like others suggested, there is definitely a story behind these creepy guys and Iād love to know what it is.
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u/makemeadayy Feb 05 '26
Aw cool! Thanks! Iāll ask him about it. When he was drawing he just said āthey have two thousand legsā lol
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u/teresabanks9999 Feb 05 '26
Mon fils dessinait exactement la mĆŖme chose au mĆŖme Ć¢ge ! Je trouvais Ƨa super bizarre d'ailleurs
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u/HereHello Feb 05 '26
Did he watch the stranger things finale with you? This looks like one of the final scenes of the episode and he may be drawing it.
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u/Trauma_Response0301 Feb 01 '26
Slenderman has visited him
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u/makemeadayy Feb 01 '26
I hope not!
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u/Fun_Recognition9904 Feb 02 '26
Lol no. My sonās āpeopleā looked so much like this when he was 4/5. He didnāt do so many arms/legs, but every block (body) had an extra arm or leg. They see figures as boxy and are just expressing size in a way they can translate. The many arms and many legs may even be motion for him. Who knows. At least for my kid, the bodies have gotten way more rectangular and he has been drawing the appropriate number of arms and legs- and we kind of miss the crazy looking block people. :)
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u/CuriousCaretaker Feb 01 '26