My youngest granddaughter recently handed me a drawing of what she called a “rainbow horse flying over our house.” To be honest, it looked more like a colorful blob with legs. But I’ve learned something over the years. Those messy, enthusiastic creations are doing far more than keeping little hands busy.
We live in an age where screens are everywhere. Tablets at restaurants. Phones in car seats. Educational apps promising to make our kids smarter. I’m not here to shame anyone for using them. Goodness knows I’ve handed over my phone to a fussy toddler more than once.
But I’ve watched my own children grow up, and now my grandchildren, and I’ve noticed something. The ones who spent more time with crayons, pencils, and paint seem to carry certain qualities into their teenage years and beyond. Qualities that are harder to pin down but unmistakably present.
Here are eight abilities that tend to show up later in children who spent their early years drawing more than scrolling.
1) They become better at working through frustration
Drawing is an exercise in things not going the way you planned. The circle comes out wonky. The dog looks like a potato. The colors bleed together in ways you didn’t expect.
Children who draw regularly learn to sit with that frustration. They don’t have a reset button or an undo feature. They have to decide whether to keep going, start over, or find a way to incorporate the mistake into something new.
This builds what psychologists call frustration tolerance. It’s the ability to keep working toward a goal even when things get difficult. Research from the American Psychological Association shows that this kind of resilience is one of the strongest predictors of success in school, work, and relationships.
Children who develop it early tend to handle setbacks better as teenagers and adults. They don’t crumble at the first sign of difficulty. They’ve had years of practice with wonky circles.
2) They develop stronger fine motor control
This one might seem obvious, but the long-term effects are worth mentioning. Holding a pencil, controlling pressure, making deliberate marks on paper. These actions strengthen the small muscles in the hands and fingers.
Fine motor skills affect more than just handwriting. They influence how easily a child can tie shoes, button shirts, use scissors, and eventually type on a keyboard. Children who spend hours drawing build neural pathways that support precise, controlled movements.
I’ve noticed this with my own grandchildren. The ones who drew constantly as toddlers picked up new physical skills faster as they got older. Learning to play an instrument, building with small pieces, even cooking. Their hands just seemed to know what to do.
Meanwhile, swiping on a screen, while engaging, doesn’t require the same variety of movements or the same level of control.
3) They tend to be more comfortable with open-ended problems
Most apps and games have a right answer. Tap the correct shape. Match the colors. Complete the puzzle. There’s a satisfying ding when you get it right.
Drawing doesn’t work that way. A blank piece of paper offers no instructions, no points, no levels to complete. The child has to decide what to create, how to create it, and when it’s finished. There’s no external validation telling them they’ve succeeded.
This trains the brain to be comfortable with ambiguity. As these children grow up, they tend to handle open-ended situations better. They’re less anxious when there’s no clear right answer. They’re more willing to experiment, to try things that might not work.
In a world that increasingly values creative problem-solving, this comfort with uncertainty becomes a genuine advantage.
4) They build a longer attention span
If you’ve ever watched a child deeply absorbed in a drawing, you know what real focus looks like. Time seems to disappear. They don’t notice the noise around them. They’re completely present in what they’re doing.
This kind of sustained attention is becoming rarer. Screens are designed to capture attention through rapid changes, bright colors, and constant stimulation. They’re effective at holding a child’s gaze, but they don’t require the child to generate their own focus.
Drawing demands something different. The child has to maintain interest through their own effort. They have to stay engaged even when nothing is flashing or beeping at them.
As noted by researchers at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, this kind of self-directed attention is a core component of executive function, the set of mental skills that help us plan, focus, and manage our impulses. Children who practice it early tend to have stronger executive function later.
5) They become more observant of the world around them
To draw something, you have to really look at it. Not just glance at it, but study it. How does the light fall on that apple? What shape is a bird’s wing when it’s folded? Where does the shadow go?
Children who draw regularly develop a habit of close observation. They notice details that others miss. They pay attention to how things actually look rather than how they assume things look.
I’ve covered this in a previous post, but it bears repeating. This observational skill transfers to other areas of life.
These children often become better readers of social situations. They pick up on body language and facial expressions. They notice when something in their environment has changed. It’s a quiet skill, not flashy, but it serves them well in countless ways as they grow older.
6) They develop a stronger sense of personal expression
Every drawing is a choice. What colors to use. What to include. What to leave out. Whether to make it realistic or fantastical. These decisions, made hundreds of times over years of drawing, help children develop a sense of their own preferences and style.
This matters more than we might think. Children who have regular opportunities to express themselves creatively tend to have a clearer sense of who they are.
They’re more comfortable with their own ideas and opinions. They’re less likely to simply follow the crowd because they’ve spent years practicing the act of making their own choices.
By the time they’re teenagers, this often shows up as a kind of quiet confidence. They know what they like. They’re not easily swayed by trends or peer pressure. They’ve had years of practice trusting their own creative instincts.
7) They often show more emotional regulation
Drawing can be a powerful way to process emotions. A child who’s angry might scribble furiously with a red crayon. A child who’s sad might draw a picture of what’s bothering them. A child who’s excited might fill page after page with joyful images.
This isn’t just cute. It’s actually a form of emotional processing. When children externalize their feelings through art, they gain a bit of distance from those feelings. They can look at them, think about them, and begin to understand them.
Over time, children who draw regularly often develop better emotional regulation. They have a tool for dealing with big feelings that doesn’t involve screens, snacks, or meltdowns.
As they grow older, this translates into a greater ability to manage stress, handle disappointment, and stay calm under pressure. They’ve been practicing emotional regulation since they first picked up a crayon.
8) They tend to be more comfortable with imperfection
Here’s something I’ve observed over decades of watching children grow up. The ones who spent a lot of time drawing seem more at ease with imperfection. Their own imperfection and the imperfection of the world around them.
Drawing teaches you that mistakes are part of the process. That first attempt rarely looks like what you imagined. That you can try again tomorrow. That sometimes the “mistake” turns into the best part of the picture.
Dr. Carol Dweck’s research on growth mindset has shown how important this attitude is for long-term success. Children who believe they can improve through effort tend to achieve more than those who believe ability is fixed.
Drawing, with its endless opportunities for practice and improvement, naturally cultivates this growth-oriented thinking. These children learn early that they’re not supposed to be perfect. They’re supposed to keep trying.
I think about this every time one of my grandchildren shows me their latest creation. That rainbow horse might not look like much to an outside observer. But I see something else. I see a child building patience, focus, observation, and resilience. I see skills being quietly developed that will serve them for decades to come.
The crayons and paper might seem old-fashioned in a world of glowing screens. But some tools never go out of style. They just keep doing their quiet work, one scribble at a time.
What about your children? Have you noticed any of these qualities developing in the ones who love to draw?
