ABSTRACT
Drawing and writing are complex motor skills that emerge in the second year of life and exhibit significant changes over the next decade. In this chapter we examine drawing and writing skills together because these skills are constrained by similar influences, involve relatively sophisticated use of some sort of implement for leaving marks on a surface, and involve (at least in later periods of development) attempts to communicate information to other individuals. Additionally, writing typically emerges after drawing skills have become somewhat advanced. In this regard, early drawing skills can be viewed as precursors to later writing skills, and writing can be viewed as emerging out of these earlier drawing behaviours.
