First consider the age and development of the child before you begin. Refer to one of the age groups that I list below for how to draw children instructions for different age groups.

1. Infants : notice the proportions of a infant. The majority of the body is the head and the rest of the body is almost the same size. There is little or no difference between boys and girls
Drawing infants or babies is quite simple. You can break it down in a couple of steps.

Head : to create the head just create one circle for the face and then another circle for the head.

Body: should be about equal size with the head, figure out how any heads you need for the body.

Details: draw softly for details like eye brows hair face features, and draw shape for checks eyes and the out line of the head.

<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2526" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/1-2-180x300.jpg" alt="1" width="180" height="300" />          <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2527" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2-1-180x300.jpg" alt="2" width="180" height="300" />

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<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2528" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/3-2-180x300.jpg" alt="3" width="180" height="300" />          <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2529" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/4-2-193x300.jpg" alt="4" width="193" height="300" />

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<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2530" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/5-2-180x300.jpg" alt="5" width="180" height="300" />           <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2531" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/6-2-240x300.jpg" alt="6" width="240" height="300" />

2. Toddlers: Only a slight difference between infants and toddlers, the largest difference is how big the child is. Depending on the age of the toddler they will still have infant proportions. The over all body shape of a boy and a girl is still very similar.

Note that toddlers should have a longer body then a infant. So you add a halve or a full head depending on age.

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3. Early child hood/kindergarteners: There significant changes at this age, approximately one halve the size of an adult The general body shape is still similar to that of a toddler but you will notice large difference

Boys. Same idea like drawing a toddler but taller and older.

Girls. Body shape starts to change, notice difference between girls and boys be sure to draw as close as possible or your child will look older then she is.

4. Elementary school years: Girls partially start developing early, notice also other important change in the body as children get older.

Boys: 3rd grad -5h grade, boys will catch up with girl and start surpassing them in height and also have overall larger bodies.

Girls: Change of body shape again and typically 2 or 3 year before boys, girls go though several body stages growing up, if you want more information on how girls body changes reference “ tanner scale for girls “ for scientific understanding of body changes.

<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2532" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/7-2-180x300.jpg" alt="7" width="180" height="300" />         <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2533" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/8-1-180x300.jpg" alt="8" width="180" height="300" />

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<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2534" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/9-1-180x300.jpg" alt="9" width="180" height="300" />          <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2535" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/10-1-180x300.jpg" alt="10" width="180" height="300" />

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<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2536" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/11-1-180x300.jpg" alt="11" width="180" height="300" />           <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2537" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/12-1-180x300.jpg" alt="12" width="180" height="300" />

5. Middle school/ preteen: Proportions is about the same as elementary school kids but girls are allot more mature and will start looking like a teenagers. There is a wide range so you may need to refer to a different body shape/age group depending on the child.

Boys: at this age boys should be about the same size as girl or bigger, however for the most part the over all body shape is still the same.

Girls : At this age girls will change quite dramatically as they start blossoming in to young ladies.

6. Teenager/ young adult: allot of young girls look like full adults in body but still hold on to a child like face, where boy will change drastically from looking like little kids to looking like a man in body. However ,There are key difference for both boys and girls from looking like a teenager to looking like an adult. Both boys and girl still have a young looking appearance in the face, you can do this buy creating a slight exaggeration of the eyes, drawing a smother face, softer details like neck line. As you get older details like the neck are more defined.

<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2538" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/13-1-300x180.jpg" alt="13" width="300" height="180" />

<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2539" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/14-1-180x300.jpg" alt="14" width="180" height="300" />               <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2540" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/15-1-180x300.jpg" alt="15" width="180" height="300" />

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<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2541" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/16-180x300.jpg" alt="16" width="180" height="300" />                  <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2542" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/17-180x300.jpg" alt="17" width="180" height="300" />

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<img class="alignnone  wp-image-2543" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/18-300x180.jpg" alt="18" width="395" height="237" />

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7. Free style drawing or sketching
When you don’t know how old some one is look at a reference and draw what you see. Don’t get married to proportions because certain thing give people characteristic and drawing a person “ how they are supposed to look “ will give a good sketch of a child but maybe not the person you are drawing.
Understanding each persons physical appearance is different will help you draw some ones “character” or personality instead of just a person. Children tend to have certain mannerisms for example drawing a child pose thing like sitting crisscross, or playing.

8. Cartoon like:
consider drawing personality like being silly, funny, or at play, this will create a more cartoon like or child like image. Create slight exaggerations of the body to transform your child in too a cartoon which will capture a child like image.

Physical features
Head : is largely disproportionate compared to the body for a good amount of your life.
Eyes : a slight exaggeration of how big the eyes are will both give the child a more childish look and also cartoon like appearance.

Body: like an adults body but allot smaller, just think make every thing smaller, also knowing the key difference at certain ages will help capture the correct age group.

9. Children with Family or environment: One of the best ways to draw a child is to draw them next to some one else, keep in mind the smaller the child the younger they will appear.

10. Appearance: Consider clothing, face exprensitions, being uninventive or any child like mannerism you can think of, drawing a character of that person, or capering that person personality will help not only make your drawing like that person but will create a sense of realism.