Having worked over a decade in creating artistic works with children (and adults) I don't believe that to be true any more than to say "adults like Caravaggio, children like Mondrian".
Children draw basic forms and use basic colours because they don't yet understand how to interpret the world in a complex way. They abstract, and draw their abstraction - tables are square, therefore the image on the page needs to be square to be a table. Untrained adults do the same.
My kids (neurotypical) don't just abstract and don't draw like untrained adults. They raw something completely different then what they like to look at. The brain also develops oddly. I guess this also depends on what age we talk about, but before 6 years old they have those typical mistakes where kids basically can figure out square, but can not figure out rotated square.
But mostly, it is not just about primary colors. It is more of preference for bright (primary does not matter) and simple - single color with no shading is better then realistic shading. Two color shading is acceptable, but does not seem to add to experience.
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It is also what children like to look at. They dont appreciate elaborate realism or shadows. They prefer simple shape, uniform color and no shade.
Having worked over a decade in creating artistic works with children (and adults) I don't believe that to be true any more than to say "adults like Caravaggio, children like Mondrian".
Children draw basic forms and use basic colours because they don't yet understand how to interpret the world in a complex way. They abstract, and draw their abstraction - tables are square, therefore the image on the page needs to be square to be a table. Untrained adults do the same.
My kids (neurotypical) don't just abstract and don't draw like untrained adults. They raw something completely different then what they like to look at. The brain also develops oddly. I guess this also depends on what age we talk about, but before 6 years old they have those typical mistakes where kids basically can figure out square, but can not figure out rotated square.
But mostly, it is not just about primary colors. It is more of preference for bright (primary does not matter) and simple - single color with no shading is better then realistic shading. Two color shading is acceptable, but does not seem to add to experience.