Worried about development...Need activity ideas

[SundayCrepes]

My daughter will be two in just about a month. She has been in speech therapy for about a year. She knows about 50 signs and responds to verbal instructions.

I did an ages and stages questionnaire on her (again) http://uoregon.edu/~asqstudy/ and the results are that she is at the low cutoff in all areas.

I worry that I spend so much time meeting the needs of my very verbal, very advanced 4.5 year old that I do not give my daughter the stimulating activities she needs. When I do try fine motor stuff with her she just isn't interested and I kind of drop it. Because she is so orally fixated, it's hard to do things like crayons, paint, playdough, etc. because she tries to eat it. I've tried having her paint with applesauce with food coloring added a couple times but she wasn't interested. Maybe I should try more often? My son and I were doing a collage this morning and I tried to help her cut with the safety scissors but she wasn't interested. (He started cutting at 18 months.) He has always been very advanced so I can't tell if she's on target or delayed when I try and compare their milestones.

I wonder if she comes off as sounding overly slow or something. She knows how to push the learning tower over to the freezer to get her own juicicle. She can do simple wooden puzzles. She loves reading and has a phenomenal attention span.

What kinds of activities do your 23 months old (or so) toddlers do?

Thanks

[AislinCarys]

If you do collage with your older child, maybe you can cut out some nice pictures in advance that your 2yo can glue where she wants on her picture?

I've really just started helping DD use scissors (at nearly 2 1/2).

Does she like to draw? With crayons, pens, colouring pencils? DD prefers pens, and next coloring pencils over crayons.

Does she like play dough? DD actually prefers playing with real dough, which is fine, as we bake a lot.

Otherwise building blocks, puzzles (at her level), duplo...

DD has a little wooden doll with lots of clothes, and she likes dressing it.

Throw balls, water play with a bucket of water (we do that outside, with some funnels, measuring cups, a whisk and shells).

Getting dressed, putting on socks and shoes, taking off tights... all of this is developing fine motor skills!

Pretending to pour tea out of the kettle into a tea pot, or stirring in a saucepan with a wooden spoon.

Just a lot of different ideas, some kids like all or most of it, but there should be something your DD likes - and probably is already doing!

[spmamma]

Originally Posted by SundayCrepes

She knows how to push the learning tower over to the freezer to get her own juicicle. She can do simple wooden puzzles. She loves reading and has a phenomenal attention span.

Without more information, she sounds pretty normal to me. Cutting with scissors at 23 months actually sounds pretty advanced to me. DD is 3 and still can't use scissors yet. And, not all kids are interested in crafts. DD didn't like drawing for the longest time, and is just now starting to make circle shapes.

To give you some more perspective, my DD also didn't start putting two words together until she was about 25 months. Six months later, she was starting to form simple sentences. Now at 3 she's a chatterbox!

Is she slow? No, just does things at a different pace. It's hard not to worry when your older child does things early. I bet she'll catch up in no time!

[lmk1]

She sounds pretty normal to me...and like PP said, not all kids like arts & crafts...it's not like it's a necessary milestone. Some ideas of what my ds liked at that age...lots of stickers (I wouldn't do glue if she's going to be eating it) and what about stringing Cheerios and making a necklace out of them? Coloring eggs with food coloring. And also, maybe she's more mechanically inclined, so building with Megabloks (the big ones) or Lego Duplos? Those develop motor skills and spatial thinking. Does she like trains? Maybe the IKEA train tracks...kids can put the tracks together themselves. If she likes puzzles, I would also get more of those, the ones with the knobs etc.
You can also make your own playdough out of all edible ingredients (Mudworks book by Mary Ann Kohl has a ton of recipes). And if you're baking, let her get her hands into the dough and help mix (pre-raw egg if she's going to be putting her hands in her mouth).