UPDATE: developmental activities 21 months

I'm reviewing the developmental activities I last assessed 2 months ago and will add some new ones to that.

I definitely feel that adding art and crafts into her rotation of activities has broaden my view on parenthood.

Art

- Drawing with crayons on blank paper

19 mo: At first, she was more interested in putting the crayons in and out of the box, but she now really likes to draw. She can't draw a circle yet, but she shows interest in using different colors.

21 mo: more and more interested in drawing. She gets better at srawing ovals and coloring. Still no complete overview of the paper, she colors the place that is closest to her. Shows interest in picking different colors. Still likes sorting as well :)

- Drawing with pencils on white paper

19 mo: I bought her pencils that make a good line when a little one uses them and asked the lady at the shop if there is a point introducing both pencils and crayons and she thought that there is. Now M draws with both of them. Pencils have the disadvantage of breaking when they fall though.

21 mo: prefers soft crayons over pencils, but will draw with these too. Still goes into throwing them, so sadly several have broken.

Dot markers

21 mo: Uses them a lot, but with a lot of force. Would like her to be more gentle, so we are practicing that.

- Drawing on a paper with a black-white image

16 and 19 mo: We haven't done it yet.

21 mo: We have done it several times now. We made Christmas cards for her grandparents where I drew a Christmas tree and she decorated it. We also drew a birthday card to one of her daycare teachers like that with a flower and her coloring it. She likes it very much.

- Painting with a brush with water on colored paper

16 mo: We tried this a couple of days ago, but she started to put the brush in her mouth and suck water from it. She still continues doing that.

19 mo: We bought her some special pictures that color when you paint them with water and she can do that for a while until she starts sucking the brush again.

21 mo: We have used the special pictures for coloring since. She doesn't lick/suck the brush so much any more.

- Painting with a brush & paint

19 mo: We tried it, but she started eating the paint.

21 mo: We haven't done it again since, but are planning to. I can't quite think of the cleanup work that needs to be done...

- Painting with finger paints

19 mo: Idem...

21 mo: Idem yet...

- Painting with finger colors through a layer of plastic wrap

19 mo: We haven't done it yet.

21 mo: idem

- Playdoh: smoothing a layer on the surface, using forms on it, making animal pawprints (with Schleich animals), driving with a car on it.

16 mo: Playdoh has become a regular activity here, we use the "real" Playdoh instead the other brands... She likes putting it in a jar and taking it out, walking with animals on it.

19 mo: She doesn't use the shapes yet. We still struggle with her putting the Playdoh in her mouth.

21 mo: Has started taking more interest in Playdoh. She tries using the dough roller, using the shapes but still most of all likes to put it in and out of the jar (sorter!). During the holiday, she started rolling balls out of Playdoh as my Mom taught her that.

- Folding colored paper

16/19/21 mo: We haven't done it yet.

- Visit an art museum

19 mo: Yes! We did it! We visited the childrens' biennale exposition at the local museum with our friends and their child and little M enjoyed this interactive display a lot. We want to visit the international press photo exhibition next.

21 mo: Haven't been since sadly. Also didn't make it to the last international press photo exhibition. I would have loved visiting the exhibition of animals in art in Tallinn, but it was all a bit too much for that day. When the museums open up again in the NL, we would love to visit the Frida Kahlo exhibition in Assen.

Life skills

- Putting on her jacket

19 mo: We have seen a couple of kids putting their jackets on themselves in a very cool way. She can't do it yet.

21 mo: Haven't been practicing it.

- Putting her shoes on and putting them away

19 mo: We wanted to make her a little coathanger and a place for her shoes, but we haven't gotten there yet.

21 mo: no little storage yet in the hallway (still planning for it!), but she is trying to put them on!

- Putting the jacket away

19 mo: See above.

21 mo: Haven't got around it.

- Continuing potty training

16 months: She will sit on the potty when well entertained, but one needs to have perfect timing for some success. She likes to sit on the potty when she plays with her Duplo or with a playsilk in a tissue box.

19 months: Sadly, she is refusing to sit on the potty 95% of the time without an apparent reason. I am planning to introduce her books about toddlers and potty and try to approach this issue like that.

21 mo: Since a couple of days, she agress to sit on the potty again and read her potty books! Hoping for some succes now!

Fine motor skills

- Pompom activities: sorting them, lifting from one place to another,

16 mo: One of the favorite activities! She likes sorting them, putting them from one place to another.

19 mo: Still a great succes.

21 mo: She absolutely loves this activity still. I have introduced a spoon for lifting them and a muffin tray to put them in. She can be busy for 20 minutes doing this!

- Taking pompoms stuffed inside a whisk

19 months: Too difficult

21 mo: Can do it, but it is not interesting for her.

- Taking masking tape off and stickering it

16 mo: M likes to peel the masking tape off surfaces. Stickering it back is fun too.

21 mo: Really likes to tear masking tape from the roll, she tries to tape things with it too.

- "Saving" toys from under a layer of masking tape

19 months: No interest yet.

21 mo: Haven't tried it since.

- Stickering with realistic stickers

16 mo: I saw this activity in my mommy group Whatsapp thread, it was recommended to use them on car windows or inside. The stickers will arrive in a week.

19 mo: M likes this a lot. One set of the stickers is in the car and another set is inside.

21 mo: Stickers are still big! One of the ways we survived taking her on the plane. She does better with "real" stickers than reusable ones. I take off the borders so she can get them off the sheet better.

- Puzzles

16 months: She has grown out of the single shape puzzles and the puzzles with 3 different shapes. Putting the "regular" puzzle with farm animals is too difficult yet. I will try to introduce puzzles with 3 pieces now (we don't have any with 2 pieces, otherwise I would start from there.

19 months: I ended up buying a set of 2-piece-puzzles where one needs to connect the edges but she can't quite get it yet. She has some regular puzzles with bigger pieces and she can do them. Nevertheless, she likes stacking toys and a toy with coins that slip inside the surface better.

21 mo: She is not really into the peg puzzles (can do them though) or 2-piece puzzles (can't do them) now, they are also not in rotation. I bought an animal puzzle with 4 pieces and she can't do it yet, but will ask me to.

- Fishing game

16 months: We don't yet have one, I have put it on her Christmas list.

19 months: I ended up finding a fishing game at a second hand store. It is too difficult for her now. On the other hand, a child of our friends has a set which is a hybrid between a puzzle and a fishing game and this was a big success.

21 mo: The fishing game is not in rotation now.

- Putting items through holes in a box (later per color)

19 mo: I made her a toy like that and she was interested for a bit but went off to another activity very soon. I haven't made it color-based yet.

21 mo: Haven't used this toy since, but will start doing it because... We are going to learn colors!

Gross motor skills

- Running

She learned to run at 17,5 months and she loves it!

- Climbing the stairs with the use of the low railing

16 mo: We don't have a low railing at home, but I've seen them at some playgrounds.

19 mo: We haven't gotten around that much.

21 mo: She is more and more interested in climbing the stairs and will try to use our high railing with some succes.

- Throwing a ball

19 months: She likes to throw a ball, but she can't understand rolling it yet.

21 mo: Can throw the ball, but not roll still.

- Passing the ball (you hold 1 ball, she holds 1, she needs to throw you her ball to get the other one)

19 months: We haven't done this yet.

21 mo: Idem.

- Walk the line - you'll put a line of masking tape on the ground and motivate her to walk on it. Preparation for a neurological exam in the future :-)

19 months: We tried it and she liked practicing it for a little bit. Not succeding yet :-)

21 mo: Haven't tried it since.

- Pikler triangle

21 mo: Got it in the first week of January. Can climb up 1-2 steps forward facing and 2 steps backward facing (standing on it). Can sort of climb up the slide and slide down on the belly. Mainly asks to be lifted on it or climb on it when you hold her hands. Can't climb over it at all. Slides cars and other things down the slide. Doesn't know how to use it as a hut.

Music

- We attend a weekly little toddler dance class, not as much dancing but more playtime and getting used to music.

- We play Estonian and English children's songs every couple of days.

19 mo: We do it on the weekends.

- Singing (with movements)

21 mo: She can sing with a couple of words: Momm-momm song, Old Macdonald, Visje in het water. Does the movements for the Skidamarink song.

Language

- Matching animal figures to pictures

16 months: I made her a set of 4 cards with matching animal figures we already had (dog, cat, sheep, rooster). She showed interest, but can't match them yet. She certainly recognizes the cat and the dog (but she already knew them before).

19 months: She can match the animals when there are a few options (not all of them yet). She still names them all "aua" (dog).

21 mo: Can match the animal figures! I will make a set with forest animals now.

- Matching items to pictures

16/19/21 mo: Haven't done it yet.

- Recognizing family members with the help of her own family album

16 months: I made her some laminated cards with pictures of her closest family members. Haven't gotten around using it yet.

19 months: She is more interested in putting the cards into the basket than working on them targeted, sadly.

21 mo: Haven't worked on it.

- Matching the same items (e.g. pairing baby socks)

19 months: We haven't done it yet.

21 mo: Idem

- Understanding the concepts "similar" and "different"

19 months: We haven't done it yet.

21 mo: Idem.

- Animal action cards - I saw this set and I thought it would be fun to do.

19 months: We haven't gotten it yet.

21 mo: Bought it and laminated it, haven't used it yet.

- Looking at books together in a more systematic way - I need to read more about it how to read and how to display books better. Our current way with many shelves and 2 little Ikea shelves for display isn't working well.

19 months: I just got us a new bookshelf upstairs and will get one for downstairs as well.

21 mo: We now have 2 open bookshelves, one in the living room and one downstairs (see the latest book rotation here: https://babystepsandfinance.wixsite.com/website/post/book-rotation-of-january). The living room one is a bit hidden behind the dinner table so it gets less use than I would like. The bedroom one is a big favourite for bedtime stories. She likes to pick the books herself.

Mathematics

- Counting fingers - understanding the concept of amounts (1 and 2)

19 months: We haven't done it yet.

21 mo: Idem.

Other

- Enjoying time together with a hike to appreciate nature

19 months: We haven't done it yet. 21 mo: Idem.

- Cleanup - I saw that she has a hard time putting items back during the cleanup song at her dance class. We need to practice that and maybe it will make our life easier too.

19 months: Partially because of the dance class, she is really good at cleanup! She throws the trash in a trash bin, bants to wipe up dust etc. 21 mo: Likes cleanup a lot. She will clean the surfaces with a wet cloth, will take things in the trash bin.

NEW

Learning the body parts

19 months: We are working on it.

21 mo: Can point to her eyes and say the word in English. Not much more yet, sadly.

Learning colors

21 mo: I want to start teaching her to distinguish colors. Will prepare some activities for the weekend (different boxes of items with primary colors, sorting pompoms by colors in trays of the same color), putting colorful balls in colorful boxes/bowls).

Helping with cooking

21 mo: I ordered her a Kiddicutter and she can sort of slice a banana (struggles with holding the knife well). I also have her mix things at times, but I struggle with the fact that it makes a huge mess. Will want to involve her in cooking more upcoming months. She recieved a cute apron as a gift from a friend of mine, so that would be a great indication for the beginning and the end of the activity.

Boardgames

21 mo: She got her first boardgames as a gift and she shows a lot of interest in them. We will try to have her just get aquinted with them and then try to introduce the rules at the age of 2.

Stacking and building with blocks

19 mo: Could build a tower with 6 blocks. Will build with wooden blocks and soft blocks.

21 mo: Lost interest in meantime, but can still do it.

Duplo

19 mo: Not a lot of interest, but will play with the cars from it. Mainly likes if you build something for her.

21 mo: More and more interest. Will engage herself in that type of play, drive the cars, put things in and out of items. Can now put two Duplo pieces together herself (sometimes still not with enough force). Will hold the Duplo men and sing a lullaby for them. Understands that Duplo belongs by the Duplo table and doesn't agree if I suggest driving the Duplo cars up and down the Pikler triangle.