Craft with a Developmentally delayed toddler

[Aliama]

Hi everyone. I have a 2yr9mth daughter, with a significant speech delay, socially delayed as well. She has no expressive speech at all, but does seem to understand quite a lot of what i say. I want to start doing craft with her as a regular thing, but am a bit stuck as to where to start and how to keep it going.

With drawing for example, she makes marks on the paper at first but then gets distracted and starts fiddling with the pens,pencils whatever instead of trying to draw. I want to try other things like making collages, etc, (as well as drawing and painting of course),but I don't know how involved she'll get.

Basically I would like to hear from everyone else. Has anyone with a delayed toddler found arts and crafts helpful, even if their toddler doesn't show much interest? What sort of crafts have you found especially useful? If they don't show interest, do you keep doing it anyway, and how do you keep your motivation up? Any other tips or resources you can offer? I'm trying out a subscription box service to see what it's like - will hopefully give me monthly ideas for themes.

(Sorry if this post is a little rambley and vague. Really just looking for general advice and tips)

No experience of development delay so maybe completely misdirected, but how about more hands on stuff that give more instant results
eg finger/hand painting printing
rubbings
sponge printing
play doh/plasticine
stickers
cutting out pictures from old magazines birthday cards etc and sticking them down
My DCs are alot older now, but from memory neither of them were actually drawing much at that age, although both really enjoy it now.

Dd is 2.3 and currently loves sticking anything and everything!!!!

Either I put glue on a peg and she sprinkles or she glues and puts one item on at a time or she glues the item directly.

In the past few weeks we have stuck the following:

£1 shop confetti
£1 sequins (mixed bag of awful colours)
Leaves
Acorns
Sand
£1 shop glitter glue
Cut up tinsel

I found that teaching dd to sprinkle was made much easier after she had spent time playing with rice and lentils in the kitchen

We also try to do baking/cooking together - she loves stirring a pot with Water in or mixing the cold parts of dinner together which I count as craft

Play dough is massively big here too - I like it as it's small quantities and easily controlled and she loves it for squishing and cutting

Dd seems to find it easier to concentrate if she is copying me or a playmate as she mimicks the behaviours and she seems to enjoy it more - drawing is short lived here as is painting but the majority of drawing is done on one of those magnetic drawing boards

I'm rambling!!!! Sorry!!!!

I think that a developmentally delayed toddler is better building up their gross motor skills than sitting down and doing craft. Lots of children enjoy playing with playdough or simple jigsaws.

"
With drawing for example, she makes marks on the paper at first but then gets distracted and starts fiddling with the pens,pencils whatever instead of trying to draw. I want to try other things like making collages, etc, (as well as drawing and painting of course),but I don't know how involved she'll get."

Let her fiddle and scribble. You can't expect her to be able to draw overnight. Its important to remain positive and upbeat about her mark making. If she sees any negativity in your body language then she will be turned off any craft or drawing.

I feel you need to relax and not worry about what the end product looks like. With children its the process rather than the end product that is important.

Concentration will build with time. It is not realistic to expect a young child to concentrate for more than a minute for each year of life. (Ie. a two year old can manage two minutes)

Thanks for the input, everyone.

Interesting to read that other children at that age aren't necessarily interested in drawing (and by drawing I really mean making marks on paper, nothing more elaborate).

I picked up a few bits and bobs today, and hope to collect some autumn leaves tomorrow for a collage (or even just sensory exploration). Must also check out my local pound shop too.

ReallyTired, I think you may have the wrong end of the stick. It seems like you think im expecting a gorgeous detailed family picture from her and that's not the case at all. I'm not the slightest bit concerned about the end product - it's all about the process. I also try very hard to remain positive and upbeat.

Fair point about her concentration span though. I will certainly bear it in mind and not force the issue if she doesnt want to join in. Mainly this is about providing her with the opportunity to try out lots of new things, and play dough, baking, making musical instruments out of lentils, etc are all going to be on my list of things to try.

My Ds has gdd . He is 2.8 but functioning at about 18 months. No speech but brilliant understanding . He goes to a ss nursery and will attend mainstream in January too... He plays with everything but loves sensory things like playdoh / sand etc.. At playgroup they play with shaving foam which he loves . Also he loves water so will play with little pots pouring it from one to another for ages .. Also they make this cornflour mix thing that he loves ..

Did OP actually say she has global delay? Speech & social delay wouldn't be enough to delay ability at crafts.

Oh yeah , I read it as delayed .. Oh well , my ds is speech delayed too and still loves all the thins I said .

Depends what is causing the speech and social delay. Conditions like dyspraxia could definately affect the ablity to do crafts. Prehaps the OP doesn't know yet. Delayed speech makes life substantially harder as the child does not understand instructions. Even a non neurological condition like glue ear can affect concentration.

However many two years without special needs have no interest in crafts.

My NT child is still not that into drawing!! All of these sound like good ideas.

My ds3 is 3 and didn't talk at all until just before his 3rd birthday. Also he doesn't have great fine motor skills. things that have helped : 'drawing' (making marks with jumbo pencils and pencil grips), play dough, 'cooking' (getting hands dirty with flour, butter etc), junk modelling. He doesn't concentrate for too long, but I try to keep it fun and not pressurised.

Drawing is definitely short- lived here too. My dd is 2.5 and not developmentally delayed but cannot focus on scribbling/drawing for more than a couple of minutes. When we do do it I use felt tips as they give instant colour even if lightly drawing whereas a light touch with a crayons or pencil doesn't give great results.

Play-doh is definitely a winner. Another thing we've enjoyed is painting big things - so we had a huge cardboard box which I cut windows into and we had fun painting it using sponges.

Oh aqua draw is brilliant for my ds too.

Again thanks everyone. Some great ideas - LadyMetroland,I love the idea about painting the cardboard box. We currently have a box in the living room which she has been playing in so I can use that.

We don't have a dx for her yet -- autism is a possibility although instinct tells me it's not that. if it is, it is. Her dad was late to talk, 3 and a half to 4. She has limited imaginative play, but that could be linked to the speech delay. She loves physical play, and will automatically head for the hardest thing in the park. In some ways, she is way ahead, like she figured out how to do the monkey bars at the park this summer, unaided despite me hovering.

I would just add, that with young children, you need to focus on the process not the end result.

The point of art and craft for children is not about what the end product will be. Don't set out thinking "let's make an Autumnal collage!", just set out thinking "let's provide DD with the opportunity to explore leaves and conkers and sticks". By all means have some paper and glue to hand as well, and invite her to stick the leaves on the paper, but the aim of the session is not the end product.

Playdough is good. As is goop and other malleable materials. Sensory play is very important at this stage, as well as providing opportunities for the DD to strengthen her fine and gross motor control and hand eye co-ordination.

Making sounds is also important. Your DD might want to just bang things, so give her a selection of things to bang, to see what the different noises are that she can produce.

Follow your DD's lead. If something has caught her attention and she is focussing on that, think how you could extend and enhance that, this is crucial. Don't just plan your own craft activities and then try to get her to do them with you, let her lead and plan from her.

And have fun!