Can your toddler do these? 10 signs your 2-year-old might be gifted

I’m sure mommies that by now your baby can perform a few things on their own. They have come a long way starting from their birth up until now in their second year where they’ve to undergo a lot of changes, learn new knowledge, and acquire a variety of skills.

What you can read in this aarticle?

• What does your 2 year old should know by now?
• Gifted at 2 year old checklist

As your baby continues to grow and do different activities, you might have seen him exhibit skills that leave you amazed and surprised.

You must have not realized it but you already encountered a situation where your baby displayed qualities of a gifted child. But do not be worried, we made a gifted 2 year old checklist you can go over so you may have something to base on.

This article is made to help you navigate parenthood and tell you what are the tell-tale signs if your 2-year-old is a gifted child. Continue reading so we can provide you insightful information you can use while handling and caring for your babies.

What does your 2 year old should know by now? 

Are you emotional yet? Seeing your baby going around running, crawling, hopping and going on little expeditions, and immersing on an imaginary journey by himself? Isn’t it just like yesterday where they are on your arms being cradled to sleep? They sure do have come a long way in growing up.

As a 2 year old, there is still so much they cannot do by themselves, however, your little one might want to have more independence and throw a fit when denied.

You can give them their freedom to experience new things and to learn from it but make sure you are there to keep them safe in case of any danger.

Here are the things and skills you should look out for in what should a 2 year old know by now.

1. Physical Development

Children at this age love to show off their newly acquired gross motor skills. They are much more balanced and coordinated in their movements and staggering appears a lot less these days. Here you can expect them to have a smoother pace in walking and running just as how adults do.

Walking, climbing, running, and even kicking are noticeably more coordinated as his heel-to-toe movement developed immensely during the past few months.

Meanwhile, the fine motor skills, which are responsible for the movements in a person’s hands and wrist and in your baby have already started functioning.

Which is why you can see them having a grip on objects such as crayon and pencil for drawing and coloring or opening boxes and containers.

Letting your kids play, explore, and experience things on their own at such a young age could help them tremendously in developing these motor skills that are very essential in life. You can let them run around just make sure that the space they are in is a safe place to play on.

The other skills he can physically do now is:

• Build and stack at least four blocks tower or more
• Stand on their tiptoes
• Walk up and down the stairs while holding and leaning on
• Throw a ball (but still without a proper aim)
• Scribble and paint
• Climb up and down to some piece of furniture without any help
•  Turn into corners
• Sliding down slides
• Turn boxes and containers around and pour their contents
• Turn pages of a book
• Put shapes or pegs such as circles or squares into their respective holes

2. Cognitive Development

Your child’s cognitive development is a department in which you can see their development quickly. Every day that passes they learn new vocabulary to add on their own and later use it in their conversations. You would be surprised by the intelligence children nowadays exhibit especially in language, speech, and communication.

Right at this period or a few months before their 2nd birthday, You must have noticed that they can understand the concept of time and numbers. This is why at their age, you can now teach them how to count or understand instructions such as “we’ll play after sleeping”.

To further help develop your child’s cognitive development, continue talking to them and answering their questions. In times where they explore things and play, you can ask them to do things such as naming an object to sharpen their minds.

The other skills your baby can do now:

• Can form at least two to three-word sentences
• Begin singing songs such as the ABC Song
• Learn to sort colors and shapes
• Find things you’ve hidden under two or three layers
• Know different names of people such as parents and family members as well as objects and body parts
• Follow simple instructions such as “get your shoes then give it to me”
• Point pictures or things when instructed
• Repeat words they heard in conversations
• Start to play make-believe games

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3. Social Development

All kids at this age still do not know the concept of other people, they all think that the world revolves around them. Sharing is still out of the equation when it comes to them or else a tantrum is what they will give you.

You must also take notice of how your baby does not like playing with other kids, this is only normal for their age but don’t be surprised, they still do love getting attention! You can use this time as an opportunity for your kid to develop their social skills by interacting with other people.

The other social skills he can do now:

• Have and want more independence
• Gets excited all the time especially around other children
• Copy and imitate others especially adults and other children
• Showing resistance and disobedience when told off not to do something
• More aware of themselves than other people
• Play beside other children instead of playing with them
• Starts to engage in the play pretend with other people
• Shows episodes of separation anxiety when separated from parents

4. Emotional Development

As your kid still cannot express what they felt in words, they express it a lot in the form of tantrums. Tired? Sad? Angry? Frustrated?

All those emotions your child goes through every day and their only way to blow off steam is by throwing a tantrum. Be patient when you care and handle your child as they cannot handle their feelings well at this point.

The other emotional skills your baby can do now:

• Frequently shows a variety of emotions such as happiness, sadness, or anger
• Shows episodes of separation anxiety when separated from parents
• They get happy when getting things done on their own such as dressing up or combing their own hair
• Develop their own sense of humor
• They experience mood changes at this age and you can see them controlling their emotions

Gifted at 2 year old checklist

Do you think your child is bright and advanced in terms of development? Maybe you have speculations sometimes that your child might be gifted as they exhibit phenomenal advancement. However, you might also not be sure of this why is why we listed the skills and development you can check out.

Here’s a gifted 2 year old checklist. The development and skills  you can notice are:

1.       Understanding and using complex language. Their vocabulary is highly developed and they can take new words and its meaning easily. This also includes the ability to follow multi-step instructions as they are quick to learn new things
2.       Early reading at this age is one of the most tell-tale sign that your kid must be gifted
3.       Continuously curious about everything and asks questions about a topic and wanting a thorough answer for it
4.       Has an excellent memory of recalling what has been saw, heard or learned.
5.       Have a tendency to be very focused on certain areas or topic of interest for a long time such as animals, space, plants and having desire in learning those things independently
6.       Early in developing motor skills and is advanced in doing tasks such as solving puzzles, building legos, or assembling blocks
7.       Have a tendency to talk and think fast. Gifted children have an advanced reasoning skills
8.       A gifted child tend to have humor and understanding of what is funny even at a young age
9.       Exhibited extreme creativity and artistic talents
10.   They like being in the company of adults where they can talk and asks questions

When to be concerned in signs of delay

Our lovely parents! You had just learned all the skills and characteristics your 2 year old baby should know. But remember, just as every person is unique, every child is also different. You may or you may-not see your child develop this skills earlier or right away but don’t be upset and just remember that every child develops at their own pace.

However, if you think that there is a delay in your baby then do not hesitate to check on their doctor. There is a list of things that you should look for in case your children experience them. These are:

• Your baby can not walk properly. In this age, your baby should be able to walk steadily
• Say any word or at least a two-word sentence such as “more milk”
• Can’t follow simple instructions
• Remember any skills and development they have before
• Imitate your actions or words
• Doesn’t know the use of common things such as spoon, cup, or toothbrush

Early signs of autism

You should also remember to make sure your child will be tested for autism within his 18th or 24th month. The common signs of autism in a 2 or 3 year-old child are:

• Unable to speak or have limited speech
• Have a hard time following simple instructions
• Have limited sounds and gestures
• Totally not interested in playing with others
• Do not use their things or toys properly, instead organizes it like lining them up

 Source: 

WebMD, Verywellfamily, PschologyToday