I know that she could have done better with the spatial tasks, because she has been amazing with puzzles understanding shapes and patterns etc. but she shows no interest in legos, puzzles, or anything related to building
I think that if you are having the thought, that it's worth a bit of an effort. Sometimes you doing the activity yourself is all it takes. 'Building' is something that many gifted little girls have already figured out 'isn't for girls' even at this young age.
Actually - I saw a TV show where Penelope Leach had a bunch of wrapped gifts for a roomful of preschoolers. I watched as the tiny boys grabbed for the blue wrappings and the tiny girls grabbed for the pink wrappings. I wish I remembered how old the children were, but it blew my mind!
So if DD sees you play with relish, or an Auntie, or Grandma, that might make a difference.
It's also possible that girls 'inately' are less interested in building tall structures than boys. If you show her how Legos can be used to make outlines of houses, or blocks can be used to make roads and a whole town, that style of play may be more interesting to her. Or try to faces to the legos. I wonder if sharpies would work? Or maybe her favorite toy needs something that she could build out of legos?
Since you are using the Nurtured Heart Approach, this will open up a whole avenue of ways to recognize her greatness: Such skill at balancing! Such interesting patterns! Such strong hands to squeeze the blocks!
When I teach girls to play chess, I use metaphores that girls might be more interested in: I say that we are doing a dance together. That one of our goals is to 'organize' the pieces by taking them off the board according to the rules.
I don't want to get into a nature/nurtue argument, because I believe that by re-inventing 'boy's toys' for conventional girls, we are meeting the needs of unconventional boys too. It's all about having an awareness of the range of possibilities and sharing that with each child.
But yes, I do try and give an 'extra' push when exposing children to activities and toys that society tends to expect one gender or the other enjoy.
Smiles,
Grinity
