Boys, Are They ALL Hyper??

[My4SunshineGirlsNY]

I have 3 boys in my daycare, ages 3 (almost 4), age 6, and age 8. All of them are super hyper...from making loud noises as they play to being rough with trying to wrestle or get carried away with anything they play with.

I repeat myself over and over, settle down.....when they don't listen they sit for a bit. No matter what I give them to do they are hyper. In your experience, are most boys always hyper? My kids are all girls.

So I need a little help! Sitting is obviously not effective because they are STILL hyper and rough. How would you handle it when the kids get over hyper so things don't get broke or someone gets hurt??

[Scout]

in my experience....not always but, can they be YES!!:: DS is 4 and has been a maniac since he started to walk!! We are constantly yelling at him to not wrestle with his 18 mo brother! But, my little guy also loves it and instigates a lot of it! I also watch 3 boys but, they are a bit calmer until my son gets home from school. Is one of them starting most of it? My house is quiet if ds is not here. Once he's home they start running around!

[Willow]

In my experience most kids that watch too much tv and play too many video games are hyper in the true sense of the word........gender is sort of a moot point.

Boys definitely tend to be more physically driven, but should have no trouble remaining under control.


Your problem unfortunately isn't likely one that can be solved unless the issue is also being addressed at home.

[lolaland]

I find the only thing that works for me on that situation is to keep the hiper ones all separated playing by themselves or with a mellow kid in a different play center. I do this every time their behavior gets out of control and make sure they understand that when they play nicely they can play together but if my rules are not followed, I'll choose what /where/who they play with

[mom2many]

For the longest time I had mainly toddler & preschool age girls. Recently that has changed and since August, I have more boys...and YES they do play quite differently!

The girls like to play house, blocks and colored for the most part very quietly. When the boys play legos or cars, they are constantly making loud noises and truly getting "into" their imaginative play. They also more physical and try to wrestle around at times. They have a ton of energy, so we spend lots of time outside, so they can play ball and run around... rainy days are the worst when we have to stay cooped up inside!

[CrackerJacks]

I also have a couple preschool aged boys, yes they can get a bit hyper. What I try to do when I see that they are really ramped up is either go outside to play a game we made up called "on your mark get set go!" Or if its too cold we clean up and I have a great album that I downloaded from iTunes that has various movement songs that allows them to jump, dance and act like different animals. It's called "It's My Birthday, Party Songs and Games by CRS records" it's our go to album. I tell them that we are going to play the music and when it's over we are going to find a quiet activity to play.

[cheerfuldom]

I agree with Willow, I dont think gender is the deciding factor. The worst behaved kid I have here is my own middle daughter LOL she is the one jumping, biting, fighting, running around. its not exclusive to boys at all.

that said, the wild rowdy behavior is certainly more common in boys, especially school agers. yikes! they are in the phase were they have a lot of bad habits already that are impossible for a part time provider to break and they also get bored very easily if they have lots of TV and video games at home. Outside time will help but I wouldnt expect boys that age, in general, to be very different. i am guessing they are after school only? in which case, I would set up a big kid area where you can get some things going just for their age. Its possible that your current activities are just not age appropriate. you can also use some TV time or non violent games and things they actually like anyway as reward for behaving appropriately.

[daycare]

for the last 5 years my daycare has consisted of all boys and two girls.

I agree with Willow on this, as each boy was very different than the next.

Not to sound mean, but are you giving them things to do to keep them interested? Do you have toys that boys like to play with??

[Blackcat31]

I have 3 boys in my daycare, ages 3 (almost 4), age 6, and age 8. All of them are super hyper...from making loud noises as they play to being rough with trying to wrestle or get carried away with anything they play with.

I repeat myself over and over, settle down.....when they don't listen they sit for a bit. No matter what I give them to do they are hyper. In your experience, are most boys always hyper? My kids are all girls.

So I need a little help! Sitting is obviously not effective because they are STILL hyper and rough. How would you handle it when the kids get over hyper so things don't get broke or someone gets hurt??

NUMBER #1 rule here is NO one touches anyone else. ever.

It eliminates any wrestling and rough play. If necessary, they will be separated and "assigned" to different groups to play. I do NOT allow any rough play or wrestling on my watch.

I also require ALL playing to be done seated or at the very least on their knees. No standing. It decreases the running, hopping, kicking and overall rowdiness.

I agree that rowdiness/hyper behavior is not gender based but it definitely related to the activities they are allowed to do at home.

Excessive movies/tv, video game play or with kids who spend in unbelieveable amount of time in the car/van being carted back and forth to older sibling's sporting and extra curricular activities.

I have a 3 yr old who spends more time in the car for older brother's hockey practices and games than he spends at home....definitely has an impact.

[My4SunshineGirlsNY]

I have the school age boys both before and after school (they come about 5:45 and bus picks up at 8:45 and then after school for a couple of hours. The school days off are the worst!

I do have toys and activities they like to do but I am always looking for new ideas to change things up so if anyone has any suggestions, please help a provider out! :-) . Their big thing they like to do right now is build a fort out of the soft large mats I have (the big ones that connect together). But then I get issues where one child won't let another child in and they start arguing and I have to take care of it all. I do offer suggestions of one group building another fort so they have 2 forts but the arguments just keep going sometimes and it gets exhausting.

I hope I can curve some of this hyper behavior because it raises frustration on the other calmer kids, including my own children.

[daycare]

I bought hot wheel tracks that you build your own tracks with. I let the boys watch a few youtube videos about them to let them get some ideas and then off they go. You would be amazed at how well they can build tracks. I love to watch them bounce ideas off of each other, incorporate things like boxes, chairs, buckets . pieces of wood and etc. They could go at if for hours and hours. what is funny is that they might test out the tracks with the cars once or twice before they are trying to build a higher, bigger, better track.

If I see that one person is not playing well with the others, then I have him build his own stuff in a different area. there are kids that play very well together and then some that dont.

[providerandmomof4]

I have mostly boys right now and they do get rough. Outside time is the key...to burn off energy...a must! When it's too cold or rainy to get my babies out, we sometimes have to stay in and man...I can tell the difference in the boys' behavior. If they have outside time then I rarely have to talk to them about behaviors, if not, it's a battle to let them release their energy. Sometimes I get out the nerf basketball and hoop and they have a blast with that. As long as they're respectful of each other, if not, it goes put up.