Another Hoarding Question

[jenboo]

So I have previously posted for advice about my DCKs hoarding toys and yelling mine!! All day long.
Now I have another question. A couple of the kids will just hold an armful of toys and run from everyone in the room. Ex: DCB1 has a wooden train. DCB2 walks over to him. DCB1 scoops the toys up in his arms and starts running around the room trying to get away from the others. This happens every few min. I keep telling DCB1 that we play with trains on the floor. He will then start playing on the floor until someone comes near him again.

Is this all I should be doing or do I need to do more? All 4 boys are between 2 and 2.5

[hope]

I have a few hour glass timers. They are between 2 to 3 minutes. The kids love to stare at the sand as it falls so when one child starts to hoard a toy the timer comes out and one watches the sand while one plays with the toy and then they switch when all the sand is on the bottom.

[Josiegirl]

I love the timer idea. I use a regular ole kitchen ding timer for problem issues, a lot, such as sharing. Also when nobody wants to pick up, I'll set it for 5 minutes and tell them when it dings, we all pick up.
Just wait till those 2 yos get a bit older and figure out they can hide those toys from the others too, not just hoard them.

[midaycare]

When my 2's don't share (I have 3), I warn them "Share please." If they continue to not share, I take the toy away. So by now they know by the time I say "Share please," they had better share.

[coolconfidentme]

Nannyde had a great technique that I use.

Whenever she gets her "collection" completely together have her get up... go to the opposite side of the room... sit down.. and then call over the other kids to come and have at what she's put together.

EVERY time she does it say "oh sally... you are so sweet to get those toys for the other kids... come here other kids and see what sally did for you".

Then... when she's in the process of building the hoard you say "Sally you are doing great getting toys FOR your friends. You are a great friend".

The only way the hoard works if she has proximity control over it and the others can't get to it... so move her WAY away to where she can SEE it and then invite her guests to come see what she made/has for them.

Rinse and repeat.

Toy hoarding is really a way to not play toys. She's using them as a place marker to make it look like she's actually doing something when really her only activity is guarding. So in order for her to actively play the only useful part of her behavior is gathering the hoard. So she can play toys by gathering a hoard for her friends consumption... all day every day. That's good enough playing toys for me. It will keep her up and moving and touching toys. The key is to get to the hoard right when she gets to the guarding part of the process and move her AWAY. The kids then dismantle her hoard... and disperse it.. Then she can start rebuilding.

And so it goes....

She'll get bored with the hoard soon enough. NEVER discuss sharing. Don't say SHARING. Always asume she's GIVING the kids her collection. They don't have to share with her and you don't expect her to share with them. It's collect... then give... collect... then give. No sharing... just completely surrendering it to her mates.

[jenboo]

Nannyde had a great technique that I use.

So if he just had a specific type of toy in his hand that he is carrying around the room so others can't take it (ex. A 3 piece train) what exactly would I say/do? Its a little different than a pile in the room.

[Second Home]

I have some that like to take all the princess characters . I tell them they only need 2 , one for each hand . It works for me .

[jenboo]

I have some that like to take all the princess characters . I tell them they only need 2 , one for each hand . It works for me .

This little boy is just so paranoid that someone is going to take the toys from him that he ends up holding them running from everyone vs sitting down and playing. I have been telling him "trains go on the floor" and he will sit down and play with it but as soon as someone comes near him he scoops it up and runs away.

Ill keep doing this, not sure if anyone else has ideas.

Ill definitely try the "one for each hand" thing they he tries to hoard all the cars.

[Chellieleanne]

I do "take turns". I only have. 3yo DCB then my own 2 and 3yo. However it works pretty well 90% of the time. My own 3yo for example does like to take all the train cars and if the others try to take cars or tracks, I say we need to take turns and they need to find something else to play with until he is done. I tried timers but that just resulted in more screaming fits and madness I did not want to put up with. I go by first come first served. So if kid1 gets a toy then kid2 throws a fit, kid2 has to use words to ask if he can play with the toy or find something else until kid1 is done. If they start fighting over any toy, they lose it and won't get it back for a while. It goes pretty well and there are times where they will sit and trade toys back and forth saying "your turn" and I love those moments the only time I do a timer is outside toys. They like to fight over the same bike so if they don't want to take turns at all I will time a few minutes then they have to switch. If they throw a fit then they lose the bike privilege. Mind you I have tons of ride on toys but this bike is a favorite. Very rarely I have to time it though and let them work it out on their own.