24 answers

Play Behavior

My 3 yr old son loves to play with stuffed animals and crash them. He also makes a noise while doing this. My mother is really concerned about this behavior. If we take the stuffed animals away, he doesn't get upset but when he goes outside, he'll grab leaves and do the same thing. Is this normal or should I be really concerned about his behavior? Please let me know what you think.

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So What Happened?™

Jennifer H, she only had three girls. It seemed weird to me and when she pointed that out to me, I worried even more. She is concerned that it could be some sort of Autism.

Featured Answers

Wooow. This is completely normal! Honestly, I would be more worried if he DIDN'T do that! lol. (I have had 9 brothers, and every one of them did this... so did my sister and I...)

4 moms found this helpful

Sounds a lot like a boy who picks up a stick in the yard, holds it out in front of him, and says "Pow!" (or "Bang!" or "Bam!" or some other gun sound). It is just a boy thing. He could just as easily pick up shoes and "crash" them. Would it concern you if he did it with a couple of matchbox cars? Or toy airplanes? Does he HAVE any? If he doesn't...then I'd get him some. Sounds like he would enjoy them immensely! ;)

1 mom found this helpful

Sounds totally normal to me. My son did the same thing and I would sit and listen to him and he would make little stories with the toys. The "crashing" noise could mean anything from them "falling down" to fighting or crashing a car. I think it's just imagination at work with sound effects. No worries.
:)

1 mom found this helpful

More Answers

Boys communicate by making noise. Men communicate by grunting (LOL!).
This is way so normal!

4 moms found this helpful

Sounds like he is engaged in some imaginary play. Perfectly typical and healthy for a 3-year old. That's what little boys do; they crash things.

ADDED: Just to put your fears to rest, one of the symptoms of autism is lack of imaginary play skills. Most kids with autism have to be taught how to play with their toys -- instead of just spinning them or rolling them back and forth in front of their eyes -- and how to imagine that a teddy bear is a speeding car crashing into a tree for instance. If you are still concerned, you can read up with how autism is diagnosed and all of the symptoms that the child has to have (there are a lot) on the Autism Speaks website.

4 moms found this helpful

The other night my 4 year old would ONLY communicate to me in "meows." Apparently he decided he was a cat at church and did not let the playacting go. He and his brother (2 1/2) wake up in the morning and start singing the 80s Transformers theme song and DO NOT STOP. They are still singing it when they head to bed at night. They sing it when they play with cars, Transformers, dinosaurs, stuffed animals, etc. Other times they only roar at me all day (because they are dinosaurs). Does he ever play any other way with anything? Make any other noises? I wouldn't worry about it. Boys are weird, honestly. I'm one of three girls but just had my third boy and find that they are just...not quite like us. :) Not to mention that individual children are not going to follow the pattern of other children. I would not worry about it, especially since it is quite harmless and there is nothing you can really do to make him change the way he prefers to play.

4 moms found this helpful

Wooow. This is completely normal! Honestly, I would be more worried if he DIDN'T do that! lol. (I have had 9 brothers, and every one of them did this... so did my sister and I...)

4 moms found this helpful

My polite, loving, kind grandson is still doing this at age 5. Normal. He'll gradually grow out of it as more mature inerests take over.

3 moms found this helpful

This is what kid's do. I'm amazed your mother doesn't remember her children doing this. No, don't be concerned. It's fun to kids, for things to crash. So long as he's not crashing valuable things. it really doesn't matter.

3 moms found this helpful

My son not only crashes, but he likes to peel out too!

3 moms found this helpful

Did you mom raise any boys? It sounds like she didn't...

2 moms found this helpful

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