throwing blocks

Ollie (14 months) got a great set of wooden blocks for Christmas from
his Mormor. We both like playing with them, but after a few minutes he
starts throwing them. He doesn't throw them at me; he throws them at
the floor, but it's still annoying. Any suggestions on how to get him
to stop? I've tried saying "no throwing," "gentle," and showing how to
put them down quietly. No luck.

--
Sara, accompanied by the baby barnacle

In article , Sara says...

Ollie (14 months) got a great set of wooden blocks for Christmas from
his Mormor. We both like playing with them, but after a few minutes he
starts throwing them. He doesn't throw them at me; he throws them at
the floor, but it's still annoying. Any suggestions on how to get him
to stop? I've tried saying "no throwing," "gentle," and showing how to
put them down quietly. No luck.

A baby boy throwing blocks?? What's the world coming to?!???

What - are they Lenox china blocks? Wood, I'd bet. If so, take him and the
blocks outside or in a room without breakables, and let him play with his
blocks.

Cheers,
Banty

"Sara" wrote in message
...
Ollie (14 months) got a great set of wooden blocks for Christmas from
his Mormor. We both like playing with them, but after a few minutes he
starts throwing them. He doesn't throw them at me; he throws them at
the floor, but it's still annoying. Any suggestions on how to get him
to stop? I've tried saying "no throwing," "gentle," and showing how to
put them down quietly. No luck.

It's just a fun stage for him and right now the blocks serve no other
purpose than to be thrown and get a reaction. I would either keep doing what
you are doing, or put them away for a few weeks and try again later.
--
JennP.

mom to Matthew 10/11/00
remove "no........spam" to reply

x-no-archive:yes



"JennP" wrote:


"Sara" wrote in message
...
Ollie (14 months) got a great set of wooden blocks for Christmas from
his Mormor. We both like playing with them, but after a few minutes he
starts throwing them. He doesn't throw them at me; he throws them at
the floor, but it's still annoying. Any suggestions on how to get him
to stop? I've tried saying "no throwing," "gentle," and showing how to
put them down quietly. No luck.

It's just a fun stage for him and right now the blocks serve no other
purpose than to be thrown and get a reaction. I would either keep doing what
you are doing, or put them away for a few weeks and try again later.

Actually, I'd advise something else entirely. Give him something he
CAN throw. Throwing is a new skill and he wants to practice.
Actually as long as he wasn't throwing them at a person and it wasn't
hurting anything, I'd let him play with the blocks in his own fashion
without trying to push him into playing with them 'properly'. Just
the idea that a kid would have to put the blocks down quietly annoys
me.

grandma Rosalie

Sara wrote:

Ollie (14 months) got a great set of wooden blocks for Christmas from
his Mormor. We both like playing with them, but after a few minutes he
starts throwing them. He doesn't throw them at me; he throws them at
the floor, but it's still annoying. Any suggestions on how to get him
to stop? I've tried saying "no throwing," "gentle," and showing how to
put them down quietly. No luck.


Give one warning ("We build with blocks--no
throwing"), and then put them away until next time.
If you don't see progress after a while, put them
away for a month or two.

Best wishes,
Ericka

In article ,
Banty wrote:

In article , Sara
says...

Ollie (14 months) got a great set of wooden blocks for Christmas from
his Mormor. We both like playing with them, but after a few minutes he
starts throwing them. He doesn't throw them at me; he throws them at
the floor, but it's still annoying. Any suggestions on how to get him
to stop? I've tried saying "no throwing," "gentle," and showing how to
put them down quietly. No luck.

A baby boy throwing blocks?? What's the world coming to?!???

What - are they Lenox china blocks?

Heh. Good point. Yeah, they're wood blocks, so they're not going to
break, and there's nothing he's likely to damage with them. It's just
really, really, really loud.

--
Sara, accompanied by the baby barnacle

Rosalie B. wrote:

Actually, I'd advise something else entirely. Give him something he
CAN throw. Throwing is a new skill and he wants to practice.

I've been trying that, giving him toys to throw that are
throw-appropriate.

Actually as long as he wasn't throwing them at a person and it wasn't
hurting anything, I'd let him play with the blocks in his own fashion
without trying to push him into playing with them 'properly'. Just
the idea that a kid would have to put the blocks down quietly annoys
me.

Yeah, good point. I'm not one of _those_ moms, I swear. I'm normally
tolerant of all kinds of noise and chaos -- Ollie's full of beans 24/7
-- but these blocks! So loud! So painful on the ears!

--
Sara, accompanied by the baby barnacle

"Sara" wrote in message
...
Rosalie B. wrote:

Actually, I'd advise something else entirely. Give him something he
CAN throw. Throwing is a new skill and he wants to practice.

I've been trying that, giving him toys to throw that are
throw-appropriate.

Actually as long as he wasn't throwing them at a person and it wasn't
hurting anything, I'd let him play with the blocks in his own fashion
without trying to push him into playing with them 'properly'. Just
the idea that a kid would have to put the blocks down quietly annoys
me.

Yeah, good point. I'm not one of _those_ moms, I swear. I'm normally
tolerant of all kinds of noise and chaos -- Ollie's full of beans 24/7
-- but these blocks! So loud! So painful on the ears!

I guess you have wood floors, like I do. Do you have any
rooms with carpet that you can move them to?


P. Tierney

"Sara" wrote in message
...
Ollie (14 months) got a great set of wooden blocks
for Christmas from his Mormor. We both like playing
with them, but after a few minutes he starts throwing
them. He doesn't throw them at me; he throws them
at the floor, but it's still annoying. Any suggestions on
how to get him to stop? I've tried saying "no throwing,"
"gentle," and showing how to put them down quietly.
No luck.

First, decide if this is *really* worth your while to enforce. You
really have to pick your battles very judiciously with toddlers. If you
decide you really want to stop him, then each time you start playing
with the blocks, show him how you want him to use them. Remind him that
if he doesn't use them the right way, you'll take them away. Give him
positive feedback while he is playing with them the way you want him to.
The instant he throws the first block, pack them all up and put them
away for the rest of the day. Be 100% consistent, and prepare yourself
ahead of time that it is going to take a *lot* of repetition so you
don't get worn down and stop enforcing it consistently. This is where
picking your battles comes in, because if you have too many battles
going at the same time, your endurance is going to give out long before
the child's will. I'd say teaching three rules at one time is an
absolute maximum for his age, so I always went with safety issues as a
top priority. I don't agree with warnings systems, unless one counts
the reminder at the beginning of play as a warning. I think warnings
just teach kids to push limits even harder, because they think it's OK
to do once, or twice, then don't understand why it's not OK the third
time.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 9 mo.
And Jaden, 3 months

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

In article , Sara says...

In article ,
Banty wrote:

In article , Sara
says...

Ollie (14 months) got a great set of wooden blocks for Christmas from
his Mormor. We both like playing with them, but after a few minutes he
starts throwing them. He doesn't throw them at me; he throws them at
the floor, but it's still annoying. Any suggestions on how to get him
to stop? I've tried saying "no throwing," "gentle," and showing how to
put them down quietly. No luck.

A baby boy throwing blocks?? What's the world coming to?!???

What - are they Lenox china blocks?

Heh. Good point. Yeah, they're wood blocks, so they're not going to
break, and there's nothing he's likely to damage with them. It's just
really, really, really loud.

--
Sara, accompanied by the baby barnacle


Well, I *am* a believer in eventually teaching that certain toys get treated
with respect (like - I hate to see Matchbox cars all chipped up, so I'd get my
son elcheapo cars for the crash play), but not yet at this age, and he needs
*something* to throw around. If it's the noise (better get used to noise, BTW),
divert him to something softer to throw around. Like get him lots of little
foam balls or something.

But, unless there's something really special about these blocks, you may as well
let him throw the blocks.

Banty