Originally Posted by organicdclady:
I have a 2 year old dcb who does this exact same kind of thing. He will also sometimes just stand up and literally beat at his own chest like a gorilla. I have found that giving him a little more structure helps, I keep him focused on an activity by himself. He likes to draw and look through "busy boxes" I tend to shadow him a lot and use a lot of redirection. We work on fine motor skills while counting an sorting small objects with large tweezers or spoons.
I know not everyone is going to agree with me on this, and that is OK. When we have days he just can't keep his body to himself, I give him a large bean bag (chair type) and encourage him to to let out his "aggression" He knows where it is and will now go over to it and punch it or lay on it, or whatever he is feeling like. If the child can not express how he is feeling through words, even if it is that they are excited or happy, they will use their body to communicate those feelings. By 2, they are in control of their movements and excitement, frustration, anger and happiness are easily expressed through movement. Sometimes I will "pause" the whole group and tell them to drop everything. We do a simon says sort of game where I encourage them to move their bodies and show me different faces-happy, sad, scared, angry etc.
My other dck can get very fed up with his behavior, so I encourage them to put their hands out in front of them and say "No. Stop." I find this helps his recognize he is hurting or upsetting others. I hope you can find a way to ease some of his behavior, I know it can be frustrating!
I love these ideas!