Originally Posted by Crystal:
I would start with having him as my shadow for the day.....everywhere I am, he is. (FYI, I am typically in the play area with the children facilitating their play, I would just be certain that this one was within arm's reach at all times) The second he attempts to throw a toy, I'm there to stop it.
I would also have him help repair whatever he has broken....even if it is going to end up in the trash anyway. I'd make him use critical thinking skills....guiding him with open-ended questions....to figure out what he could use/do to fix it. Then I'd put him to work on it. When he discovers that it cannot be fixed....even after all of his hard work and use of SOME of his play time..... he might decide he doesn't want to do that again.
My kids would LOVE having this adult response. It wouldn't stop them from destroying things but it would be super fun.
Having an adult spotting the child wouldn't be a reward but it wouldn't be a consequence either.
Having an adult help repair whatever they have broken would be something different than what they do day to day so that would be fun and exciting. "Working" on it would be really fun.
Knowing that something couldn't be fixed would not be a problem for most kids. They live for the moment so loosing one toy out of the hundreds they have access to daily would litterally mean nothing. We remove toys that don't work for the group and not a single kid has an issue with it. It's either available or it's not. If it's not... there is something else to go to.
This sounds good in theory and it sounds super dooper for the kid. I don't see how it would lead to less destruction though.