Thread: Snatching
View Single Post
Unregistered 09:17 AM 10-15-2019
I had a child like this last year! After observation, our best guess was that he was snatching toys as a way of attempting to get attention from other children. I spent a lot of time proactively helping him enter into play with other children before the snatching started (meaning the second he walked in the door!). We practiced saying "can I play with you?" and made sure we had multiples of everything/toys that could be used by more than 1 child at a time.

Even though it was still taking most of my energy, it was totally worth it! This focused practice really reduced the snatching behavior. It took a few weeks of proactive intervention/patience/persistence on my part. But hey, we're teachers, right?

Not sure if your child is snatching for the same reason, but it might be helpful to do some close observation to try to figure out what is driving the behavior - trying to play with peers? Boredom? Just stuck in a rut? Make your plan around teaching new skills/prevention.
Reply