My "interesting" (nicest word I can use for him) DCB has starting the habit of hiding small toys all.over.the.place.

He does lots of scripted speech and play as I've said before, and his current obsession is Dora. We have a Dora computer game that you have to find the magic crystals and he hides and looks for "magic crystals" all day long. He uses Lego's, puzzle pieces, marbles, game pieces and then when its time to clean up he "forgets" where he's hidden every thing. Most times I catch him the act of hiding and make him either use the materials correctly or put them away, but sometimes I can't. Or he has a huge meltdown.

With all his other charming behaviors (epic tantrums 4-5x a day, hitting/kicking/spitting, screaming, refusals, running away) this is just super annoying to me.

Do I ban him from small toys? Jeesh.

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Can you go to the Dollar Store and get him some floral stones (magic crystals) and designate a hiding area for him? At least it keeps him occupied. LOL!

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I like that idea. I do try to dissuade him from so much character/TV show play but its a full time job. And I'm sick of helicoptering all my toy sets. He hides them in plants, behind shelves, under doors...

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"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"

IMO it's better to find a way to "join" and put boundaries on the play than to try to "beat" the play, because you won't and it'll drive you crazy trying.

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How old is he?
Reminds me of a very delayed little boy I had in K one year, who almost exclusively spoke in movie quotes.
When they were finally able to do IQ testing when he was older, his was below 50.
Not to say that this is necessarily similar.

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