I have two three year olds in my care who like to lay down during free play/center time. They are not laying down to rest, they want to play laying down. They are not playing with toys though - they lay down on their bellies and kick their feet and for some reason this gets them very riled up. This creates a problem because when another child lays next to them or touches their feet on accident they pitch a big fit and get upset. There have also been a few instances when the child laying down was kicking their feet and accidentally kicked another child.

My current thinking is if you need to be laying down - then you must be tired and need to be on your nap mat. So in order to stop this when one of the children lays down and starts the above behavior I stop them and have them lay down on their cot for a couple of minutes.

I want to know:

1) Are my expectations of no laying down while playing reasonable? Does anyone else have children who do this?

2) Is my approach of having the child lay on their cot an acceptable one?

Sometimes you just need another person's opinion....and since I don't have any coworkers I have turned to you all!

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I'd be ok with them lying down while playing, but not the kicking.

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I don't try to dictate how children play, unless someone or something is being hurt. In this instance, maybe you can set aside a specific place for them to lay down and kick where they won't hurt anyone. Or ask them to "save it until you're outside" where there's more room so they won't hurt anyone. My focus would be on keeping everyone safe rather than making them sit up to play.

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I agree with Rockgirl. I don't tell them how to play as long as they are following my rules of "You can't hurt others, you can't hurt yourself and you can't hurt things".

I let the kids play how they want and even let them lie down for circle time if they want as long as they aren't hurting anyone or disturbing the activity.

I'd give them a warning "Suzie, I need you to be careful with your feet. I can't let you kick like that, you might hurt someone. If you keep kicking I will need you move away from this area and go find something else to do" (depending on the age of course. The younger they are, the less word I use) "Suzie, no kick. Kicking hurts. Keep your legs still or I will move you" etc.

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I don't allow that. It escalates them. I want them to either be on their feet or butts. I want them up and moving around so they get tired and take a good nap.

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I don't let them lie down to play either.

What's the point?

It takes up way too much space and really just isn't necessary unless they are playing some sort of game that requires lying down.

Otherwise my kids play on their butts or on their feet.

In group care, there needs to be some guidelines or chaos occurs.

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None of the dck I have had are allowed to lay down to play in the playroom . Others end up tripping over them , getting kicked and have less room to play . I do keep a comforter on the floor in my family room which is next to the playroom , if a child wants to lay down to play they need to go to the blanket . I have kids ask if they can go play on the blanket and then let me know they are done and want to come back to join the group .

This also works if a child wants some alone time , they ask to play alone on the blanket .

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It hasn't been a problem here....one of my little boys enjoys getting down to eye level with the hot wheels he is pushing around. There's plenty of room to spread out and not step on one another.

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I allow it, but it hasn't cause a problem here. I have two little boys that also like to lay down while playing cars. If any behavior causes a problem, whether I have a rule about it or not, the child causing the issue (kicking, not sharing space, tripping others) they are given one warning to be "respectful of others" they know what this means because we talk about it all the time. If it is still a problem, I re direct the child to another area.

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I allow it as long as it isn't causing a problem. Sometimes, the older kids will lie down on the floor and younger kids will either trip and fall on them or someone will try to play "Pig Pile". As soon as it starts to cause trouble, I ask the kids on the floor to sit up or stand to play.

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Thank you everyone!

The bold above is what is happening here. Prior to this group I would not mind if someone was laying down while playing. Like the PP said, she has one DCK who likes to be eye level with the cars. If that were the situation I would 1000% be okay with it. But is is not. I have many rugs used for centers, but one rug near my books there are two small spaces between the book boxes. The kids seems to fight over laying in the spaces and will lay down to try to dominate the space. Then when another child (usually my younger ones) want to lay down with them, the older get get mad, yell that they don't have enough space and so and so is touching them and that very quickly will escalate to hitting and fits. I think the kicking while laying down started as a way to keep the younger ones away. I hope that makes sense - it is hard to verbalize what I am seeing.

I want to say I DO have a reading corner with a bed where a child can sit, lay down and chill if needed. They can also go to another room if needed. No one likes to do this which is why I am thinking it is not a situation where a child wants to be alone or needs space.

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To me this isn't playing, it's crating havoc!

I love to see kids actually playing in different positions.....standing and lining up little people on a windowsill, laying down and lining dinosaurs up, crouching at the wall-size chalkboard, etc. these kids are basically pulling a power play....I can kick and scream and if you come near me you get kicked. Let's see what I can get away with, let's see how I control the environment.

Yes, this is outside play, not inside. What a great feeling to lay in the grass and do this! Just like walking feet inside, I'd tell them this activity is for outside.

If they were laying down looking through a kaleidoscope, great! If they were laying down looking at books, great!

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Creating havoc! Not crating! Haha

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I used to have a group who could handle playing and laying down inside. My current group cannot lay down nicely unless it's nap time, among many other things that are no longer allowed because they are wild. They have to find something to play with or I will find something for them and then they must sit and play with it.

Outside they can roll around on the ground all they want because there is space to do so. Even then it creates some havoc. There is park by my house with a big grassy hill. I have one dcb who will scope out another child, lay down next to him or her and then purposely roll into their legs to knock them over. Then he will "claim" he was rolling down the hill. And yes I have witnessed the whole thing. And it is a long hill with enough room for about 100 kids to all roll at the same time and not run into each other .

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