2.5 years old kid is want toys that other Kids have at play time

Question

I have 2.5 year old boy. One of the problems that we are facing with him at play time is he wants to play with what the other kids are playing.

At play time, if he sees another kid is playing with something, he will go to that kid and grab it. Recently since he is doing it with our neighbor's kid's toy, we have purchased a similar toy as our neighbor has. Now he doesn't want to play with this toy and wants other kid's toys still.

Sometimes he bullies other kids and grabs their toy.

Sometimes other kid's shares toy in their hand and he goes for another toy. After some time he leaves the toy that he is playing with and goes for the toy the other kid is playing with.

How can I correct and control this behavior?

Answer 1

It seems you obviously have to teach your kid not to do that. Buying a similar toy won't help, because your child will understand that he will get what he want if he take the toy.

First, you must teach your kid to share his own toys, so he can understand that in the same way you can ask someone else's toy, you must be able to do the same. I think this "exchanging" process is nice because, just like other big primates, humans have this sense of "justice" built in, so it's something that we're sort of "programmed" to do.