Lining up toys

[FlatStanleyWasMyFave]

Am I right to be concerned that my toddler (almost 3) regularly lines his toys up? He doesn’t seem to ever actually be “playing” with them, just lining them up. I’ve asked friends and they’ve said their kids sometimes line toys up too but I can’t help but worry. Can anyone reassure me this is normal for a child his age?

I was wondering this too but didn't want my arse handing to me. I used to sit my dolls in a line pretend to be their teacher. If MN was invented in 1965 I wonder what would be made of my "behaviour " 🤔

@FlatStanleyWasMyFave Look up play schema. With no other worries it is perfectly normal.

Exhausting, isn't it?

Lining up cars/ toys etc IS imaginary play; he's thinking about it and acting out some private scenario. He just hasn't told you because, hell, you'd probably make him feed them.

All my sons did it. so did my brother. My granddaughter still lines up all her soft toys. And her nailvarnish bottles.

To add a different perspective to most of the other posts as it’s good to get a range of experiences, my son does have asd and did line things up or sort things rather than play imaginatively when he was younger.

But there were definitely other more subtle signs too and because he masked so well at school he wasn’t diagnosed until he was older, despite me raising it with his school. The lining things up was just one observation among many.

However, my middle son also lined things up and doesn’t have asd! But he definitely played more imaginatively and he didn’t sort things into shape and colour the same way ds1 did.

It was obvious to me that ds1 had asd and that ds2 and ds3 didn’t, if that makes sense.

Ds1 with asd is now a gifted mathematician hoping to go to Oxbridge and still enjoys sorting things and problem solving!

Woah @tickticksnooze she's asking for advice. No need to be a dick.

My boys did this. They grew out of it. Their play was lining stuff up or running ragged and climbing. They wouldnt sit still.

Also, being autistic is not the end of the world. Lots of us about doing just fine.

My three year old DS does this all the time, mostly it's just everything with wheels (his and his brother's) but sometimes it's every single toy in he has! He goes to nursery, they say he's a normal three year old.

Also while we’re on the subject does this sound like a typical almost 3yr old? (Given what I’ve said about the lining up and the cuddling strangers) he will make statements, ask questions “what is it?” “What happened?” etc but there’s no actual back and forth conversation flow. He often repeats what I’ve said parrot fashion. “Is that biscuit tasty?” “Biscuits tasty”
With my elder child, we would be chatting away with ease (although I was told often she was a very early talker)

I did this as a kid, mine have all done it. It was a pain sometimes as all teddies etc had to be lined up perfectly before they’d go to sleep at bedtime 🙄 I also used to line up my younger siblings with the teddies - there’s photographic evidence and everything 🤣

It’s a normal stage of development, OP. Don’t worry!

DS used to love lining his cars up when he was 18mo until about 3.5. It was his favourite game, and something he could normally do all by himself, which I think was part of the appeal for him. He liked me to help him make "rainbows" with his vast collection, too!

He's 4 now and doesn't do it so much. He can do imaginary play but isn't really interested. He's NT so far. On the flipside, DD didn't do any sort of lining up, was/is excellent at imaginary play (with an adult), and we're trying to get her assessed. Both of my kids like order and routine.

Yes its normal. Its also normal to not be like any other siblings, or parents, or cousins or even next door neighbours dog. You are fretting over nothing, honestly!

Btw I loved lining up things, still do. Put me next to a messy shop shelf and I have to put my hands in my pocket. I also loved playing with cars, and other "boy" stuff but I'm definitely a straight female. Never fed a single toy except tiny tears doll but they ALL loved a cup of tea 😂 in other words leave him be to make sense of his surroundings and his place in it and stop trying to label him with something so early in life.

My son who has ASD used to line up his cars and trains but he would do them in the exact same order every time and would have a major meltdown if they were moved, he never “played” with toys and still doesn’t just lined them up or put them in orders.

My 28 Yr old son had almost 100 matchbox cars. He never vroom vroomed them around or made roads. He just lined them up in perfectly neat rows, exactly the same distance apart. He's fine.

My second child used to do this and he's now 16. He's not on the spectrum.

I remember ds(18), well before 3rd birthday, I was in the kitchen and he was playing in the hall outside and he purposely lined up and attached the magnet on the front of each of his Thomas the tank engines to the metal safety gate at the kitchen door and as each one connected he counted them clearly to 10.

Don't think he had any idea what the numbers meant, he was probably repeating something they did with him in nursery but I was 😮

He was similar that he didnt role play with toys, just liked to line/set them up. He also was mostly black/white, right/wrong with answers too. This continued as he grew, with the bonus he didnt have the imagination to lie! He found subjects like writing and making up stories in school difficult but could easily remember how something worked. As far as I am aware he is NT, he did well in school and is now at uni (engineering), has always been happiest when socialising with friends, but less confident with strangers (especially adults) as he finds small talk doesn't come naturally.

You ds sounds like a typical 2-3 year old to me.

DS1 did this when he was a toddler & now at 12 still likes order. His bedroom is tidy & homework done on time. I wish my other 2 DC were like this lol.

Oh & he never liked role play. He likes games with rules, loves to read & is a wiz at maths.

One of mine did this every morning. Got the tub of plastic animals out and lined them up right across the dining room floor. If I suggested moving them or putting them away there was a big tantrum.

Now a very NT adult.

It's totally normal, part of schematic play.

If your thinking autism then my autistic son never lined up anything 🤷‍♀️
My neurotypical child often lined up toys.

DD used to do this and is NT. For those saying they will be tidy in later life DD is now 18 and her room does not reflect the order she so loved as a toddler!!

DS did this at my 2-3. He is now 14, and one of the untidiest people I've ever met. He's completely NT.

Both mine line up their toys.