My 5 yo is the terror of the playground....

[tostaky]

Pretending to be a lion or whatever scary animals, he runs around the playground chasing the girls who at best scream or at worst cry...
No other boys is doing this (I know I've just walked past the playground during playtime and saw him, he didn't see me though).
He has a good friend who is in the same class as him but now playdates with him are rare....
I saw my son run towards his friend looking like a scary monster, roar and pull his friends jumper. Then the friend just escaped at the other end of the playground... I guess I should stop saying "friend"...
It is very saddening.
What can I do?
Obviously this is not new to me, we've tried a number of time to explain to him, I bought books about being considerate of others feelings.... What else can I do?
I asked the mum for a playdate on Friday should I cancel it and break the news to my son that nobody wants to be his friend anymore because he is too scary? Seems pretty drastic then again the soft method (talking, books) doesn't work...
Any advice, tips?
He is in reception and I'm hoping that in year one he will start playing football at playtime instead of roaring like a mad lion.... When do they start playing games like football at playtime? (he does football somewhere else once a week).

My DS went through a similar phase in reception. He never would do anything out of spite or being mean but was just so full of beans and excitement that he would be all hands and invading personal space. Actually he was still roaring like a dinosaur/monster fairly recently (y3!) but only when others were into the game too! But he has lots of friends and is a happy little boy.

I worried about play dates in reception (actually still do, for both my DC!). Its possible its not you or your son, its just after the initial spate of playdates people are just settling into their own thing and aren't doing them so much? I personally wouldn't cancel the playdate on Friday - if its at your house and the other little boy has said yes, then there's no reason to cancel. If you supervise them and have activities to keep them occupied and can re-direct the roaring it might help your DS to calm down with his friends and enjoy doing something other than roaring!

What my DS's school did when it was impacting other children was to introduce a star chart for 'kind hands' - so that he would get a sticker or a stamp for modelling calm handed, kind hands (ie not waving them frantically in someone's face!) during the day. I then used that approach at home and when out and about too. Worth talking to your DS's teacher about it, because as its happening at school they can help him remember the things that he should be doing.

Watching with interest as my son is EXACTLY the same....

Can you role play some other games or activities your son could do in the playground? He may understand what you are saying about not scaring other children but not be sure what else to do/play.

Thank you for your replies.
The teacher has already implemented the sticker chart for good behaviour for him.... And at home he plays beautifully with his little brother, so he knows how to play nicely.... Just not with his friends... Or outside the house....
I had a good chat with him earlier... Let's hope it was useful...