2 Year Old Lines up Cars and Other Toys

I think this is so funny because my 2 yr old does the exact same thing with his FAVORITE toy in the world which are his Thomas the Trains! : )
He finds as many as he can throughout the house and lines them up on tables or the fireplace. It's so cute, I took a pic of it recently to keep the memory. I think they do it with their "special" toys and they're being extra careful with them so I wouldn't worry about it, I think he just really loves those toys he's doing it with. It's a 2 yr old thing! : )

Both my normal, healthy teenage boys did it as toddlers and now my 2.5 year old girl is doing it, so I would think it's normal.

Maybe, but maybe not. If he can play with the toys in other ways too. If he is upset if his "order" has been disturbed, or if he applies this structure to other things as well, like putting furnature back after you rearrange it, then it could be something more than a phase.

For one of my kids, this was not typical behavior. My advice.to you is to keep a close.eye on this, and if you ever have cause to think that the behavior is disfunctional, get him evaluated by a developmental pediatrician sooner rather than latter, and if he has other areas of development that you question, get it now.

M.

My son did that all the time, same age. For him not only did they have to be lined up but in groups of three's. He was precise everytime, but also played with the cars but when he "parked" them same line up always. I thought possible future OCD or hopefully a neat kid. Well he neither has an OCD or is he neat it was a phase. Although I do think it effected him as far as telling a story. Meaning I could tell my son a story and if he wants me to repeat it, I can not deviate from the exact wording or he corrects me. Same with items. If I first called something like a salad bowl, then later ask my son for the bowl he says "you mean salad bowl mom". Can get me nuts, but here's to hoping he'll be a techie or a doctor who needs to know exact facts!!

Lining toys up is something lots of kids do. It is also something that children with autism do. The difference is that kids who have a problem do it a lot and that is the main way they like to play (restricted play). Plus, there are usually other more concerning behaviours present like lack of interest in others or what is going on around him. Does he tune things out or turn away from others to do this? He may just have a very logical personality. The only reason to be concerned is if does it too much or has other "red flags".

My little boy started doing this at around 2 and he is 6 now and still does it. He does not keep his room clean or care about his toys outside but loves to line up pens, hotwheels, and even magnets.

Totally normal; I even asked a child development expert about this when my toddler was doing the same.

She said as long as he played normally with those same toys at other times it was perfectly fine. (ie driving the cars around sometimes, and not only lining them up obsessively *all* the time).

My son has been doing this for about a year now (he is almost 3). He is developmentally normal so far.

My son does this and so do many of his friends. It sounds totally normal to me.

K.
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Omg totally Normal!!

It is actually a good sign of his brain developing. It shows he can make connections from size, to color, to object.

Please don't let people make you think there is something wrong with your child.
I'd say if he WASN'T doing things like that he might have a little issue.
He's learning

Not saying it's not normal, but neither one of my kids do it and they are both perfectly normal.

I wouldn't worry about it. He's still very young and I would just monitor it, or talk to pediatrician.

Hello K.,

Your son is having fun and perfecting his" toys line up skills", join him when ever you can and have fun with him.

If he leaves his bed to go back to his playroom to line up his cars, he just want to continue playing because it is FUN.

PS: Set up some playdates with his age children or slightly older and enjoy observing them having fun together with lining up toys.

My son used to do the same thing around this age. He would line his blocks per colors, or size, or shape. Unfortunately, it was just a phase for him :-)

NORMAL.
Both my kids did that too, at about that age or earlier.
It is developmental based.

NO it is not OCD.

Normal.

My daughter did the same thing starting around age 1 1/2 years old, she is turning 4 soon and has moved onto building planes (or something similar) out of legos (not the big ones but the little ones).

I think the main reason a child is doing this action is to work on their motor skills (fine and gross), and lining things up is an easy thing for them to do with everyday objects. My daughter would make a road or train out of books, we have some great pictures of the cool tracks that she made. Now if he does not "out grow" it in 5 or more years and it becomes more OCD like only will eat peas if all lined up perfectly first or is really disrupting his normal daily life then it would be something to consider getting evaluated.

normal behavior. or he may just be neat. but kids do all kinds of stuff as toddlers.

I think it's normal. I wouldn't worry about something like this unless there were other issues that were concerning to you.

My son did the same thing!!! He would line up his ride on firetruck, lawn mower and dump truck at my one closet door. One day I needed to get in there to get something out so I just opened the door and it pushed the toys away. I closed the door and left the toys now sitting at an angle. He came down the hall and freaked out when he say them!!! He lined them back up and walked away. He would do it with hotwheels too at night. Line them up on my leg while I sat on the couch, when he'd go back to his room for more I'd move them or we'd put them on daddy's leg. He would take them back, put the back at my leg and go about his business!
But he just has this way of things needing to be just so. If he is holding a hand rail while walking, he has to finish it if it curves around, walking the curb-finish it. Stuff like that. He's 4 now too and the toys aren't so much an issue but he still does it. Is it OCD like?? Maybe. He could also at age 2, point out a hotwheel car at a strangers house or in the isle at the store that he already had. And would point at the front end of a SUV and say it was just like mine and it was the same make/model as mine! Does it with the other 2 trucks we have too. Maybe we have smart kids on our hands :)

We joke about it too especially since he has a great Aunt that has some OCD issues. And a friend of ours has OCD with numbers, counting and organizing and he even said it could be OCD but too young to tell. I try not to make it an issue just in case it is.

So yeah, I'd say your son is normal. At least to me :)

S.