My Son Makes Baracades in Any Room He Is In- How Do I Stop This Behavior

I agree with some of the other moms-you can show him which areas it is ok to create his elaborate blockades and which are not. It is a very creative form of expression and I would not try to stop it- just direct it.

My son was always building something when he was that age. the bigger the better but I only had one child. I never told him not to build his own play areas I just set up boundaries of where he could do this. Usually he would build forts under the table and block himself in with what ever he wanted to play with.
My husband is a carpentry contractor and he looked at our sons building as a way to express himself and to also get some privacy. If you think about it that is problem what your son is doing. He wants privacy without his younger sibling bothering him. I would not take his toys and books away because he is expressing himself. Just sit him down and talk to him about some boundaries in his building walls. Make sure when you talk to him to be down talking to him a his level so he can look at your face and you can look at his. Then show him where the boundaries and what he can do.
As parents when we discourage expression we could be discouraging a brilliant mind. You son might be the next great builder or architect. You just never know. Tiger Woods started playing golf at age 3.

S.

It sounds like he is trying to get a break from the twins. My four year old and sometimes my 8 year old do different things to get away from my 10 month old twins.

I currently have two super yards up around a sofa and part of our family room (12 panels of gate). The twins stay in there most of the time so the big kids have some freedom. I am in there most of the time the twins are. The girls come in and out. They also have time where they can go anywhere and the big girls know that that's when toys need to be up.

Having young twins is HARD. I have had a hard time making sure the big girls get enough attention from me and time on their own without baby interruption.

Good luck.

I would designate a corner of a room where he can build his forts. He can put them up only in that space and he has to put everything away when he's done.

I think his behavior is perfectly normal and actually should be encouraged. He's being creative. My kids still like to take tables, chairs and blankets to create their "tents." Well, now it looks more like a tent city, but as long as they put everything back where it belongs, it's okay.

Yes, my kids did that. I think it's a stage they go through, although they will still sometimes make a giant fort in the living room, with blankets and pillows from all over the house.

One thing that helped - I bought a set of those oversized cardboard blocks at a garage sale (like this: http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Deluxe-Cardboard-Block...) - highly recommend. They take up storage space and they can cause clutter, but the kids can do so much with them - build forts, make landing pads and roads for cars and spaceships, etc. And they don't stub your toes.

It is a phase and he will grow out of it. I would let him be. children make a big mess and sometimes I have to remember to think zen thoughts when my toddler has been especially good at making a mess. I wonder why he likes the barricade? Would he like one of those little tents that he could hide in? and stash his stuff in there? or is it the control of letting people go through? It is amazing what goes through their creative little minds. Enjoy :)

My 4 year old son LOVES to do this! Unless we are expecting company or trying to get ready to go somewhere, we're totally fine with it. Even our 14 month old loves playing in these "forts". I used to do the same thing as a child, and my mom used to help me.

I have a 3 year old who loves garbage trucks and anything related to dumpsters, trash cans, and landfills. So he loves to put his toys in a box or laundry basket (his dumpster) and dump it on the loveseat, near the front door, or other inconvenient locations in our apartment. I tried to stop him, but he's just loves making the garbage truck noises and looking at it all dump out. And my almost 1 year old is crawling and stumbling over everything. Since I can't seem to stop it I try to redirect it to safer locations. Can you do the same with your son's baracades? Can you give him a few places in your home where he can set up a baracade? And tell him if he puts the baracade somewhere else you will remove it. I just had to keep redirecting my son to dump his toys in a corner, but after enough times he got it (he's been dumping since just under 2 years old). Also, what about buying some large blocks that he can use to make the baracade. They can be easily knocked down by your younger kids and might not be so messy. HOpe that helps. Good luck to you!!
-J.

Hi D.,

Maybe you should try to compromise with him on building the baracades, but don't try to stop them completely. Give him a certain area, that's as much off the beaten path as possible, to build his baracades. Make it clear that that's the only area he can build in. If your house is designed to accommodate it, you may rotate the building area from time to time to give him some diversity. BUT BE REAL CLEAR THAT HE CAN ONLY BUILD IN THE ONE AREA YOU SAY AT ANY GIVEN TIME. I think this is a great opportunity for you to teach him that you, as a parent, are meeting him half-way with something he really wants to do. Make sure you tell him that. Relating to him in this way will serve you well as he goes through his pre-teens and teens and starts wanting to do other objectionable things. Because that's when our children really need to see that their parents are trying to meet their needs but at the same time are not pushovers for increasing excessive demands of time, space, and resources. So let him have fun by building his "forts," 'cause this is the child that just might become a construction worker in the future...or maybe even an engineer! Rejoice in that!

V.

I think you have an architect in the works. ENCOURAGE him!
Get giant legos, tinker toys, building blocks, etc for him.
C.

Interesting. Maybe he's building barricades because he feels in some way like he needs a wall of protection. Has there been some change in his world lately that he may feel unsure of? Or, perhaps he doesn't like his younger sibling invading his space. Either way, I wouldn't discourage his building, heck you may have a future architect on your hands! When he loses interest in this activity, or doesn't feel the need for a wall anymore, he'll move on to something else.

I agree with Julie. He is being creative. My son was the same way. Now he is very creative with building things and is absolutely nuts about science and how things work and are put together. Honestly, I sometimes think he could tell a scientist the right way to do things. If this is a huge problem, give him a special space or a block of time he can make his forts. He might be too young for Legos but Duplo blocks might be perfect for him.

I would set rules but not take away the barricades. My son (now 10) STILL builds them. The rules at our house are that he has to ask first. I designate the area and baracade materials. He must clean up when he is done. I know, easier said than done, my son is a lot older. But seeing that my son is that much older and still doing it, it might make sense to set the ground rules now. I hate it too. It makes a mess, I can't get around etc etc. But I have learned to deal with it. We even bought him a bedroom set and had it installed in a way that he has a fort in his room. The installers laughed their heads off "you want it set up like that?" but he loves it!