After a long and tiring day, the sofa is calling your name, so you sit down with a mug of herbal tea in hand, or perhaps a glass of wine. Finally, a chance to shut your eyes and relax! Or so you thought. The ten minutes of peace you had been hoping for is suddenly interrupted by the loud patter of tiny feet, running about the living room at great speed. Your little one is aimlessly running about the house, occasionally knocking into the furniture and even into you. A little ‘Stop running around inside the house!’ seems to stop them in their tracks for one or two minutes, but before you know it, they’re back at it. Where do they get the energy?

This has been happening for a couple of weeks now, and no matter how much they run and play during the day, as soon as you sit down for a couple of minutes to yourself, off they go, running here and there, this way and that.

Many a preschooler will run around, seemingly for no reason. You might manage to engage them in an activity for five minutes, but the next thing you know they have run off somewhere and you must chase after them. If you’re in a public space, such as a playground, this behaviour can be rather worrying, and even at home, with plenty of table corners and hard surfaces, running around at great speed can be dangerous.

To help us prevent this potentially tricky behaviour, let’s first understand why some kids do it.

Why does my child aimlessly run around?

Disruptive behaviour of any kind is usually motivated by a need for attention. When children find that, for one reason or another, attention is lacking, they behave in such a way that triggers reactions in nearby adults. Aimlessly running around a home or playground can prove to be somewhat dangerous and certainly irritating, and so we tell them to ‘stop!’. We might even lecture and scold them. The trouble is, this only reinforces the child’s belief that disruptive behaviour is an effective means by which to grab your attention.

So, how do we go about preventing aimless rushing around without reinforcing this behaviour?

How do I prevent my child from running around for attention?

If you have determined that your preschooler runs around for attention, consider first whether the behaviour is confined to a certain room in the house. If so, rearranging the room in such a way that eliminates running space could put a stop to the behaviour.

However, if you don’t fancy moving furniture around or don’t feel that it’s necessary, instead attempt the following 2 steps:

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Reinforce engaging activities

Ideally, by replacing aimless running around with participation in engaging and constructive activities, we eliminate any danger that this behaviour might otherwise cause. To do this, help your child to come up with fun activities both when at home and when you’re out and about. We find it helpful to make a list together with your child of all the activities they enjoy and place it somewhere they can see and add to all by themselves. That way, the next time they complain that there is nothing to do, direct them towards the activity list. Once they’re engaged in an activity, whether they’re taking part in an obstacle course at the park, painting a picture, or dancing with their friends, be sure to praise them and let them know how pleased you are.

‘It’s so lovely to see you so focused on your painting, sweetheart!’

As they learn to play and engage constructively and run around less and less, you can gradually decrease the frequency of praise.

Ignore aimless running

It can be very difficult to ignore your little one when they are running around the living room, potentially causing accidents and knocking things over. However, if there is no immediate danger, do your very best to ignore the behaviour when it occurs. Initially, they might run around even more than usual, doing everything they can to get a reaction out of you, but as they learn that this behaviour garners them zero attention, it should come to a stop fairly quickly.

What can I do if my child won’t stop running around?

Get them to sit still with Unii’s tips.