Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Preschooler likes to collect small things?

Yes, this is a funny phenomenon. Don't recall ds doing this, but dd4 still does. She almost always had a car in hand from 2-3years, and has a pretty big collection. It was like in 'Conspiracy theory', where the guy has to have a copy of The Catcher in the Rye in order to feel ok. If we were at the store and she didn't have a car, we'd usually end up with a car. Thank goodness they were usually 98 cents.
Anyway, now she always wants to have something 'to point with' as she puts it. If we are getting in the car she will make sure she has one or run in to the house to get something, a Popsicle stick, pen or something else about that size. I wasn't sure why, but today she said it is because she wants to be a teacher. Fortunately it has gone from a very high level of 'need' to much milder 'need'. (nowadays if we can't find a pointer she might be able to survive until we get home )

Interesting thread. It brought back memories!

Actually, this was one of the first things our family noticed about our little guy. When he was maybe 2, he always had a small action figure in his hand, and he would twirl it over and over in his hands while focusing on it and moving his lips without words coming out. My older kids thought it was a little freaky, but it kept him happy and quiet in the car, in church and wherever we were. He slept with the action figure gripped in his hand, and if he couldn't find whichever was his favorite at the moment was really the only time he'd have melt-down. He's 10 now and still does it from time to time.

I asked him why he would spin it around and what was going on in his head, and he told me that he could picture stories as they happened when he was spinning it.