Touchy-feely older kids

[Piper84]

It sounds like the problem is the mix of ages. Anytime you mix six year olds with toddlers, you are going to have some problems with personal space violation. The older kids tend to see the younger ones as babies. I understand that this can't be helped in your situation and that's unfortunate. I would talk to the nursery workers if you are uncomfortable, but TBH the situation you described with the leaf sounds pretty typical of toddlers and kids on the same playground.

It's just he's the only 6 year old in the group who is like this. There are five other boys and girls his age who are completely normal, either not paying much attention to the little ones or looking after them when they need it.

I described the situation with the leaf and my LO's reaction to show that he's not really interested in interacting with the older boy, which makes the invasion of space more annoying than it would be if they were friends.

There's a parents' evening coming up next week when we're going to address the general situation.