Why some kids line up toys instead of playing, per psychology

There is a particular kind of toddler play that can leave parents wondering what exactly is going on.Instead of making the toy cars race across the floor, a child places them in a perfectly straight line. Instead of feeding the toy animals, they arrange them by size. Blocks are stacked in the same sequence, crayons are placed carefully next to one another and, if someone moves one object, the child may quietly put it back where it was.To an adult, it may look less like “playing” and more like organising.But developmental psychology suggests that the important question is not simply why is my child lining up toys? It is what the child is doing before, during and after the arrangement.For some toddlers, arranging objects is simply one way of exploring the physical world. Young children naturally repeat actions, experiment with objects and discover patterns.