3yo gets ignored by other kids

My kid is somewhere in between, but she's still only 18 months.
Sometimes she doesn't want anything to do with anyone, and other days she's the one trying to approach others.
She's not super smiley with strangers, though, and I think that puts some other kiddos off, though not everybody luckily.

My boy 50/50 when he wants to play with others they are mean and etc with him and i just try to call him away. Or they don’t understand him because he speech is still not 100% but when some little boys or girls sometimes see him they will try and play with him when at a park most time he accepts and sometimes he won’t . Just depends on his mood i guess

They don’t do proper cooperative play together until about 4, so sounds like yours is just a bit early x

This breaks my heart. My son is the same. Once he asked a couple of older children to play. He was 3 the kids were probably 8. They literally just ignored him. He said to me “why won’t they talk to me” 😭😭😭😭 luckily over the last few months he seems to have got better at asking the right children go play 🤷‍♀️😅 so it hasn’t been happening thankfully as it is awful to watch

It's just an opportunity to teach him how to deal with rejection, he'll be fine it's not personal. Mine is showing more of an interest now but still prefers to do her own thing, we have some close friends who we see every week and for the most part both the girls greet each other happily then separate and do their own playing, occasionally joining back up. Encouraging them helps. Toddlers are inherently selfish. Mine loves playing with her older cousins because she just makes demands, she doesn't like it when they want to do their own thing 😂 just don't let him see you're bothered and that's half the battle for keeping him unbothered

My daughter isn't two yet and she lovessss to play with other children especially older ones and sometimes I think the older kids just look at her as a baby and don't wanna always play which is fine but their have been handfuls of times where they will interact with her which is lovely

One of my friends kids used to be too intrusive with other kids and none wanted to play with him. He was hugging even if the other kid didn't want to, not respecting boundaries,... My kid stopped to play with him for that reason. I don't know if that could be that with your kid ? Sometimes being too friendly can be received wrong by other kids. Also sometimes kids just don't get along and that's ok too? I would maybe give him some tips to play in better way with other kids (if that's an issue) or explain to him that if the other kids don't want that's ok and must be respected "let's find if other kids would like to play"

My 5 year old is very tall for her age. Since she was little, she gravitates towards kids that are 3-4 years older. She is choosing kids that are similar size to her. Sometimes these kids ignore her. She isn’t on the same maturity level as them. So, it’s understandable that they aren’t always up for playing with her. We have run into some older kids that are wonderful and include her. I would just keep encouraging him! Since my daughter is more on the social side, I encourage her to look for kids that may be a little quieter. They may want to play…but struggle to make the first move.

How old are the kids he’s trying to approach? Many kids don’t start actually playing with other kids until they’re closer to 4 years old, so might just be that he tries to approach kids that are not quite at the stage of playing with another child so it’s not that they’re ignoring, they just don’t understand it yet.

My youngest is 3 years old, I’d say she is friendly but cautious. She will ask to play with others and if they don’t reciprocate then I will call to her to move away and find other friends, play with her sister or just hang with myself or my husband.
I do notice some children aren’t always very kind, stare a lot without saying hello, or as soon as they’re approached will run over to their parent and hide behind them .. lol happens quite a bit actually lol this is why I will call to her and remind her that some kids aren’t as social as she is and to find kids that are a bit more kind and open. .
I do sometimes think to myself “why don’t other parents encourage their children more.. and not even just to play with other kind little ones, but to even be kind when they’re approached and or when someone is saying hello “ lol
I guess I don’t get it but it’s okay. My girls are learning with time .