My son is a poor loser...

[crsrs9]

He is five, going on six years old and is a very poor loser!!  It doesn't matter what we are playing, whether it's a simple game of Candyland, tick-tac-toe, or air hockey.  He is all smiles when he wins, and he doesn't really "rub it in" or anything.  But, if he loses, he throws a fit, and refuses to play again.  I am not one to "let him win" all of the time, never have been.  I thought I was doing the right thing by playing fair.  I put him in baseball thinking he would learn a little more about sportsmanship, but he is still the same even after playing in his first season.  I don't understand why he behaves this way and am wondering if anyone has any advice.  I try to explain good sportsmanship to him, and that we don't always win and that is ok, but he still gets all crabby if he doesn't win.  It gets frustrating...

[margypops]

Are you competitive with him, does he win sometimes and if you win what do you say are you matter of Fact or do you brag about it, whats his Dad like is he competitive? Explain to him its okay to loose, everyone does, is he copying someone -Actually we are all happy when we win at something, its his age a lot maybe ignoring it is a good thing, when he pouts dont say anything just let it go.

[LRM1021]

This is rather typical for this age group. The best thing to do is to keep talking to him about good sportsmanship, and also try to phrase things about how his behavior makes other people feel, like, "How would you feel if someone acted this way when YOU win?" Would you want to be around this person?"  It will sink in eventually-- somewhere around 6 1/2.