hi sounds like he knows how to get to mad this is why he proberbly picks the ironing its something you have taken your time on and he wants to get at you by destroying it, instead of punishing by putting him in bedroom or shouting ect although i can understand its hard take his hand place him in front of the ironing and tel him to pick it up his self and put it back untill every piece is picked up do not let him out of room leave him while he gets on with it and when he has finished to come back to you and say sorry repeating this after he has done this same behaviour each time will eventually bore him and stop it.but keep your patience dont let rip let him no that its not bothering you any more beausse now he has to do the tidying up, my son used to draw on the furniture in his room and each time i gave him a sponge to clean it off himself, getting him to help you also in carry ironing up and getting him to put clothes away little bits at a time and giving him praise for it even if it ends up more creased in the process will give him more reconition towards helping and help him not to destroy this as he has played a part in tidying it with you and at the same time you will be giving him time without having to play,i also let my child put the forks and spoons away in the drawer to help me, this reduces him winging when im trying to dry the pots including them instead of pushing away helps to draw them into your rountine.good luck

I've had the same problem with a couple of my kids, was a particulary spectacular effort the time my washing machine broke down and was doing it all in the bath...got it all clean and dry...3 year old daughter emptied the lot back into the bath Wasnt laughing at the time though!!!

Rewarding him for not touching will work better than punishing him though do agree that if he makes the mess he should clear it up. Challenge him not to touch and praise him lots for not doing so...set up situations so that he can acheive success and see the benefits of it quickly if needs be.

134, wouldn't removing the pens be a simpler solution?

Thanks ladies. I have each time made him pick them up himself but didn't think to make him say sorry. Thanks for the tip. I also made him help put some away. It started off alright and then he got board. Since then I have kept a sharper eye on him and have not let him alone in my bedroom. We don't have doors at the mo so it's a bit of a problem. Anyways, a twist to the story, the last time this happened I found my daughter of 5 vigorously emptying the contents of a drawer on the floor after my son had already emptied my clothes basket, also on the floor. It was like she was trying to get him into more trouble. Was very surprised and disappointed as she had never done anything of the sort before. She's never been a problem except for the constant picking on her little brother. Well I made her pick up everything and put back the contents of the drawer and made her appologise both to me and her brother. So far so good, the incidents have stopped and I'm kind of wondering if my daughter had anything to do with the other past incidents. Anyways I'll keep my cool if this happens again and will go through the whole process though I really hope that this is the end of it.

Actually, he cannot understand your explanation at this age, as you are probably realizing. Not only that, but he has a good intent and a real need behind his actions.
It helps to understand WHY he is driven to do this. Only then you can help. Most often he is just needing a sense of power and play. I played with my children in situations like this and it vanished fast.

Read from page 200 on (or the whole chapter starting page 193) of the book, Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves. It will show you how to help your child and how to turn the whole thing into therapy and joy.