My son is 22-month. He is very tall for his age and doesn't speak much yet (EDIT: we are a trilingual family). When we go to parks and playgrounds where other little kids are around, if he sees a kid smaller than him in size (kids whom he doesn't know and sometimes 40 feet away), he would run over to that kid and push them. Over the course of a morning, he would push 3 or 4 kids. (EDIT: I shadow him at all times, but it’s hard to prevent all pushes because he can take off suddenly. His pushes are not hard so they don’t cause injuries and he doesn’t repeat it on one kid, but they should still be stopped for obvious reasons.) We haven't observed any apparent triggers, and it's hard to tell if he is trying to get the other kid's attention and play (we just apologize and quickly take him away).
This behavior has made taking him to parks and playgrounds very stressful and awkward. Any advise on what we can try to change this behavior, or does it just take time for this phase to pass? How should I react with he pushes another kid? I have tried scolding him but that may not be the best way?
Thank you for your advice!