Why Children show off
Showing off is laughing, being loud or acting differently in order to draw attention. Children may do this for a number of reasons:
Social interaction is really complex and children often feel insecure leading to them trying to impress others through their behaviour
Some children act the clown because they feel that getting others to laugh at them is a way of securing a positive relationship
Some children will take risks to show peers that they are brave, strong or mature. Again this is about establishing relationships within their social group
Some children will show off because they are copying their peers and want to identify with that group. Some children will show off because they have not learnt the contextual behaviour that is expected of them. Social rules can vary considerably depending on contextual factors such as: place, time, occasion and people involved
Social hierarchy - we behave differently depending on the status of the people we are interacting with. Your child may or may not show off depending on the comparative status of those that are around them. How secure and confident is your child?