Conflict over chalk

Two three year olds have been playing with chalk. They disagree about who's turn it is. The practitioner helps them to sort it out.

Good for looking at

• Social development
• Emotional development
• Conflict resolution
• Sharing
• Turn taking
• Maths - time

Two three year olds have been playing with chalk. They disagree about who’s turn it is. The practitioner helps them to sort it out.

Notice

• How are the children learning? Which areas of development, engagement and characteristics of learning can you observe?
• In what way is the adult supporting the children’s learning?
• How does the environment support the children’s learning?

Reflect

What are your thoughts about:

• How and what the children are learning?
• The role of the adult in this interaction – how did she support the children?

Respond

What would you do to:

• Encourage children to come up with their own strategies for solving conflicts? Do you allow enough time for them to come up with their own ideas?
• Encourage calk to children about difficult things and the solutions they came up with?
• Model conflict resolution strategies for young children and show how useful they are? Maybe this could be done during a play situation? Or with a story? With puppets?

What next:

• Do you need to allow children to solve conflicts on their own in your setting? Do you know when to offer support and when to stand back?