Because facing conflict will never go away!
As your child gets older and begins to explore the world outside of your home, they meet new people and learn more about the world around them, and ultimately, your child will face conflict.
Learning how to resolve conflict in a healthy way — without fighting or yelling — is a vital skill, important for every young child to learn. At A World of Discoveries, we help kids explore their socioemotional skills to help them develop age-appropriate conflict resolution skills where they’ll be able to express themselves while staying respectful.
Why Conflict Resolution?
Conflict will arise, especially in younger kids such as preschoolers and elementary-aged kids who don’t always have the coping skills for conflict resolution. But, the good news is, it is a skill that these young kids can develop with a little help.
Children benefit from conflict resolution for reasons including:
- Becoming better listeners
- Learning how to communicate their thoughts and feelings
- Being able to look for solutions
- Becoming more aware of their needs
Teaching Conflict Resolution At A World of Discoveries
A World of Discoveries daycare is the perfect place for kids to begin learning conflict resolution since they’re constantly surrounded by other kids of all ages. Here’s how we teach conflict resolution.
Learning to Name Feelings
Learning how to verbalize feelings is an important first step to conflict resolution. Many times kids can’t put names to how they feel, they just feel “mad.” But, as we all know, there is a spectrum of feelings and it’s important to help kids identify those.
Having a chart of feelings or a book that visually depicts a range of emotions is helpful because kids can clearly see the difference in being hurt, frustrated, sad, etc.. As they get more familiar with the range of feelings, you can help them identify and name them as conflict arises.
Role Play
Help kids understand what conflict resolution looks like through role play. With another teacher or older kid, act out a scenario where conflict comes up. Work through the issue and provide solutions to the conflict.
Read Books
Books are a great resource to help kids understand conflict resolution. They help teach this concept with a variety of characters that keep kids engaged. It also creates a chance to talk about the story afterward and dive deeper into conflict resolution. You can name feelings the characters experienced and what the problem was and how it was resolved.
Help Kids Work Through Conflict
It’s essential to not only teach conflict resolution, but to help facilitate it. Observing and intervening (when necessary) can help guide children through the conflict resolution process with a little help. You can help them by asking questions about the situation to help everyone involved find the best solution.
Practice Makes Perfect
As you begin teaching kids about conflict resolution through books, role play, and learning about their feelings, they become more familiar with it and can begin implementing it into their daily lives — the more they practice, the better they get!