Conflict resolution activities and strategies for the classroom. Teach kids to solve problems peacefully and resolve conflicts independently.
Conflict resolution is an important skill that students need to learn – beneficial to them within the classroom as well as in everyday life. Not only will kids
Conflict resolution activities and strategies for the classroom. Teach kids to solve problems peacefully and resolve conflicts independently.
Conflict resolution is an important skill that students need to learn – beneficial to them within the classroom as well as in everyday life. Not only will kids use conflict resolution in the classroom, they will also continue to use these skills as they grow. The conflict resolution skills they learn in elementary school will help them solve problems as adults. So how do we teach conflict resolution in the classroom?
Effective Conflict Resolution Activities for Classrooms
Children learn social-emotional skills by watching, practicing, and eventually adopting the behaviors for themselves. Below you will find ideas about what conflict and conflict resolution is, and how to teach students the various aspects of this important life skill.
What is Conflict?
Conflict is a disagreement or problem that happens between two or more people. It can happen to anyone, from best friends to enemies. Most conflicts start small, but they continue to grow, snowballing into major problems. As teachers, we can explain what conflict is, in order to effectively teach how to keep conflicts from becoming major problems in the classroom.
What is Conflict Resolution?
When there’s a problem, it’s important to address the problem in a peaceful way, understanding both sides of the situation. This is conflict resolution or peaceful problem solving as I like to call it in my classroom. Conflict resolution is an important skill to have, both in the classroom and in life. By helping our students practice and adopt healthy ways of solving interpersonal problems, we help them succeed in other areas of their education and life as well.
How Do You Teach Conflict Resolution?
There are many steps to teaching conflict resolution. To truly teach conflict resolution, you’ll need to teach your students how to analyze the conflict. They’ll need to be able to identify the problem and try to understand what’s causing it.
- Teach Understanding – Students need to understand what conflict is and how it can have a negative effect on a person. This type of understanding will help them know why conflict resolution is so important.
- Teach Empathy – After understanding comes empathy. Once students understand conflict, they should learn to empathize with all other students involved. Conflict affects more than one person, so to resolve it, it’s important to empathize with the other person’s feelings
- Teach Responsibility – Conflict involves more than one person. The students involved need to know how to take responsibility for their own part in the conflict. Whether they caused the problem or simply exasperated the situation, they need to admit that they were wrong and be willing to do their part to make amends.
- Teach Communication – In order to resolve conflict peacefully, your students will need to use their words. Communication is vital to conflict resolution, so teach them how to talk about the issue and come to a mutually beneficial solution.
- Teach Choice – Children need more than one strategy to solve a conflict independently. Talk about these different ways during a classroom meeting and have them practice different types with a friend. The ‘Wheel of Choice’ below offers many strategies that are simple and effective for kids.
How Can Conflict Resolution Activities Be Used in the Classroom?
Kids will always have some sort of conflict, whether big or small. The conflict between kids can be anything, whether they’re fighting over a toy or pushing another student down at recess. Conflict resolution can be used in the classroom to help keep the peace between kids. When a small problem arises, such as a friend cutting them in line, your students can use what you’ve taught them about conflict resolution to fix the problem before it becomes more of an issue.
Teach kids a peaceful problem-solving method that they can practice and use with growing independence at school. The process involves the children following 4 simple steps to solve their conflict.
Conflict Resolution Activities
Kids learn best when they practice. This is especially true for conflict resolution. When you give your students fun ways to learn conflict resolution, they’ll have a blast practicing it. The more they practice, the more it becomes second nature. If you’re looking forward to teaching conflict resolution in your classroom, here are a few activities you can use to make it fun.
- Role Play – A great way to teach conflict resolution is to role-play various scenarios. By acting out tough situations that might require conflict resolution, your kids have a safe place to work through the issue. You can discuss the process with them after, going through what they could do better next time. Great scenarios to role-play include resolving conflict with a bully, fixing a friendship after a fight, or getting along with a sibling.
- Play a Game – Playing games with peers involves learning to get along and figuring out rules together. If issues arise during a game, they can work together calming to solve the problem and continue playing. “What the Solution?” is a fun card game to play that involves kid