Conflict Resolution

The ability to identify, address, and resolve conflicts or disagreements in a peaceful and respectful manner.

Here’s a practical and age-appropriate set of activities to support the social skill of conflict resolution for home educated children. These activities help children learn how to manage disagreements respectfully, express their feelings, listen to others, and find fair solutions.

🧠 What Is Conflict Resolution?

Conflict resolution involves:

• Recognizing when a conflict is happening

• Understanding your own and others’ feelings

• Communicating calmly and respectfully

• Working together to find a fair solution

🎭 Role Play & Scenario Practice

1. Conflict Role Play

• Act out common scenarios:“Two children want the same toy.”
  “Someone interrupts during a game.”
  

• Practice using calm voices, “I” statements, and compromise.

2. Feelings First Game

• Before solving a conflict, each person shares how they feel using:“I feel ___ because ___.”
  

• Builds emotional awareness and empathy.

3. Problem-Solving Puppet Show

• Use puppets to act out a disagreement.

• Children guide the puppets to resolve the issue respectfully.

📚 Storytelling & Reflection

4. Read & Reflect

• Choose books where characters face and resolve conflicts.

• Ask:“What was the problem?”
  “How did they solve it?”
  “What would you do?”
  

5. Conflict Resolution Journal

• Children write or draw about a disagreement they had.

• Reflect on:What happened
  How they felt
  What they could do differently next time
  

6. Create a Peace Plan Poster

• Design a poster with steps to solve conflicts:
  Stay calm
  
  Listen
  
  Share feelings
  
  Find a solution
  
  Make a plan together
  

🎲 Game-Based Activities

7. “What Would You Do?” Cards

• Present conflict scenarios on cards.

• Children choose a card and explain how they would handle it.

8. Compromise Challenge

• Give two children different preferences (e.g., one wants to play tag, the other wants to draw).

• Ask: “How can you find a solution that works for both?”

9. Emotion Matching Game

• Match conflict scenarios with appropriate emotional responses and solutions.

• Helps children connect feelings with actions.

🧺 Everyday Conflict Resolution Boosters

10. Family Meeting Time

• Create a safe space to talk about disagreements.

• Practice listening, sharing feelings, and finding solutions together.

11. Peace Table

• Set up a small space where children can go to talk through problems calmly.

• Include emotion cards, a timer, and a “peace plan” sheet.

12. Kindness Tracker

• Track kind and respectful actions during the week.

• Celebrate moments when children resolved conflicts positively.

🧘 Mindfulness & Emotional Regulation

13. Calm Down First

• Teach calming strategies before solving a conflict:Deep breathing
  Counting to 10
  Using a calm-down jar
  

14. Listening Practice

• Practice active listening with eye contact, nodding, and repeating what the other person said.

• Builds mutual understanding.

15. Positive Language Practice

• Teach and practice phrases like:“Let’s find a way to fix this.”
  “I understand how you feel.”
  “Can we try again?”