WEEK 23: FRIENDS PLAY FAIR –
Playing fair has a key role in children’s ability to get along. When being first, the best, or having their own way becomes more important than the friends with whom they’re playing, it can get in the way of a child’s ability to make and maintain strong relationships. Finding children in the midst of a tussle over fairness, I often ask the following question, “Is this helping you make friends or making it harder?” More often than not, they will admit that friendship is their key desire, but they sometimes need to see things from the other person’s perspective. Once their social awareness is piqued, then we can guide them in finding fair solutions to the problem.
This week the Puppet Pals find themselves in some situations where fairness is in question. They have been reminded of some tried and true strategies for maintaining fairness in play such as:
- Sharing
- Trading
- Taking turns
- Establishing clear rules when playing a game and sticking to them without cheating.
- Finding a fair way to divide up non-preferred tasks or preferred resources like toys, books or materials.
When children watch these strategies utilized in this week’s scenarios, they can refer to them when trying to play fair with their own friends.
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