What if two friends want to play different things?

A common problem in Pre-K occurs when two children wish to play together, but they both want to play a different “game” or “story”.  We often hear that “She/He doesn’t want to play with me!” when the real problem is that she or he doesn’t want to play one child’s story.    It takes many experiences to realize wanting to play separate games is not the same as exclusion (a #1 No, No).

Here is a story from one of our Morning Messages that we used to demonstrate the common problem.  I’ve also included the solutions our thoughtful young friends devised:

Once upon a time, two friends were playing in the loft.  Sally wanted to play kittens but Harold wanted to play something else.  Now they are arguing.  What should they do?

  • They should talk and figure out which one to play first. -Re
  • They should think of a solution and start playing what they want to play. -So
  • They should play one game and then the other. – El
  • They should talk to each other. -Ra
  • They should make the ideas together. – O
  • Play something else. -Sa
  • They should use their imagination and decide what they should play and then play together. – Ca
  • They should think like Tucker Turtle and think of a thing they should do. – Cl
  • Tucker Turtle goes to the park. -A

And in other parts of the room……

Working together on a BIG project.
Working together on a BIG project.

Even large projects are possible if you remember to build it one block at a time.
Even large projects are possible if you remember to build it one block at a time.

And so the entire block area was blockaded from the rest of the room.
And so the entire block area was blockaded from the rest of the room.