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71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Scenarios
Do you have kiddos who struggle with their social problem-solving skills? Teach your students the simple process of how to solve a problem along with having them review how well their solution worked or didn’t work.
Learning to problem solve is an essential skill that is used not only throughout childhood but also into adulthood. Social problem solving is the ability to change or adapt to undesirable situations that arise throughout our day. On a daily basis, a child will encounter social problems that they will need to solve. Anything from arguing with another student, to hurting a friend’s feelings, to having a difficult conversation, or working with others.
Start with Small Problems
Many of the “problems” children encounter are often small problems which the child may be over-reacting to, such as wanting a different coloring crayon or wanting to be first in line, however, these small problems are still very real to the child. Practicing problem-solving with these small problems can be a great learning opportunity. Children can practice problem-solving with a small problem which can help them learn how to handle bigger problems in the future.
Problem Solving Importance
Social problem-solving skills are critical to a child’s social interactions, personal and professional relationships. A child’s ability to handle change, cope with stress, and handle challenges improves with a child’s ability to successfully solve social problems.
The ultimate goal is that the child will be able to solve social problems all on their own, but until they can independently solve a problem they will need to learn how to communicate and self-advocate to positively solve their problems.
Students with Autism Problem Solving
Students with autism and other social challenges need to learn to problem solve as well. These social problem-solving skills will help them throughout their childhood and into their adulthood. Children can be taught how to problem solve through a guided process of breaking down the problem and using simple steps to solve the problem. Learning specific steps to problem-solving can allow children to remember how to solve a problem when they become overwhelmed or stressed. Although learning to solve a problem independently can take some time and practice it is well worth the investment to have a child who can eventually solve most social situations in a positive manner on their own.
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Problem Solving Form
Teach your students the 4 steps to becoming a social problem-solver.
- Identify the problem. For instance, start by having your student identify the social problem.
- Create three solutions. Also, have your student come up with three different solutions that they could use to solve the problem that they identified.
- Identify the consequences. Then, identify the consequence for each individual solution.
- Pick the best solution. Lastly, have your student identify which of their three solutions is the best choice Then have your student put into words why they think that solution is the best solution.
What we learnt about solving problems is don't freak out, if one thing doesn't work , try something else out. And work together as a team. #melthammathsweek #MELTHAMPUPILVOICE @problemsolveit pic.twitter.com/iVm1Im4Aue — yr6melthamce (@yr6melthamce) February 4, 2019
Problem Solving Review Form
After your students go through the social problem-solver have them use the social problem-solving review form.
- What happened. For instance, after your student tried their solution have them explain what happened next.
- Review the results. Also, have your student identify whether or not their solution got them the results they wanted.
- Use this solution again. Furthermore, have your student identify whether or not they would use this solution again in the future to solve the same or similar problem.
- What would you do differently? Finally, have your student explain what they would do differently if they didn’t get the results they wanted or if they wouldn’t use that solution again in the future.
71+ Social Problem Scenarios + 6 Blank Scenarios
Use the 71 social problem-solving scenarios to have your students get great experience practicing how to solve a social problem. Also, included are 6 blank scenarios. Then laminate them so you can use them over and over again. Therefore, create social problems that the student experiences and needs help solving.
Wordless Video teaching Problem Solving
Watch this super cute wordless animation with your students and have them discuss the problem they see and how to best solve the problem.
Use this as a fun practice example to get your students started towards learning how to problem-solve.
Demonstrate Through Modeling
- Model and discuss empathy. First and foremost, children need to understand how another person might be feeling in a given situation in order to become a good social problem solver. The student needs to learn how to “stand in someone else’s shoes” for a little bit. One way you can work on this skill is during the reading time you can focus on how a particular character in the story might be feeling. Ask questions, such as, “How do they feel right now? How would you feel in that same situation? Why do you think they feel that way?”, etc.
- Model problem-solving skills as the teacher. When you are faced with a problem you can solve the problem by thinking aloud for the students to hear how you solve a problem. You can state the problem, then come up with possible solutions, then identify the possible consequences to each solution, then pick and explain why a solution is the best option. For example, you could say, “I was hoping to take the class outside for a stress walk around the track before the reading test, but the problem is that it is raining outside. I could still take you outside, but then you will get wet, or we could walk the halls, but then we’d have to be really quiet because there are other classes learning, or we could just skip the walk and take the reading test, but then you might not do as well on the test. I think based on all of those solutions the best solution will be to walk the hallway, but you guys will have to promise to be quiet so that we don’t disrupt other classes. Modeling the problem-solving process can be very helpful for the students to watch, observe, and later implement themselves.
Teach Communication
- Have students communicate how they are feeling . Teaching your students to share their emotions in a respectful way can improve their ability to problem-solve. Have students use an “I” sentence frame, such as, “I feel _____ (insert feeling word) when _____ (identify what made you feel that way).” For example, “I felt sad when Jackson broke my favorite pencil” or “I was mad when I wasn’t picked to be first in line. “This way students can communicate how they are feeling using honest and open communication. Teaching students to appropriately communicate their emotions can help solve some social problems from the beginning.
Encourage Independency
- Encourage your student to problem solve. If your student is struggling to problem solve independently encourage them to do so using open-ended questions, such as “How could you fix this problem?” “What would be a fair solution?” “What would happen if you used that solution?”, etc.
- Let the student try to problem solve independently. Give your students the space to try and solve their own problems using the guided strategies. Try not to come running to their rescue for every little problem. Some problems are small and a great opportunity for the student to learn and practice. If an adult does all of the problem solving for a student then what are they really learning. Give your students the time and space they need to practice solving small problems on their own. Of course, if it is a bigger or more serious problem then have an adult help guide the problem-solving process.
- Tell an adult. Remind your students that there are still some problems that are too big for them to solve on their own and that it is okay to get help from an adult to solve big problems. For example, if the student doesn’t feel safe, someone is being hurt physically or emotionally, or if they tried to solve a problem independently but it didn’t work and they need help. Let them know that it’s okay to tell an adult.
Teach How to Disagree and How to Make Up
- Discuss how to disagree respectfully. Remind your student that they won’t always agree with their teacher, friends, classmate, or parents and that’s okay. Even the people we like might have different opinions, interests, and likes than we do. However, even if we disagree with someone we should still treat them with respect. Treating someone with respect means to not call them names, ignore them, yell or hit them. It means that you do try to create solutions that both parties can agree with and to apologize when we hurt others’ feelings.
- Role-play how to make up. Practice in everyday life how to make up after a social problem .
Get your free social problem solver today!
I hope you and your students love this freebie!
Students are really having to stretch their brains today. It's @NSPCC #NumberDay and @problemsolveit are challenging Y9 and 10 to solve the escape room boxes. It's not as easy as it looks! The promise of a few sweet treats for the winners seems to be helping though! pic.twitter.com/AxRRJnJIv2 — CongletonHS (@CongletonHS) February 2, 2018
Have your students use task card scenarios to help them identify how they and others might feel in different social scenarios. Be sure to discuss the problem, identify possible solutions, identify the consequences of those possible solutions, and then based on those consequences pick the best solution. Make social problem-solving a game by telling the students that they are social detectives and that it is their job to use what they know about social rules to help them identify the possible and best solutions. Start practicing today with 71+ free social problem social task cards! Do your students need more practice? Be sure to check out my other freebie for 31 wordless animated videos to teach problem-solving and so much more.
Get More Problem Solving Time Saving Materials
Next, be sure to check out the following time-saving materials to continue to teach your students how to solve their social problems in addition to this freebie.
Weekly Social Pragmatics Homework
- Weekly problem-solving. Send home a weekly homework page that includes a problem-solving scenario plus an idiom and a conversational practice scenario.
Restorative Justice Problem Solving Flip Book
- Restorative justice graphic visual. Use this graphic visual to help your student restore a social relationship after a social problem.
Self-Advocating Role-Play Scenarios
- Self-advocating in high school. Teach your high schoolers the process to self-advocate for what they need.
5th-12th Grade Life Skills Problem Solving
- Life skills problem-solving. In addition, this life skills differentiated bundle includes a problem-solving lesson plan.
I recommend you read Problem Solving Wheel: Help Kids Solve Their Own Problems , 61+ Free Fillable SLP Planner Pages 2020-2021 , 430+ Free Multisyllabic Words List Activity Bundle , or 432+ Free IEP Goal Bank to Save You Time posts because they include freebies as well and who doesn’t want more freebies!
Got questions? Leave a comment. Let’s chat!
Monday 30th of January 2023
Hello! I have entered my name and email twice (yesterday & today) to receive to 71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Senarios, but I have not received anything yet. Not even an email back to mine in order to subcribe. Thanks for your help! Tracy
Melissa Berg
Tuesday 31st of January 2023
Hi Tracy, Thanks so much for reaching out! Sorry about that. We went ahead and sent you an email with the PDF attached. Wishing you all my best, Melissa
Problem Solving Skills
Tuesday 30th of August 2022
I truly love your site. Excellent colors, theme and writing. Thanks for sharing.
Laura Ricca
Monday 11th of April 2022
Tuesday 12th of April 2022
Hi Laura, I'm glad you found this resource helpful. Melissa
Modified Mental Health and Suicide Prevention - Speech Therapy Store
Monday 11th of May 2020
[…] 71+ FREE SOCIAL PROBLEM-SOLVING SCENARIOS […]
Problem Solving Wheel: Help Kids Solve Their Own Problems - Speech Therapy Store
Monday 4th of May 2020
[…] 71+ Free Social Problem Solving Task Cards Scenarios […]
The Pathway 2 Success
Solutions for Social Emotional Learning & Executive Functioning
Teaching Social Problem-Solving with a Free Activity
February 3, 2018 by pathway2success 5 Comments
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Kids and young adults need to be able to problem-solve on their own. Every day, kids are faced with a huge number of social situations and challenges. Whether they are just having a conversation with a peer, working with a group on a project, or dealing with an ethical dilemma, kids must use their social skills and knowledge to help them navigate tough situations. Ideally, we want kids to make positive choices entirely on their own. Of course, we know that kids don’t start off that way. They need to learn how to collaborate, communicate, cooperate, negotiate, and self-advocate.
Social problem solving skills are critical skills to learn for kids with autism, ADHD, and other social challenges. Of course, all kids and young adults benefit from these skills. They fit perfectly into a morning meeting discussion or advisory periods for older kids. Not only are these skills that kids will use in your classroom, but throughout their entire lives. They are well worth the time to teach!
Here are 5 steps to help kids learn social problem solving skills:
1. Teach kids to communicate their feelings. Being able to openly and respectfully share emotions is a foundational element to social problem solving. Teaching I statements can be a simple and effective way to kids to share their feelings. With an I statement, kids will state, “I feel ______ when _____.” The whole idea is that this type of statement allows someone to share how their feeling without targeting or blaming anyone else. Helping kids to communicate their emotions can solve many social problems from the start and encourages positive self-expression.
2. Discuss and model empathy. In order for kids to really grasp problem-solving, they need to learn how to think about the feelings of others. Literature is a great way teach and practice empathy! Talk about the feelings of characters within texts you are reading, really highlighting how they might feel in situations and why. Ask questions like, “How might they feel? Why do you think they felt that way? Would you feel the same in that situation? Why or why not?” to help teach emerging empathy skills. You can also make up your own situations and have kids share responses, too.
3. Model problem-solving skills. When a problem arises, discuss it and share some solutions how you might go forward to fix it. For example, you might say, “I was really expecting to give the class this math assignment today but I just found out we have an assembly. This wasn’t in my plans. I could try to give part of it now or I could hold off and give the assignment tomorrow instead. It’s not perfect, but I think I’ll wait that way we can go at the pace we need to.” This type of think-aloud models the type of thinking that kids should be using when a problem comes up.
4. Use social scenarios to practice. Give a scenario and have kids consider how that person might feel in that situation. Discuss options for what that person might do to solve the problem, possible consequences for their choices, and what the best decision might be. Kids can consider themselves social detectives by using the clues and what they know about social rules to help them figure out the solution. These are especially fun in small groups to have kids discuss collaboratively. Use these free social problem solving cards to start your kids off practicing!
5. Allow kids to figure it out. Don’t come to the rescue when a child or young adult has a problem. As long as it’s not a serious issue, give them time to think about it and use their problem-solving skills on their own. Of course, it’s much easier to have an adult solve all the problems but that doesn’t teach the necessary skills. When a child comes to you asking for your help with a social problem, encourage them to think about it for five minutes before coming back to you. By that point, they might have already figured out possible solutions and ideas and might not even need you anymore.
If you are interested in helping your kids learn social problem solving skills right away, consider trying out these Social Problem Solving Task Cards . They highlight real social scenarios and situations that kids can discuss. The scenarios include a variety of locations, such as in classrooms, with family, with friends, at recess, and at lunch. This set is targeted for elementary-age learners.
Of course, older kids need social problem solving skills, too! If you work with older kids, you will love these Social Problem Solving Task Cards for Middle and High School Kids. These situations target age-appropriate issues that come up in classes, with friends, with family, in the hallway, in the cafeteria, and with online and texting.
Remember that teaching social problem skills does take a little bit of planning and effort, but it will be well worth the time! Kids will use these skills to help them make social decisions in their everyday lives now and in the future!
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February 22, 2018 at 12:03 am
Thank you for sharing>
March 3, 2018 at 8:59 am
Good thought ful
March 20, 2018 at 9:24 pm
They are not free
March 21, 2018 at 8:58 am
They are! Here is the link (it’s listed under number 4): https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Social-Problem-Solving-Task-Cards-2026178 I also have a paid version with a bunch more cards (for both elementary and older kids), but that will give you the freebie. Enjoy!
July 15, 2018 at 3:41 am
Awesome way to teach the skill of social problem solving.
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⭐ Kristina Scully 💖 SEL & Executive Functioning 💻 Blogger at www.thepathway2success.com 👩🏫 Curriculum Specialist 🏫 10 Year Special Ed Teacher
10 Problem Solving Activities for High School Students
Published on march 15, 2017 at 12:01 am by ethan jacobs in lists , news.
Why should we care about problem solving activities for high school students ? What’s the fastest way to get to and from work? How can I complete a task more efficiently? What should I have for lunch today? No matter the size, scale, or ramifications, we all encounter scenarios every day that require the very best of our decision-making abilities. The approaches that we employ to solve these problems can be every bit as diverse as the problems themselves.
Sometimes we crowdsource, other times we decide using trial and error, and in a pinch, we solicit the unerring wisdom of Siri. What happens though, when there simply is no collection of experts to whom we can appeal and we’re devoid of the familiar technology that helps make our decisions for us? Computers do an excellent job of automating processes, but are incapable of the initial pattern recognition required to identify the most efficient solution available. What’s more, in a time crunch, trial and error won’t stand you in good stead; you’ll have to decide in an instant. This need for self-reliance in decision-making scenarios makes critical thinking, the ability to use facts, knowledge and data to successfully solve problems, absolutely indispensable. This is further reflected by the recent trend of rapid growth in demand across industries that seek talent with considerable problem-solving abilities, as well as the increased use of problem solving activities in the workplace to continue employee development.
Marijus Auruskevicius/Shutterstock.com
In order to best set the next generation up for success in this regard, it’s critical to begin fostering these skills from an early age. Beginning in high school or earlier, problem solving enables students to apply what they’ve learned as opposed to merely recalling information that they have been spoonfed, equipping them with an arsenal of tools and approaches to tackle issues that may have previously seemed uni-dimensional. This ability, in turn, transforms the rigors of academic learning into that something that’s applicable at a professional level, simultaneously silencing the familiar “when will I ever use this?” chorus to which educators have become so accustomed. Whether carried out in individual or group settings, problem solving activities help students develop critical skills such as leadership, teamwork, creativity, persistence, and incremental improvement through repetition.
And if you are looking for more brain thinking activities we have a similar read – 10 Best Team Building Problem Solving Activities .
In addition to discovering new, useful techniques with which to tackle problems, students that are immersed in problem solving endeavors learn effective ways to present their findings once all is said and done, providing them with valuable written and oral skills in addition to those included in the aforementioned list. In short, when teachers present students with problems and task them with finding a solution, teachers can ensure that their students are prepared for challenges that they will encounter after graduation. We searched the web looking for the best problem solving games, and took the recommendations from various sources, such as Concordia , and Stanford to name a few. Here is a list of 10 problem solving activities for high school students to help them sharpen their skills.
10 Best Team Building Problem Solving Activities 10 Problem Solving Activities for High School Students activities to improve creativity activities to improve persistence in high school students activities to improve teamwork skills amoeba problem solving activity Brainstorm Bonanza critical thinking activity brainstorming activities for high school students critical thinking exercises for high school students Group Therapy brainstorming exercise List XFinance Moral Dilemma critical thinking exercises Problem Lotto group activity problem solving activities for high school students Protto critical thinking exercise Pulling Pockets problem solving activity Quarto critical thinking game Slideshow Solution Bee critical thinking exercise Survivor Scenarios What can you do with this activity Show more... Show less
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Social Problem-Solving Task Cards for SEL Skills and Activities
Also included in: Social Skills Activities & Lessons MEGA Bundle
Problem Solving Scenarios | Social Skills for Teens | Distance Learning
Also included in: Social Skills for Middle School and High School | Distance Learning
Social Skills + Problem Solving Activities Boom Cards
- Internet Activities
Also included in: Social Skills + Pragmatic Language Activities Boom Cards Speech Therapy
Tucker Turtle Bundle: Problem Solving & Social Skills
In A Pickle: Problem Solving Boom Cards | Social Skills
Size of My Problem Task Cards - SEL Social Skills & Problem-Solving Activities
Social Skills Problem Solving: Social Media
- Easel Activity
Also included in: Social Skills Problem Solving Bundle
Problem Solving Activities | Decision Making | Problem Solving Scenarios
Also included in: Social Emotional Learning | Social Stories | Character Education | Big Bundle
Friendship and Social Skills Group Counseling Curriculum
Also included in: Small Group Counseling Curriculums Bundle
Social Skills Problem Solving: Winning and Losing
Social Emotional Learning Art Activities and Lessons
Also included in: Social Emotional BUNDLE | SEL Skills Activities, Workbooks, Lessons & Task Cards
Problem Solving Behaviors - Differentiated Activities for K-5th Grade
Also included in: FRIENDSHIP BEHAVIORS Pack 3 - Personal Space & Problem Solving
Social Skills Activities Problem Solving with Multiple Perspectives 3
Social Skills: Friendship Problem Solving Bundle
Social Skills and Stories Solving Problems
Also included in: Social Skills Bundle
Scenario Cards For Social Skills Problem Solving & Friendship
Also included in: Social Skills Activities | Social Problem Solving Scenarios | Social Role Play
Social Skills Problem Solving Bundle
Prioritizing Problems Social Skills Activities Speech Therapy
Also included in: Social Skills Bundle for Speech Therapy
Social Skills + Pragmatic Language Activities Boom Cards Speech Therapy
Size of the problem behavior activities task cards social skills and worksheets
Also included in: Social skills behavior activities worksheets task cards SEL behavior
Social Skills Activities Bundle for Problem Solving Perspective Taking
Social Problem Solving Scenarios Boom Cards
What's the Problem? Print & Digital Real Photo Cards for Problem Solving
Also included in: Real Photo Practice Cards for Language Skills: Print & Digital Speech Therapy
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11 Social Skills Worksheets for Seamless Social Interactions
And that’s okay.
All of us, at times, experience similar feelings and find making conversation difficult while we struggle to leave a good impression (MacLeod, 2018).
Social problems can be helped. Shyness and anxiety can be identified and managed, and conversation skills can be practiced and improved.
This article provides a wealth of worksheets for building and developing social skills in children, students, and adults. You can practice them individually, in counseling, and in group sessions to become socially skilled.
Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Relationships Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients build healthy, life-enriching relationships.
This Article Contains:
2 best social skills worksheets for adults, developing social skills: 3 worksheets for children, 4 best activities for children and teenagers, helpful worksheets for students, 3 cbt worksheets to use with clients, group counseling activities, a look at social skills training in the workplace, resources from positivepsychology.com, a take-home message.
“After you accept that you’re still going to encounter some social unease from time to time, your aim should be to become socially functional” (MacLeod, 2018, p. 48).
The following are a few worksheets that cover a wide range of social skills and considerations and, when practiced, help increase self-knowledge and social awareness.
How to Support Your Friends
Friends are a crucial part of your social network. While they can provide valuable support mechanisms for you, you must equally be there for them when they need your help (Wendler, 2020).
The How to Support Your Friends worksheet examines a situation when a friend needed your support.
- How did you respond?
- How can you help them in the long term?
- How can you practice self-care?
When providing support, it is essential that you (Wendler, 2020):
- Remain present
- Remember, this is not about you
- Offer support rather than solutions
- Accept their feelings, rather than tell them how to feel
- Try not to panic
Healthy Relationships involve both giving and receiving, and an awareness and consideration of everyone’s needs.
High- and Low-Energy Social Skills
Social skills involve a great deal of nonverbal communication , such as how we stand, how loud we speak, and even the way we tilt our heads. Such cues can provide physical indicators of empathy and help show whether we are currently high or low in energy (Wendler, 2020).
One vital way to improve our social skills is to match our energy with our partner’s or the group we find ourselves in. For example, if we enter a meeting and everyone is excited about a new product launch, low energy may mean we fail to appear part of the team.
The High- and Low-Energy Social Skills worksheet helps us consider the energy exhibited by ourselves and others and whether we match those around us.
Think of a time when a friend, colleague, partner, or group was high in energy. How did you respond? High energy or low energy?
If you matched their energy, it showed empathy and most likely helped you mix and improve your social skills.
Note that there will be times when your circumstances or events prevent you from energy matching, and it is important to practice self-care.
The following worksheets are helpful exercises for children learning to be more socially adept and communicate successfully.
Self-Awareness for Children
Becoming more self-aware involves recognizing feelings, thoughts, and their impact on behavior (Fleming, 2021). Developing self-awareness can help children in social settings interact and be sure their needs are not overlooked.
The Self-Awareness for Children worksheet practices self-awareness and self-knowledge by asking the child (or group of children) a series of questions regarding how they are feeling and what they are thinking.
Becoming more self-aware can increase the child’s empathy and understanding of their own and others’ hopes, wishes, and needs.
Responsible Decision-Making for Children
Making a decision can be stressful, and not making one can be worse. Our choices often have social implications, building or damaging relationships, so they need to be taken carefully (Peters, 2018).
The Responsible Decision-Making for Children worksheet prompts the child to reflect on the likely social implications of their choices and how to show respect to themselves and others.
The important decisions we make can have far-reaching impacts. We should give ourselves time to gather information, consider the options and their impact, and seek the help needed.
Good Choices – Bad Choices for kids
When children have friends making bad choices that are potentially detrimental to themselves and the social groups around them, it can be all too easy to follow suit (Daniels & Rabar, 2019).
The Good Choices – Bad Choices worksheet can help children reflect on their friends’ poor decisions and how to react to the social pressure and the situation.
We all make mistakes, especially in social situations. It is essential to reflect and learn from what we do and, in the future, behave in ways more in line with our values.
Activities where children visualize, role-play, or work through social interactions and engagements can develop their understanding, awareness, self-confidence, and self-knowledge.
And “like any other skill, practice makes perfect” (Daniels & Rabar, 2019, p. 13).
The following activities can be adjusted according to the child’s age and should include appropriate support and supervision (modified from Daniels & Rabar, 2019):
- Going blindfolded A lack of social skills can feel like walking around blindfolded. Find somewhere safe where the child feels comfortable. Blindfold them and ask them to attempt to make their way toward the door.
Once finished, tell them that, as with walking blindfolded, you may find you bump into things, sometimes feel lost, and need a little help as you develop your social skills.
- People watching Creating narratives can help make sense of a complex social environment. Find a safe location where you can watch people and their lives drift by (perhaps a cafe or transit station). Ask the child to choose a person or couple and make up a story about their lives, including where they are going and why.
Ask the child to say what they saw and heard that helped them make up the story.
- Questions to start conversations Striking up conversations with people they don’t know can be difficult for children (and adults too).
Sit with the child and write down a list of questions that could be helpful when starting conversations in various situations, for example:
Do you have any pets? What are their names? How was your weekend? What did you do?
Then practice the questions and conversation building in pairs.
- Throwing it back It is useful to learn how to keep a conversation going. Explain to the child that one of the easiest ways to continue a conversation is when someone asks you a question, answer it, and then throw another one back. It’s like catching and throwing a ball.
Practice making up situations, questions, and answers in pairs.
For example:
What are you up to over the weekend? I am going swimming. What about you?
It’s a simple trick and can lead to the next point for discussion.
But it takes practice, and mistakes are inevitable.
The following two worksheets consider what friendship means to the individual and help clarify their self-concept.
What Does Friendship Mean to Me?
Use the What Does Friendship Mean to Me? worksheet to reflect on why friendship is so important to the individual. While increasing feelings of relatedness and closeness, understanding friendship can also help clarify social interactions and keep individual needs in mind.
Use this awareness to appreciate your friends and recognize when people are not showing you friendship.
Self-Concept for Conversations
Conversation is easier when you can speak clearly about who you are.
Use the Self-Concept for Conversations worksheet to summarize how you think about yourself. An explicit self-concept will make it easier to introduce yourself in social situations.
Revise the answers before meeting others in a social environment. They can lead to further conversations.
Adopting the right mindset is crucial for dealing with anxiety, shyness, and the lack of confidence that causes social discomfort (MacLeod, 2018).
It’s important to recognize that it is not always the situation that causes the problem, but our beliefs regarding that situation.
The following worksheets provide three valuable techniques for considering and replacing unhelpful thinking:
- ABC Functional Analysis By understanding both the causes and the effects of your client’s behavior , you can help them recognize social behavior standing in the way of their goals.
- Coping Styles Formulation When confronted with challenging social situations, we sometimes attempt to escape or put up defenses. Understanding the problem and the existing coping style makes it possible to develop more adaptive coping strategies.
- Graded Exposure Therapy Social situations can lead to fear and avoidance. Safe environments can be created to manage exposure and learn how to become more comfortable in difficult situations.
Sharing our insecurities
Discussing real or imagined socially awkward or difficult situations can help us understand our own and others’ fears and reflect on our coping strategies.
Within the group, discuss the following points and their impact (modified from MacLeod, 2018):
- Accept that nervousness comes from valued goals Discomfort can be put in perspective and may even be worthwhile if pursuing something meaningful.
- Accept that it’s okay to show what you are experiencing When we stop worrying whether we appear nervous or scared, anxiety loosens its grip.
- Tell people when you feel shy or insecure Most people have been through similar experiences. Casually share your concerns and move on.
- Recognize that it’s normal to get nervous There is nothing wrong with you. As humans, we are set up to have these feelings. Permit yourself to have them.
Ask the group to share experiences to normalize their insecurities.
Coping with social anxiety
A group setting is a great place to discuss complex social situations that cause anxiety and shyness. Individuals can share helpful strategies they adopt to manage difficult thoughts and feelings.
Discuss within the group how the following might help (modified from MacLeod, 2018):
- Riding out the symptoms We don’t always need to escape or avoid the situation. For example, leading up to a presentation, nervousness may boost your energy and invigorate what you share.
- Challenging your thinking Question whether the thinking that is feeding your anxiety is valid or helpful. Challenging your thoughts can reduce their effect.
- Distracting yourself Find something else to focus on. Thinking through the plot of a favorite film, playing through a cherished piece of music in your head, or thinking about your children can take the focus off what is causing you upset and give you time to become calm.
- Breathing exercises Breathing exercises where you breathe out more slowly than you breathe in can engage the parasympathetic system and settle your mind and body (Nestor, 2020). Take a few slow, deep breaths. Make the out-breath slow through pursed lips if it helps.
Ask the group to share other communication techniques that help them through social situations.
Telling a good story
Sharing personal stories can be a great way to build connections with the people you meet. However, start small. Begin with a semi-personal story and see how they react (Wendler, 2020).
Daniel Wendler (2020) suggests making the story enjoyable by sharing what was going on in your head at the time, rather than simply the facts. It will help the listener experience the narrative and build a connection with you.
Once finished, rather than continue by telling another story, share the spotlight so that everyone gets a turn.
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Gaining valuable emotional awareness can help us relate to others personally and professionally. While emotional intelligence training benefits social skills in general, it is particularly valuable in the workplace (Goleman, 2018).
Here are some particularly relevant training options:
- Emotional Intelligence Masterclass© Our masterclass is a complete, six-module emotional intelligence training template for helping professionals to understand and use their emotions in life-enriching ways. This masterclass will provide you with all the tools, materials, and knowledge required to make an impactful difference.
- EI Masterclass: Embodied Emotional Intelligence Beyond EI teaches the principles behind emotional intelligence and how to practice them. You will learn to become more aware of what provides meaning in your own life while regaining control.
Improving social skills makes it possible to strengthen communication with friends, family, and colleagues and build stronger, enduring relationships.
Why not download our free emotional intelligence tool pack and try out the powerful tools contained within? Some examples include:
- Building Emotional Awareness Use this valuable script and audio to foster your emotional intelligence by mindfully attending to current emotional states.
- Decoding Emotions by Analyzing Speech, Body, and Face Accurately perceiving and understanding people’s emotions is a core component of emotional intelligence.
Other free resources include:
- Conflict Resolution Checklist This 10-item checklist is a valuable method for ensuring conflict is resolved.
- TRAPS to Avoid and TIPS for Success Adopt these helpful tips to avoid closed thinking and put in place productive, positive, and receptive communication
More extensive versions of the following tools are available with a subscription to the Positive Psychology Toolkit© , but they are described briefly below:
- Small Talk to Build Connection
This tool helps people connect through practicing small talk with people they don’t yet know.
Many of us opt to keep to ourselves rather than strike up a conversation with a stranger, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
- Step one – Identify the reasons for avoiding small talk.
- Step two – Choose a context for engaging in small talk.
- Step three – Find a topic for making the connection.
- Step four – Find a time and a place to practice the approach.
The final stage is to evaluate the success of the approach.
- Team Branding
Perceived, rather than actual, team branding is crucial for effective team performance.
We can foster team interactions by creating team identity.
- Step one – In small groups, identify the team’s strengths.
- Step two – Gather all the responses into cohesive headings.
- Step three – Assign each small group a task such as creating a team name, slogan, mission statement, etc.
- Step four – Have each team present their findings.
Reflect on the new team identity.
Feeling socially uncomfortable – shy, nervous, and awkward – can prevent us from reaching our social and professional potential.
While it is something all of us have faced, we can work through it and build skills for seamless social interactions.
First, we must recognize that we are not likely to remove all of our insecurities. Second, we should remind ourselves that all of us feel a degree of discomfort at times, and it does not have to ruin social engagement.
Importantly, we should remember that social interactions require balance. Taking turns with the spotlight is crucial, and so is focusing on the needs of the parties involved.
We must also consider energy levels, self-awareness, the choices we make, and our self-concept if we are to build lasting, deep relationships with those we meet.
While getting to know new people is not easy, the investment is worthwhile, and practice will make it easier.
This article contains plenty of worksheets and tools to get you started and maintain your journey toward building the social skills to lead the life that is right for you. Good luck.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Relationships Exercises for free .
- Daniels, N., & Rabar, S. (2019). Social skills activities for kids: 50 Fun activities for making friends, talking and listening, and understanding social rules . Rockridge Press.
- Fleming, S. (2021). Know thyself . Basic Books.
- Goleman, D. (2018). The first component of emotional intelligence. In Self-awareness (pp. 1–10). Harvard Business Review Press.
- MacLeod, C. (2018). The social skills guidebook: Manage shyness, improve your conversations, and make friends, without giving up who you are . Author.
- Matson, J. (2018). Handbook of social behavior and skills in children . Springer.
- Nestor, J. (2020). Breath: The new science of a lost art . Penguin Books.
- Peters, S. (2018). The silent guides: Understanding and developing the mind throughout life . Lagom.
- Wendler, D. (2020). Improve your social skills . Author.
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is a problem-solving activity that is suited well to a class-size group.
is an easy to set up activity that, depending on how you frame it or where you put it in the sequence can be used as a warm-up, deinhibitizer, or trust activity, and maybe even group problem-solving. I like to use it when I need to get the group to move from one location to another. It’s a transition activity with a lesson!
is a fun activity used for teaching goal setting (adapted from Activities That Teach by Tom Jackson).
Balloon Frantic
is a fun activity can be used to teach a number of different concepts as well as general problem-solving.
Balloon Trolleys
is a fun problem-solving activity. It can be simple to set up, but difficult to accomplish.
is a group problem-solving activity that can also be used as a self-regulation activity.
Don't Touch Me
Giant Lizard Egg
is a problem-solving activity that is suited well to a smaller-than-class-size group or multiple smaller groups.
Hidden Polygon
is a fun problem-solving activity for a class-size group or smaller groups.
is an oldie but goodie problem-solving activity.
Knot Exchange
is a problem-solving activity that work well for a group of 12 or more.
Marble Tracks
is a problem-solving activity that is suited well to a class-size group or multiple smaller groups.
is a simple, but deceptively difficult problem-solving activity.
Turn Over a New Leaf
is a problem-solving activity that can be used for one large group or a number of subgroups at the same time.
is a fun way to work on understanding goal setting and on group problem solving or working together as a group.
Social Studies Problem solving for high school students
Examples from our community, 10000+ results for 'social problem solving for high school students'.
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Top 50 problem solving activities, games & puzzles for remote teams
Blockchain and Crypto / March 6, 2022 by admin
Here is a list of the top 50 problem solving activities, games & puzzles best suited for remote teams. Read on!
What are problem solving activities?
The success of a company or organization depends heavily on the managers’ ability to help workers develop their problem solving skills. Problem solving activities that address areas such as teamwork and cooperation, adaptability or reinforcement of decision-making strategies help.
All processes of problem solving begin with the identification of the problem. The team will then evaluate the possible course of action and select the best way to tackle it. This needs a profound understanding of your team and its core strengths.
Not only among corporates, but problem solving activities find their use in educational settings as well. Students who are good at solving problems will become much more successful than those who are not. Remote work and education are on the rise.
Enabling smooth interpersonal communication to solve problems can become a task in these situations. However, engaging all the people concerned in problem solving activities before shifting to the remote space can ease the process.
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Key skills evaluated in problem solving activities
Problem solving skills refer to the necessary thinking skills that an individual or group uses when met with a challenge. Many issues require the use of several skills; others are easy and may require only one or two skills. These are some skills that help to solve problems,
- Communication skills
- Decision-making skills
- Analytical thinking
- Negotiation skills
- Logical reasoning
- Persistence
- Lateral thinking
Problem solving skill examples
Several problems occur at the workplace. Problem solving skills can be technical problems that occur on websites or apps or addressing client concerns. Problems could be simple or complex. Business managers spend time and resources to solve problems.
They encourage their team to improve their analytical and logical abilities. Common issues in companies can be exploding data or changing technology, or financial management.
Did you know? Emotional intelligence plays a crucial role in problem solving!
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Problem solving scenarios
Many problem solving scenarios occur at work. The basis to solve any problem is to evaluate and arrive at a solution. Analytical skill or problem solving ability is a skill many employers evaluate while hiring candidates.
Strong problem solving skills can be an asset to any organization. Organizations organize problem and solution activities to improve the problem solving abilities in the workplace.
1. Decision making games
Businesses are looking for new and innovative ways to stimulate their staff. Decision making games help employees to learn new skills and work effectively as a team. Decision making activities help to improve the creative problem solving and decision-making skills of the team. Here are some best Decision-making games,
1. Dumb Idea first – This game gives a hypothetical problem that could occur in your company. Ask each manager to think of the dumbest solution to the problem. After compiling the list of the ideas, the team reviews them.
You have a brainstorming session to make the “dumb ideas” feasible. This problem solving exercise underlines the importance of out-of-box thinking.
Benefits: Decision-making skill
Time duration: 10 to 15 minutes
Team size: 2 to more team managers
Material: Paper and pencil
2. Egg Drop Idea – The objective of the game is to build a container to protect the egg when dropped from a specified height using the material provided. Each team nominates a presenter who explains why the egg will survive the fall.
Once they have presented the idea, the team drops the egg to check if the idea has worked. Egg drop pyramid activities like the marshmallow challenge help teams to think on their feet.
Benefit: Decision-making skill and is a top problem solving skill example
Time duration: 15 – 30 minutes
Team size: 6 or more
Material: A cartoon of eggs, aprons to protect clothes, material for packing (cardboard, tape, elastics, plastic straws, etc.), material to clean up.
Instructions:
- Every team gets an egg and should choose from the building materials.
- Grant everyone 20-30 minutes to build an egg carrier and guard against breaking.
- Remove each egg carrier from a ledge (that is, over a balcony) to see which carrier prevents it from cracking.
- If several eggs survive, continue to heighten until only one egg remains.
3. Dog, Rice, and Chicken – The dog, rice, and chicken game can be fun decision-making activities for adults. In this game, one team member plays the farmer, and the other team members are villagers who advise him. The farmer has to take three items chicken, dog, and rice across the river by boat.
There are the following constraints:- only one item can be carried on the boat. He cannot leave the chicken and dog alone because the dog will eat the chicken. He cannot leave the chicken alone with the rice because the chicken will eat the rice grains.
Benefit: creative problem solving examples that are applicable at work.
Time duration: 10-15 minutes.
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2. Teambuilding puzzle
Team building exercises are fun and creative ways to get your team to work together and improve problem solving skills.
1. Lost at Sea – In this game, you and your friends have chattered a yacht to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. Since you do not have any navigation experience, you hire a captain and a two-person crew. Unfortunately, the crew and captain die when a fire breaks out on the yacht.
The yacht is severally damaged and is sinking. You and your friends have managed to save 15 items and a lifeboat. Your task is to rank the 15 items while you are waiting to be rescued. The activity lost at sea team building underlines the importance of problem solving skills in the workplace.
Benefits: Team building exercise and interaction
Time duration: 30 to 40 minutes
Team size: 4 to 6
Material: Lost in sea ranking for interaction chart for each member
2. Marshmallow Spaghetti Tower – The marshmallow team-building activities have the goal of building the tallest tower as quickly as possible. To make the task more challenging the marshmallow is placed at the top of the tower. This is a fun puzzle activity for team building.
Benefit: Teambuilding puzzle
Time duration: 30 minutes
Material required: 20 sticks on raw uncooked spaghetti, a marshmallow, masking thread, and yarn of thread.
3. Go for Gold – This is an example of a marshmallow challenge similar to activities. The objective of this exercise is to create a structure using pipes, rubber tubing, and cardboard to carry a marble from point A to point B using gravity.
Benefit: team building problem solving scenario examples
Team size: Minimum 6 persons
Material required: Each member has different material
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3. Work Problem Solving
Work problem solving activities help to use the skills you used in problem solving activities in your workplace.
1. Create your own – this game aims to create a brand new problem solving activity for the organization. The team can brainstorm for 1 hour. After one hour each team has to give a presentation about their activity outlining the key benefits.
Benefit: Understanding the problem solving process. Build creativity, improve negotiation, and Decision-making skills
- When the participants arrive, you declare that they will create an original problem solving activity on their own, rather than spending an hour on an existing problem solving team-building exercise.
- Divide members into teams and encourage them to develop a new problem solving team-building exercise that will fit well with the organization. The activity should not be one they have engaged in or heard of before.
- Every team has to show their new activity to everyone else after an hour and outline the main benefits.
2. Shrinking Vessel – make a shape on the floor using a rope where all the team members can fit. Reduce the size every 10 -15 minutes. The real challenge for the team is figuring out how to work together and keep everyone together.
Benefits: Adaptability and cognitive diversity
Material: Rope and large room
- Place on the floor a big circle of rope. Position your whole team inside the circle.
- Lessen the circle size steadily. When it gets smaller, advise the team to keep the entire team inside the circle. Nobody must move out of the loop. See how small you can make the area until it cannot remain inside.
3. Legoman – the team is divided into groups of two or more people. Select an impartial individual who will make a structure in 10 minutes. Each team will compete to recreate it in fifteen minutes. Only one person is allowed to see the structure. They need to communicate vital parameters like color, shape, and size.
Benefits: Communication
Tools: Lego
4. What Would X Do – This problem solving activity stimulates teams to think of new ideas.
- Benefits: Instant problem solving
- Time Duration: 10-15 minutes
- Materials Required: N/A
- Let every team pretend to be someone famous.
- Every team needs to address the issue as if they were a famous person. Which are the choices they would consider? How will they do this?
- It helps all to consider options they may not have initially thought of.
Tip: Before you decide, a problem is worth solving, weigh the risks of solving it versus not solving it.
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4. Team building riddles
Team building riddles are a great way to show the team group problem solving is usually more effective.
1. Barter puzzle – the team is broken into groups. Give each team a different jigsaw puzzle to solve. The groups have to complete the puzzle at the same time. The twist in the game is that some pieces of their puzzle belong to other puzzles.
The goal is to complete the puzzle before the other teams. Each group has to come with their method to convince other teams to handover the pieces they need, either by bartering pieces or donating time to the other teams. This puzzle piece team-building activity helps teams to collaborate.
Benefit: Team building and negotiating.
Material: Jigsaw puzzle for each team
Time: 30 minutes
2. Scavenger Hunt – in this game, each team has a list of the article to locate and bring back. The goal of the game is to finish the assigned list first. In the scavenger hunt, the team has a time limit to make the game more challenging. You have the flexibility of having the hunt outside or within the premises. The team-building puzzle game helps the team to look for creative solutions.
3. Escape – the goal is to solve clues and find the key to unlock the door in a limited time. Hide the key and a list of clues around the room. The team has 30 to 60 minutes to figure out the clues and unlock the door.
Benefit: Team building exercise
Material: Rope, key, lockable room, 5 to 10 puzzles
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5. Work together problems
Work together on problems helps to underline the need to collaborate while solving issues at work. Group challenge activities help the team work well together.
1. Bonding belt – each group is divided into 5 to 6 participants, who are bound together with rope or tape so that their movements are limited. The team has to reach from point A to point B, and the time is recorded. The teams collaborate to beat their previous score.
Benefits: Helps the team to collaborate and skills for problem solving scenario/
Time: 20 to 30 minutes
Material: Cling film, belt, or rope
2. Scramble puzzle – the team members with blindfolds sit in a circle with the puzzle. The teammate without the blindfold sits outside the circle, with their back to the group. The blindfolded group tries to assemble the pieces of the puzzle. The outsider who has the same puzzle gives the team instructions to solve it.
Benefits: trust, leadership, and communication
Material: Preschool-level puzzles and blindfolds.
3. Flip it over – this is a classic work-together problem. In this game, 6 to 8 participants stand together on a blanket/towel/tarp. The challenge is to flip over the blanket or reverse it. The rule is that none of the participants can leave the blanket.
Benefit: Work together exercise
Duration: 30 minutes
Material: Blanket
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6. Team building survival games
Team building survival games helps to fine-tune problem solving scenarios that may occur at work. The activities encourage creative problem solving and decision making.
1. Stranded – Stranded helps in building effective communication. In this setting, the team is stranded in an office. The rooms will be locked, and doors and windows cannot be broken down. The team is asked to make a list of 10 items that they need to survive.
They need to rank items in the order of their importance. The team has to agree on the items and the order. Stranded is one of several popular survival team-building exercises.
Benefit: Team building and Decision-making exercises
- Your team is stuck inside the building. Doors are closed, so there is no option to kick down the doors or smash the windows.
- Grant the team 30 minutes to determine what ten things they need to thrive in the office and list them in order of importance.
- The goal of the game is to get everyone to agree in 30 minutes about the ten things and their ranking.
2. Minefield – you randomly place items around the room or hallway and there is no clear path from one end of the room to another. The team is divided into pairs. One team member is blindfolded, and the other team member is the guide.
The guide navigates the blindfolded person across the minefield. The two partners cannot touch. This survival team-building activity underlines the need for clear communication.
Benefits: Communication and collaborative problem solving
Duration: 10-15 minutes
Material: Blindfold, empty room or hallway, and collection of random items.
3. Frostbite – in this survival scenario team-building exercise the team is trapped in Siberia. Each team has to elect a team captain. The team has to build a storm shelter with the material provided.
The twist in the game is the team captains cannot help physically since they have frostbite. Other team members are suffering snow blindness and are blindfolded. The electric fan will be turned on in 30 minutes to see if the shelter built will survive the storm.
Benefit: Leadership, skills action plan, and team building survival games
Team size: 4 to 5 members
Material: An electric fan, blindfold, simple building materials like cardboard paper, rubber bands, toothpicks, masking tape, straws, sticky notes, etc.
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7. Group decision making games
Group decision making games help encourage creative problem solving and decision making at work. Here is a bunch of group decision making games
1. Reverse Pyramid – the team members stand in a pyramid shape. The next step is to flip the base and apex of the pyramid. The limiting factor in only three persons can move.
Benefits: Group Decision-making and collaboration
2. Tower of Hanoi – in this game, there are three towers/posts/rods with 5 or more discs arranged conical shape with the smallest shape at the top. The objective of the game is to move the entire stack to another location retaining the shape. Some conditions of the games are only one disc can be moved at a time. Only the top disc can be moved. Another rule of the game is larger disc cannot be put on a smaller disc.
Benefits: This team-building exercise helps problem solving within the participants.
3. Human Knot – the team stands in a circle every person holds hands with a person not standing next to them. When everyone is cross-connected, the aim is to untangle the structure without letting go of anybody’s hand.
Benefit: group problem solving
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8. Funny problem solving games
We need to solve problems for personal and professional lives. Funny problem solving exercises are a light way. Funny problem solving can help reduce stress levels.
1. Pencil drop – in the pencil drop challenge, one end of the pencil is tied to a pencil and the other is tied around the waist of a team member. The other team member puts the pencil into the bottle placed below. The participants are not allowed to use their hands.
Benefit: Team bonding
Team size: 2 members each
Material: Some pencil and bottle
2. Blind drawing – this game requires two players to sit back to back. One participant describes an image in front of them without giving stating anything obvious. The other participant needs to draw it using the description. The outcome can be fun.
3. Be the character – in this activity, you pretend to be an imaginary character while trying to solve a problem. This game gives a unique perspective on your solution and whether the solution is feasible for other members.
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9. Group problem solving activities for adults
Group problem solving activities are very efficient, especially for adults. These can be used in any setting to enhance problem solving skills.
1. Human Knots
- Benefits: Communication skills, collaboration
- Time Duration: 10 – 15 minutes.
This is one of the most straightforward group problem solving activities that can be done with any group. It facilitates communication and critical thinking in the face of a challenging and complex question. Various group members will possibly suggest a variety of solutions, and each will need to be reviewed and adopted by the organization as a whole.
- Have the group stand in a small circle (make several circles when you are a larger group). Every person in the loop will hold the hands of 2 other people who are not directly next to them. That would make a messy crossed arms knot.
- Ask the group to disentangle themselves without moving their hands at any point in time. They may be unable to disentangle completely to form a circle again. Still, they would have begun to work together to solve the problem by the end of the activity.
2. Frostbite
- Benefits: Leadership, decision-making, trust, adaptability
- Time Duration: 30 minutes.
- Materials Required: An electric fan, blindfold, simple building materials like cardboard paper, rubber bands, toothpicks, masking tape, straws, sticky notes, etc.
Your group is trapped in the barren deserts of Siberia, and a sudden winter storm is approaching. You have to create a shelter with only the materials in hand that can survive the storm’s harsh winds. The leader of your expedition was afflicted with frostbite in both hands, sadly, and all the others experience severe snow blindness.
- Divide the group into clusters of 4-5. Every group will have to elect a chief.
- Group leaders are not allowed to use their hands to support the group in any way, and group members should be blindfolded during the exercise.
- The groups have 30 minutes to build a small tent structure that can withstand the wind from the fan’s highest location.
3. Dumbest Idea First
- Benefits: Critical thinking, creative problem solving, quick problem solving
- Time Duration: 15 – 20 minutes
- Materials Required: Pen or pencil, a piece of paper.
Dumbest Idea First is one of the most creative problem solving activities for groups. This can encourage your creativity by thinking out of the box and lead you to ideas that would typically sound too insane to work. You can broaden the possibilities by looking at these crazy solutions first, and find potential alternatives that might not be as obvious.
- Present your team with a question. It could be a real-world dilemma facing the group, or it could be a created scenario. For example, your company attempts to beat a rival to win a high-paying customer contract, but the customer bends to your competitors. You have a short period before they make the final decision to change their mind.
- With the given question, advise your group to come up with the dumbest ideas to tackle the issue. Anything can be written down.
- After each person has put forward a few ideas, go through the list, and analyze each plan to see which are the most feasible. List them from the highest level of feasibility to the lowest level.
4. Wool Web
- Benefits: Leadership, communication
- Time Duration: 30 minutes
- Materials Required: Some balls of yarn.
As hard as replicating the magnitude of the real-world problems is, that is no excuse not to try! Wool web creates a dilemma that appears complicated at first, but groups will learn to break down complicated challenges into solvable problems one move at a time.
This happens by using the right strategy and working together. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most stimulating problem solving activities for adults.
- Split the group into similarly large teams. Every time, it receives a yarn ball.
- Tell each team to turn the yarn ball into a vast web. Give them around 5-10 minutes to do this. When done, rotate all the teams so that every team is on a yarn web they have not set up.
- Every group must choose one person to untangle the web. That individual would be blindfolded and be guided by the rest of the team on how to unwind the web using only verbal instructions. The first team to achieve it wins the game.
5. Tallest Tower
- Benefits: Creative thinking, collaboration
- Materials Required: 1 bag of marshmallows, one packet of uncooked spaghetti.
Simple building projects can help group members create strategies to overcome box issues. Tallest Tower is another one of the most creative problem solving activities. Groups will compete with only two materials to make the tallest tower in a fixed period.
- Divide the group into two, which have an equal number of players. Provide 20 – 30 uncooked spaghetti noodles and 3-4 marshmallows to every team.
- Groups must compete in the provided period to build the tallest tower using only the materials supplied. A marshmallow has to be set at the top of the tower.
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10. Problem solving activities for students
Below is a bunch of problem solving activities for students and kids,
1. Brainstorm Bonanza – Brainstorm Bonanza is one of the best problem solving activities for students. As a teacher, making your students create lists relevant to something you are teaching at the moment can be a fantastic way to help them expand their knowledge of a subject when learning to solve problems.
- Benefits: Problem solving
- Materials Required: Pen and paper
1. If you are discussing a real, current, or fictional occurrence that did not work out well, let your students imagine ways that the protagonist or participants might have produced a better, more favorable result.
2. They can brainstorm independently or in groups.
2. Clue Me In – this is one of the most enjoyable problem solving games. It facilitates logical thinking and cognitive development.
- Benefits: Cognitive development, logical thinking
- Time Duration: 20 minutes
- Materials Required: A bag, clues, items as necessary
- Select a collection of things relating to a specific occupation, social phenomenon, historical incident, object, etc.
- Assemble individual objects (or pictures of things) commonly linked to the target response.
- Place all of them in a bag (five-10 clues ought to be enough).
- Then, have a student reach into the bag and take out clues one by one.
- Select a minimum number of clues to draw before they make their first guess (two-three).
- After that, the student should guess, pulling each clue until they think it is right.
- See how quickly the student can solve the riddle.
3. Survivor Scenario – Create a hypothetical situation that allows students to think creatively to make it through. One example may be being stuck on an island, realizing that three days of help would not come.
The community has a small amount of food and water and has to establish shelter from the island’s objects. This would undoubtedly be one of the fascinating problem solving activities for students.
- Benefits: Logical thinking, collaboration
- Encourage working together as a group.
- Listen to each student who has an idea about making it safe and secure across the three days.
4. Moral Dilemmas – Create several potential moral dilemmas that your students can face in life, write down, and place each object in a bowl or container. These things may include items like, “I’ve seen a good friend of mine shoplifting. What is it that I would do?” or “The cashier gave me an additional $1.50 in change after I purchased candy from the shop. What is it that I would do?”
- Benefits: Logical thinking
- Time Duration: 5 minutes per student
- Materials Required: Container, bits of paper with moral dilemmas written
- Ask every student to draw an item from the bag one after the other and read it aloud.
- They must then tell the class the response on the spot as to how they would handle the situation.
5. Problem solving box – this is an activity that will help on both cognitive and emotional levels for students.
- Benefits: Logical thinking, decision making
- Materials Required: Box, paper, pen
- Have your students design and decorate a medium-sized box with a top slot. Name it as the “Problem Solving Box.”
- Invite students to write down anonymously and apply any concerns or problems they may have at school or at home, which they do not appear to be able to work out on their own.
- Let a student draw one of the things from the box once or twice a week, and read it aloud.
- Finally, as a group, let the class work out the best way students can approach the problem and eventually solve it.
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11. Problem solving activities for kids
Below is a bunch of problem solving activities for kids,
1. Puzzle-solving – Solving puzzles is one of the best problem solving activities for kids out there. Essentially, every puzzle is a big collection of muddled-up items to figure out and bring back together again.
Kids must be introduced to puzzles with regularity. These are useful for improving skills in reasoning. The best kinds to choose from are wooden puzzles with a wooden frame. They last long, and the structure serves as the foundation to direct children during construction.
- Benefits: Reasoning skills
- Time Duration: Varies
- Materials Required: Puzzles according to the age level
Instructions:
- Show the kids a demo of how a particular puzzle can be solved.
- Then, let them choose a puzzle of their liking from the available choices.
- Ask them to solve their chosen puzzles.
2. Memory Games – Memory games will improve memory and attention to detail for your child.
- Benefits: Attention to detail
- Materials Required: Matching pairs of images
- Using matching pairs of images and turn them all face down, shuffled, on a table.
- Take turns to pick any two cards, and face them on the table.
- You hold the cards if you turn over a similar pair, and if the pair does not match, turn the cards over before it is your turn to try again.
- A teacher/parent must encourage the kids to concentrate on where the pictures are, and seek to find a matching pair on each turn.
3. Building games – Construction toys like building blocks, wooden blocks, or legos should be a staple in a kid’s home every day. Playing with them is one of the most fun problem solving activities for kids. Anything that your child builds is a challenge as it involves thinking about what to create and how to put together the parts to get a workable and usable design.
- Benefits: Decision making
- Materials Required: Construction toys.
1. Let your child build a challenge openly and often, and ask him/her to build a particular structure, with conditions. For instance:
- Create two towers with a bridge that connects them.
- Create a creature that stands alone and has three arms.
2. Observe how your child uses trial-and-error before finding a way to bring the idea into motion.
4. Tic-Tac-Toe – this is an excellent game for teaching decision-making skills. It encourages kids to think before they act and weigh the potential consequences.
- Materials Required: Pencil, paper
- Draw a simple tic-tac-toe table on paper or chalkboard.
- Take turns to add a nought or a cross to the table to see who is the first to make a line of three.
- Your kid will likely catch on in no time before placing their symbol and start thinking carefully.
- Coloured counters or different items can be used to play this game as well.
5. Building a Maze – This activity is fun and fits for any age. It will also be a lot more enjoyable than doing a maze in an activity book, particularly for younger kids.
- Materials Required: Chalk
- Draw a big maze with jumbo chalk on the paving. Make passages, including one or two, which end in an impasse. Teach your kid how to get out of it.
- Make the maze more complicated and add more dead-end passages as your child gets better at figuring out a path and finding the way out.
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What is a problem solving process?
When a team or person faces an issue or obstacle, it can be tempting to quickly track a potential solution and set up a fast fix. This could happen without understanding the complexity of the problem and pursuing a systematic approach to seeking a solution.
The attempts to address issues or obstacles may become unstructured and frustrating without a consistent method. End-to-end processes for problem solving offer a mechanism for a community to tackle any size or nature, and see results. Problem solving activities for adults, kids, and students can help make the problem solving process very useful.
Army problem solving process
There are 7 steps to problem solving army model,
- Recognize and define the problem – The first step army problem solving process is defining the problem precisely and determining the root cause.
- Gather facts and make assumptions – You need to gather all information you have at your disposal. Common resources for information may be documentation and policies. Assumptions are unsubstantiated facts. Use facts rather than assumptions when you need to analyze the scope of the problem.
- Generate alternatives – One of the key steps in military problem solving is finding ways to solve the problem. Ideally, it best to have multiple approaches to solve the problem. Take input from peers and subordinates if possible.
- Analyze possible solutions – Analyze each possible solution with advantages and disadvantages. You evaluate each solution according to screening and feasibility criteria. Reject the solution when it fails in the screening process.
- Compare Alternatives – Another crucial step in the army problem solving model is to evaluate alternatives for cost and benefits. You need to consider your experience and immediate future. Tabulating each solution with the pros and cons will help clear the picture.
- Make an executive your decision – Make a decision and prepare an action plan, and put it in motion.
- Assess the result – You need to monitor the implementation of the plan and modify it if required. Establishing critical steps and milestones will help to ensure success.
Army problem solving games
- Capture the flag – the game helps in team building and army problem solving. Two teams compete against one another to retrieve a flag or object from the opposing team camp base and get into their camp base. This game is flexible, and ground rules need to be set before the game starts.
- Paintball – Paintball is a fun military problem solving activity. You can have many modifications and variations of the paintball game. The aim is to fire paint pellets at the opposing team. Laser tag is another variation of the game.
- Firing blind – Firing blind is a game where each team has a large number of water balloons. At the other end of the field has to hit the target is protected by a tarp from direct firing. The team has to hit the target that is covered. One team member acts as the observer and directs the team to hit the target with the water balloons.
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Obstacles to problem solving
Problem solving can take time and patience, one of the best ways to solve any problem is pausing and evaluating the problem. Obstacles to problem solving are,
- Misdiagnosis – Misdiagnosis is a common problem can occur due to preconceived idea, biases or judgments. Defining and having a concrete understanding of the problem is the first step in the problem solving activity. This can be difficult. If you are not careful, you may spend your time and resources solving the wrong problem and finding the wrong solution.
- Communication bias – Communication barriers are caused when we are unable to explain the problem to the team, or presuming we know more than everyone else. Everyone on the team must be on the same page. You may need to acknowledge you have a limited understanding of the problem.
- Solution bias – A common obstacle in problem solving is thinking there may be a universal solution or thinking the same solution can solve multiple problems. You need to evaluate a problem independently than try to force-fit a solution that worked previously.
- Cognitive bias – One of the barriers to finding an effective solution is cognitive bias, or the tendency to jump to conclusions. To find solutions fast firms often end up with an irrelevant solution. This may cause more problems down the line.
- Lack of empathy – Every problem is associated with human emotions or abilities. It is important to identify and recognize people affected by the problem or it will be difficult to find a solution that will solve help.
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Famous virtual problem solving software
Traditionally watercoolers chat is a great way to bring people together and help team members interact with one another. A virtual water cooler has a similar concept where people interact in a similar virtual setting or a dedicated virtual room. It allows remote teams to bond. Software that offers virtual water coolers services,
- unremot.com – provides users with a unique water cooler experience. The app provides unique solutions to remote teams.
- Microsoft Teams
- Informal Whatsapp group
- Donut over slack channels
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20 Problem-Solving Activities for Middle School Students
June 28, 2022 // by Lesa M.K. Bullins, EdS
Problem-solving skills are important to the building of critical thinking, which in turn strengthens student executive function. Good problem solvers can build stronger cognitive flexibility, a critical component of executive functioning.
The teenage years are a crucial time for neuroplasticity, so it is a prime time for learning and developing important cognitive skills along with critical information. Bring problem-solving to life in your middle school classroom with these 20 activities.
1. Feelings Expression Scenarios
A huge part of problem-solving is properly expressing your own feelings. Students often struggle to state how they feel without combative, aggressive, or accusatory language; therefore opportunities to practice with realistic situations is a key problem-solving component. You can create scenario task cards to support students in realistic applications for relatable situations, or use pre-made cards.
Learn More: Pinterest
2. Empathy Empowered Discussions
In addition to being able to calmly and kindly express one's feelings, empathy is a key problem-solving component. Teens can often struggle to express empathy as they have difficulty recognizing and interpreting due to the teenage brain functioning.
Teenage brains are still developing, so different areas of the brain are controlling different functions than we see in adult brains; furthermore, since teens are still figuring out what they think and feel about a variety of things, it can be difficult for them to recognize and consider the feelings and thoughts of others. You can instigate empathy discussions through relatable content like this short video.
Learn More: Austin Wideman
3. Model, Model, Model...and then Model Some More!
Students learn more from what they see you do than what they hear you say! This means you have to be an active and purposeful model of what you expect. So make sure you are aware of your actions and words in front of your students!
Learn More: Education World
4. Get Out of the Way
We need to allow students the time and space to solve problems. We cannot intervene every time they struggle to find the answer right away. Constant intervention hinders critical thinking and decision-making skills.
Make sure to leave some room for students to figure out solutions. Keep safe proximity so students have the comfort to know you are there if they cannot find a solution, but resist the urge to jump in as soon as you see them struggling.
Learn More: Brookings
5. Plan a Road Trip
Engage problem-solving skills within context while reinforcing math, research, geography, and communication skills, too! Students can plan a road trip from start to finish in small groups. As an added bonus, you can let students travel virtually to the places they planned for their trip using Google Earth.
If time allows, they can even take screenshots and stage selfies for a presentation to share their trip with the class! This is a really great cross-curricular activity for the digital classroom, too!
6. Escape the Room
Escape rooms were made for problem-solving, so what better way to build these skills for students in an exciting way! Create different challenge activities surrounding a variety of subjects and skills to reinforce while lettings students put problem-solving to use finding practical solutions to escape the room!
Divide kids into teams and get on this engaging problem-solving activity!
7. Teach Explicit Strategies for Reflection
Students can build analytical skills by reflecting on their problem-solving process. Teach explicit skills to help students recognize and reflect on how they solve problems to reinforce future use and strengthen overall critical thinking abilities. Check out how Ellie from Cognitive Cardio made it work even in the time constraints of middle school schedules!
Learn More: Cognitive Cardio With MSMM
8. Daily Practice
Give students short, interesting, and challenging problems to solve during the morning and afternoon transition times. Daily practice solving challenges is important for cognitive development and reinforces academic skills! You can find tons of daily challenges online or create your own.
9. Build Something
Let students work together in teams to build something from simple building materials. Increase the challenge by limiting resources or requiring students to pick their own resources for building blocks from a variety of random items. You can check out the marshmallow toothpick tower-building activity!
Learn more: Wow Sci
10. Blind Drawing Partners
Students can work in partner pairs or small groups to develop a vast array of abilities through this problem-solving activity. Blind team-building activities are excellent, low-prep ways to engage students' critical thinking and communication!
There are different ways you can implement this, but check out this video for an example of one application of the blind drawing game.
Learn more: Philip Barry
11. Laser Maze
Create a laser maze for students to get active in problem-solving. Create and implement different time durations to increase the challenge. Do not have lasers? No budget for lasers? Don't worry, red painter's tape will do the job!
Learn More: That Phillips Family
12. Shared Story Puzzles
Creating story puzzles that force students to work in groups together to put together, add on, and create a cohesive story that is meaningful is another challenging task to engage in collaborative problem-solving.
Learn More: Secondary English Coffee Shop
13. Yarn Webs
This social-skill-building collaborative problem-solving activity is fun for any age. Organize students into teams then let them choose a color of yarn, build a team web, and see who can navigate. There are so many ways this activity can be adapted, but you can watch a video of one interpretation here .
Learn More: KEYSAmeriCorps
14. Scavenger Hunt
Create a series of clues that students must solve to progress through the game. Working in groups can help build conflict resolution and social skills as well. Check out how to create scavenger hunts for the classroom in this video by Learning Life.
Learn more: Learning Life
15. Boom! Math!
An excellent way to build advanced problem-solving skills, as well as mathematical analysis, is to create math Boom Cards with word problems like these from Math in the Middle. Boom cards are a great activity for students to practice and build skills!
Learn more: Boom Learning
16. Wheel of Solutions
Give students practice in exercising a number of different kinds of problem-solving skills by spinning and communicating a solution using the skills on which they land. You can make one in the classroom with a posterboard or create a digital wheel. Such a fun interactive resource! Use this great pre-made digital activity from Resource Haven on Boom Learning or create your own!
Learn More: Boom Learning
17. Collaborative Math
Another activity for team building that supports mathematical concept reinforcement is students working together to collaboratively solve math problems. Check out how Runde's Room made sure everyone is engaged in working on solving parts of the problem through the sticky-note collaborative math activity.
18. Get Mysterious
Math Mysteries are a fun activity that builds out-of-the-box thinking and creates an inquisitive environment. Problem-solving develops through the process of inquisition! You can create your own or use Lee and Miller's 40 Fabulous Math Mysteries Kid's Can't Resist Scholastic book found here.
19. Logic Puzzles and Games
In addition to logic-building games like Chess, you can provide logic puzzles for morning and afternoon transitions, during downtime, or for early finishers. Logic puzzles help students think critically. You can make your own or get some prefabricated resources like the ones found in this book by Chris King .
Learn More: Brainzilla
20. Lead Number Talks
Number talks are important to building problem-solving. Number talks allow students to build on one another in a collaborative way, discuss how they have solved problems before, consider how those solutions may be applicable to new skills they are about to learn, and build depth in math concepts.
So instead of getting quiet, get them talking!
Learn More: North Dakota Teaching Kayla Durkin
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Teaching Students to Solve Social Problems
image credit: Yoel Ben-Avraham
As educators, we know that social problems among students are common issues in our classrooms. Teachers encounter social problems on a daily basis such as:
- only four students can use the computer center but a fifth student wants a turn ;
- during group work, one student does not get along with another student ;
- three students argue over a football at recess and a shoving match ensues ; or
- a student does not share the art materials with others and words are exchanged .
Behaviors like these are commonplace, but over time they can escalate and may cause some serious issues in the classroom. Thus, it is important to provide supports and interventions that teach students with social and behavioral needs how to solve problems with other people. By doing so, you can help them to establish and maintain appropriate relationships and help them learn to display prosocial behavior while at school and beyond.
What is Social Problem Solving?
Social problem solving is the cognitive-behavioral process that an individual goes through to solve a social problem. Typically, there are five steps within this process:
1. Identifying that the problem exists : Recognizing there is a problem that needs to be solved.
2. Defining the problem : Naming and describing the problem.
3. Generating solutions : Coming up with many possible solutions for the problem.
4. Evaluating solutions and enacting the chosen solution : Evaluating each possible solution to select the one that is most likely to solve the problem, and then effectively carrying out the chosen solution.
5. Assessing the outcome : Determining whether the problem was solved or not. If the problem was solved, no need to repeat the process. If the problem still exists or if another problem appears, the process might need to begin again.
For many competent problem solvers, this process can be automatic and skilled social problem solvers may not go through the process in a linear fashion or even realize the steps they take to solve the problem. Students who are limited in their problem solving ability, however, must be taught explicitly the step-by-step process.
How to Foster Social Problem Solving in Your Classroom
Teaching students to solve a social problem is similar to solving other types of problems, such as in math. Start by teaching explicitly each step of the social problem-solving process to your students and review the process often. An acronym can be used to help them remember the steps. For example, the Cognitive Behavioral Research Group at the University of Florida developed the following acronym as part of the Take CHARGE! curriculum to teach middle school students the process:
C heck – See If You’re Angry
H old on – Calm Down & Think
A nalyze – Figure Out the Cause
R eflect – On Possible Solutions
G o for it – Pick a Solution
E valuate – See What Happened
There are many other ways to foster social problem solving in your classroom.
- Have students apply the social problem-solving process to problems that they encounter in school. Go through the social problem-solving steps with students to help them decide on the best solution.
- Include practice for social problem-solving skills by using activities, games, and role-plays throughout your school day.
- Literacy instruction : have students decide how a book character could solve a problem.
- Writing : have students write about problems they encounter, solutions they brainstormed, how they enacted the solution, and the outcome.
Be sure to reinforce students when they use the social problem-solving process appropriately and make good behavioral choices. If you are more comfortable using a curriculum to teach social problem solving, check out Tools for Getting Along: Teaching Students to Problem Solve (for upper elementary students) and Take CHARGE! (for middle school students).
A Blog About Parenting: Coping Skills, Behavior Management and Special Needs
20 Fun Conflict Resolution Activities for Kids (Printable PDF): Worksheets, Games and Activities
Conflict resolution activities for kids: In this post, we will explore different strategies to help kids deal with conflict. We will also list fun and easy activities that you can add to your conflict resolution lessons or use at home with your kids. And, at the end of the post, you will be able to download some conflict-resolution worksheets.
We all go through conflict and arguments in our everyday life. Learning healthy ways to handle conflict is an invaluable social skill to develop in our kids
Luckily, there are some really creative ways to help teach kids all about conflict resolution.
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What is Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution is the process used to manage or settle our differences using different conflict resolution strategies.
Ideally, we will try to achieve positive outcomes that will satisfy or be beneficial for all parties sides.
Conflict-resolution is similar to problem-solving. In conflicts though, we may see ourselves inundated with strong feelings (anger, frustration, sense of injustice).
Managing those feelings will be an important first step before we attempt an effective problem-solving strategy.
Conflict Resolution Techniques
There are different classifications that map conflict resolution styles and techniques.
We will briefly review a couple of them because they are a good foundation for understanding conflict resolution’s intricacies.
We’ll start with one of the most popular ones:
The Five Conflict-Handling Modes
Thomas (1976) classifies interpersonal conflict-handling behavior in a model with two basic dimensions:
- Assertiveness (attempting to satisfy our own concerns)
- Cooperativeness (trying to satisfy other people’s concerns too)
This two-dimensional model results in five conflict-handling modes:
- Collaborating (assertive & cooperative)
- Competing (assertive & non-cooperative)
- Compromising (an intermediate level of both assertiveness and cooperativeness)
- Avoiding (unassertive & uncooperative)
- Accommodating (unassertive & cooperative)
In plain words:
- Collaborating: kids look for ways to solve the conflict that bring the best outcome for both parties (the famous win-win situation)
- Competing: we only care about our own goals and are not trying to accommodate the needs of others
- Compromising: we try to look for a solution that may not be our preferred one but is acceptable for all parties involved
- Avoiding: one of the parties may not be as invested in the problem, or prefers to avoid confrontation, and decides to withdraw from the argument
- Accommodating: a kid may choose to neglect their own preferences to satisfy the preferences of the other person
Related Reading: How to Teach Assertiveness to Kids
Other Conflict Resolution Strategies
If we take into consideration the parties involved in a conflict, we could also list the following strategies:
- Negotiation
- Arbitration
- Litigation (which obviously does not apply to our topic here)
What would these look like for our kids: We will focus on how this translates to conflict resolution for kids:
- Negotiation: kids brainstorm satisfactory solutions to their problems and reach a win-win solution. If they can’t find a good solution, they may need to look for a compromise
- Mediation: when kids can’t resolve the conflict on their own, they may need a neutral third party (teacher, parent, caregiver) that helps them come up with a solution rather than imposing it.
- Arbitration: we would arrive here when kids can’t agree, so the neutral third party will need to put the argument to rest deciding on the best solution after listening to both sides.
Why is Conflict Resolution Important for Kids
Children need essential skills like navigating difficult situations to get a peaceful solution.
Benefits to developing conflict resolution skills:
- develop communication skills
- strengthen friendships
- learn goal setting
- solve conflicts in a peaceful way
Conflict resolution requires the development of a number of social skills like:
- problem-solving
- managing negative feelings and big emotions
- collaboration
- flexible thinking
- compromising
- effective communication
- acceptance of diversity
It is when someone in a conflict situation takes the time to consider the emotions of everyone else involved. If kids are able to develop this skill through effective communication and strong emotional intelligence , it will help them solve problems in a more effective way throughout their life.
There are many ways to help kids grow their ability to resolve conflict that can be fun and informative. Keep reading to learn some of the most popular conflict resolution activities…
Healthy Ways to Deal with Conflict
There are healthy and unhealthy ways to deal with conflict.
These are some examples of unhealthy ways kids can use to deal with conflict:
- Not caring about the other person’s view
- Holding a grudge
- Big emotional reactions like getting very angry, shouting, calling names, threatening
- Not being able to compromise
- Giving up on something that is important to you
Examples of healthy ways to approach conflict may include:
- Caring about the other person’s view
- Using your calm and assertive voice to express your feelings
- Not taking things too personally
- Learning to forgive
- Being able to compromise
- Working to find solutions that can accommodate both sides (negotiation)
20 Conflict Resolution Activities for Kids
Wondering how to teach conflict resolution to kids?
Discuss conflict at home or school. Choose topics from the news, a conflict at work, something that happened at school, or even made-up conflict scenarios.
Beyond having conversations, there are some great activities that kids can do individually or as a group to help foster this vital skill.
Here are 20 of the best conflict resolution activities for kids that can help build the valuable lifelong skill of resolving conflict peacefully.
The activities below fall under the following categories:
Conflict Resolution Worksheets
- Conflict Resolution Activities
- Conflict Resolution Games
Some of these activities will be a great addition to a lesson plan.
Conflict resolution is, in essence, a social problem-solving situation.
In this worksheet, we will follow the steps for problem-solving, with an important addition (calm-down):
- Calm down so that you can deal with the conflict
- What is the problem/conflict
- Listen to the other side
- Think about possible solutions
- Check pros and cons
- Decide what solution works best for all (win-win if possible)
You can download this conflict resolution worksheet at the end of the post.
This conflict resolution worksheet will work on the different conflict-handling modes:
- competition
- accommodating.
Identify a conflict scenario, and ask your students to write examples for each conflict resolution strategy.
Your downloadable worksheet includes an example of a conflict scenario (Tim & Ellis want the same book) and a blank worksheet (for your own examples).
In this activity, we will try to connect the size of our problem, with different ways of dealing with conflict.
Conflict resolution strategies include negotiation, mediation, and arbitration.
Depending on the type of conflict kids are dealing with, they may be able to deal with that conflict on their own (little problem), or they may need to involve an adult in the situation (mediation/arbitration for big problems)
Fun Conflict Resolution Activities for the Classroom / Groups
4. Conflict Resolution Roll-Play
On a popsicle stick, write out common conflicts that children face. Once you have around 20, have two students stand in front of the class and act out the situation that the popsicle stick says.
Once they act it out, have the class discuss different solutions to how the problem could be solved either as a group or in small groups.
Variation: if the different scenarios you are choosing are a bit complicated for the popsicle stick, you can write them down on pieces of paper and put them in a jar or a box.
5. Write it Out
Using the popsicle sticks from the last activity, have the students all draw a different scenario and then write how they think the conflict should be resolved.
In small groups of three or four, have the students share what their popsicle sticks had written on them, and how they would solve the problem.
6. Negotiation Scenario Activity
This is a great conflict resolution activity to help kids understand that there are always different points of view.
Create a conflict scenario where neither of the two parties has all the information about the other party. If both parties negotiate, they can reach a solution that will be good for both of them, but they need to listen to each other to be able to come up with the solution.
An example:
- (Part 1) Two students need the same book for a school essay (for example, “How dinosaurs became extinct”) They only have one day to write their piece, there is only one copy in the school library and neither of them wants to give it up. Let the students discuss how to deal with this conflict
- (Part 2) Provide each student with some additional information: Student A (Annie) would prefer to write about inspiring women role models, but she couldn’t find anything on that topic. Student B (Amanda) loves dinosaurs and is really keen on writing on this topic. On her birthday, she was gifted the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls book. That could be an excellent choice to inspire Annie’s essay. Ask the students to go back to the negotiations, and suggest they explore why the other party wishes to write about the chosen topic. Are the solutions different this time
7. Create a Short Story
Ask your students to develop a story that recreates a conflict and how it gets solved.
8. Exploring Feelings
Read aloud to your students a scenario that could bring out different emotions.
It could be something as simple as:
- Scenario 1: parent is late for school pick up, and they are going to miss the football match
- Scenario 2: a classmate declines your invitation for a playdate.
Have everyone write down how that would make them feel on a 5×8 notecard, then hold it up.
Ask them to share what they have written and learn how the same scenario can bring different feelings in each person:
- a kid may assume their parents got stuck in traffic, while some other may feel they don’t care if they miss sports
- a student may assume that their friend is very busy, while another may feel their friend doesn’t care and may look for other friendships
Our feelings play an important role in how we deal with a situation.
9. Listening Activity
An important part of conflict resolution is listening to the other side.
Following up on the previous activity, let’s now add new pieces of information
- Scenario 1: there was a big traffic jam, and the parent’s phone was out of battery
- Scenario 2: your friend has swimming lessons on the day you suggested (and since you proposed the same day each time, they kept declining)
After listening to the other side, how would you approach this argument/conflict?
Related Reading: Listening Games and Activities for Kids
10. Conflict Resolution Writing Prompt
Have your students write out the sentence “I would get into a fight with someone if they tried to take away_________.”
Then have them write down why that item is so important to them that they would want to get into a fight.
The idea behind this is that they realize that most conflicts aren’t worth it.
11. Healthy vs. Unhealthy Conflict Resolution
Have your kids write down ways to solve a conflict scenario. They don’t need to be the best solutions. , we are just brainstorming anything that crosses their minds.
Once they have come up with all these solutions, ask them to classify them as healthy vs. unhealthy.
Tip: Go back to our “healthy ways to deal with conflict” section for some inspiration or examples
12. Conflict Resolution Books for Kids
- Speak Up and Get Along is a chapter book for kids age 8 to 12 and is an excellent resource.
This social skills book shares twenty-one strategies children can use to end arguments and fights, make friends and stop bullying. It provides age-appropriate examples and lines they can practice and role-play.
We can’t deal with a conflict if we are feeling overwhelmed with intense feelings. The next suggestions focus on calming down so that we are ready to deal with conflict appropriately
13. Learning to Deal with your Anger
There are many anger management activities that can help kids deal with their emotions.
Check out the Cool Kid Journal (Anger activities for kids) to explore healthy ways of dealing with anger (it includes 70 gorgeous calm down cards).
14. Practice Taking Deep Breaths
A simple activity for kids of all ages is to practice taking deep breaths when they are upset.
This will help them calm down so that you can discuss a way to deal with the problem.
Recommended Reading: Fun Breathing Exercises for Kids
15. Model in your own life
Whether you share a story of a time when you needed to resolve conflict or show it in a real-life scenario, adults are the best teachers in explaining conflict resolution.
16. Friendship Activities
If a child in your life seems to be having a hard time staying out of conflict, it might be time to discuss what having a good friend should look like.
While conflict is a part of life, it doesn’t need to be a daily occurrence throughout elementary school and middle school. Instead, encourage your child to work towards healthy friendships.
Recommended reading: Friendship Activities for Kids (includes a worksheet that explores unhealthy bad signs in a friendship /warning signs /healthy/good signs)
17. Conflict Resolution Journal
Have your kids sit down and journal a personal conflict. Then, have them list out different ways that they can resolve that conflict.
Conflict Resolution Games
A great way to learn new skills is playing.
Let’s take a look at some conflict resolution games:
18. 6 Conflict & Resolution Games This game is not just one game, but several great conflict resolution games.
Let’s check a couple of examples
- Spinning the wheel game presents social scenarios, and you need to provide possible solutions. After you spin the wheel, you need to come up with a solution in one of the following categories: me, other, or all (depending on who benefits from the solution). This game explores competition and compromising
- “Are you a bully” is a game inspired by the Snake & Ladders setup that presents bullying/mean situations vs. kind social responses
-> Check out this game
19. Social Skills Group Activity
In this game , players need to discuss socially challenging situations. They include boards on six different topics: morals, manners, empathy, friendship, and two boards on emotions (showing and managing them).
The manners game is actually a conflict resolutions game, and the players have to answer questions like:
- you see a friend stealing something from a shop
- you see a friend cheating during a test
- you are served a meal you don’t like at a friend’s house
These types of questions present a perfect opportunity to brainstorm solutions to a conflict and to discuss the size of the problem and whether it is big enough to engage the help of an adult.
And let’s finish our list with a fun video.
20. How to Explain Conflict to Kids (Video)
In this Sesame Street video, our beloved Robin Williams teaches kids the meaning of conflict.
Other Social Skills Resources
These are some helpful resources to help kids build social skills:
- I-Statement Worksheets
- Self-Introduction for Kids (Worksheets)
- Social Skills Activities for Kids
- Conversation Starters for Kids
- Listening Games and Activities
- Apology Worksheets and Activities
- Friendship Activities for Kids
- Turn-Taking Activities for Kids
- Fun Emotional Intelligence Activities for Kids
Conflict Resolution Activities (Worksheets / PDF Download)
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30 Problem Solving Scenarios for Speech Therapy Practice
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SEE ALSO: Houston We Have a Problem! Activities for Problem Solving
Problem solving scenarios.
- Your friends came over to your house for a movie night. One of your friends brought another friend so there are more people than you planned for. You want to pass out the drinks but you only have five cans of soda and you need 6 for everyone to have one. What could you do?
- After basketball practice you go back to the locker room with your team to shower and change. When you are done dressing, you can't find your shoes. What could you do?
- You have been waiting all day for lunch to come because you are starving. Finally class gets over and you get to go to lunch. Except when you go to get to your lunch, it's not there. You probably left it at home. What could you do?
- There is a guy in your class who is always mean to you. He always bumps you when he walks by and he calls you names. He knocks stuff out of your hands and makes you feel stupid. You don't think you can take it anymore. What could you do?
- You really want to invite this new girl/guy to come to your birthday party, but you have never talked to them before. You are worried they will say no. What could you do?
- You rode the bus to school today and on the way in people are pointing and laughing at you. You go in the bathroom and see that you have pink gum all over the back of your pants. What could you do?
- You wake up and see that your alarm never went off. So you are starting your morning 15 minutes later than you planned. It is a really important day at school and you cannot be late. What could you do?
- You are giving a group presentation in front of class and it's your turn to talk. All of the sudden you sneeze. You cover it with your hand, but now your hand is full of stuff you sneezed out. What could you do?
- You are eating dinner at a fancy restaurant with your parents and their friends. You have a really messy dinner and accidentally flip a noodle into the lady's lap. They are busy talking and don't notice it. What could you do?
- You are taking a test and there is no talking allowed. You are writing your answers on the paper and your pencil breaks. What could you do?
- You are taking a test and the guy behind you asks you for help. He wants to know what you put for question number two. What could you do?
- You are at a birthday party and you have waited in line for a long time for your turn to hit the pinata. It is finally going to be your turn and it looks like the next hit will break the pinata. But you suddenly have to go to the bathroom. What could you do?
- You are hanging outside with your friend and she decides to pick your neighbor's flowers. She gives you the pretty handful of flowers and right then your neighbor opens the door. She asks you why you picked her flowers. What could you do?
- You borrowed your sister's skates one day without asking and they broke while you were using them. What could you do?
- You are eating at a friend's house and the mom piles your plate full of food. It looks really good and you want to eat it all but you can't because you just ate a snack. What could you do so you don't hurt her feelings?
SEE ALSO: The Best Free App for Speech Therapy
- Your teacher was working at her desk. You wanted to ask her a question, but she didn't see your hand raised. What should you do?
- You started to do your work, but you weren't sure if you were doing it right. What should you do?
- You were playing tether-ball and were the champion so far. In the next game, you slightly touched the rope. Only one student saw you touch the rope. What will you do?
- The teacher is giving directions, but your friend sitting next to you keeps talking. You can't hear the directions. What should you do?
- You didn't do your homework. Your teacher was upset with you. What should you do?
- You finished eating and felt a burp coming. What are you going to do?
- You were waiting to swing. When it was your turn, another boy jumped in front of you and took the swing. What would you do?
- You waited a long time, but your mom didn't come to pick you up after school. What should you do?
- A bully threatened to beat you up after school. What should you do?
- A boy on the playground keeps pushing you and making you mad. What would you do?
- You were sitting in class doing your work and you hear the fire alarm. What should you do?
- An adult you didn't know came on to the playground and asked if you would help look for his lost dog. What would you do?
- You forgot your lunch at home. What would you do?
- The person sitting behind you keeps tapping your chair with his foot. What should you do?
- You finished your work early. What should you do?
This list of functional words was professionally selected to be the most useful for a child or adult who has difficulty with problem solving scenarios.
We encourage you to use this list when practicing at home.
Home practice will make progress toward meeting individual language goals much faster.
Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) are only able to see students/clients 30-60 mins (or less) per week. This is not enough time or practice for someone to handle Problem solving scenarios.
Every day that your loved one goes without practice it becomes more difficult to help them.
SEE ALSO: The Best Books for Speech Therapy Practice
We know life is busy , but if you're reading this you're probably someone who cares about helping their loved one as much as you can.
Practice 5-10 minutes whenever you can, but try to do it on a consistent basis (daily).
Please, please, please use this list to practice.
It will be a great benefit to you and your loved one's progress.
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Cooperative Problem-Solving Activities for Social Studies, Grades 6-12
- Michael Hickman
- Erin O`Donnell Wigginton
- Description
"These activities will foster participation and critical thinking in the classroom." —R. Jon Frey, Director of Speech Activities Aberdeen Central High School, SD
"Cooperative group learning is a powerful approach, and this book provides explicit ideas and guidelines." —Stephanie van Hover, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education University of Virginia
Give your students the opportunity to think, discover, and learn together in social studies!
Teamwork helps students strengthen individual retention, improve performance, and promote meaning-making in the classroom. To give adolescent minds practice in critical thinking, the authors use their considerable teaching experience to present more than 40 problem-solving activities that are ready for immediate use in the social studies classroom.
This second edition of Catch Them Thinking in Social Studies demonstrates how to use collaborative learning strategies to fully engage students in meaning-making. Cooperative Problem-Solving Activities for Social Studies, Grades 6–12 offers lessons in five areas of social studies instruction: geography, politics, economics, culture, and history. Each activity includes background information, clue cards, objectives, tasks, and worksheets. This updated edition helps teachers:
- Develop students' decision-making, analysis, and communication skills
- Foster teamwork and interdependent learning
- Construct cooperative problem-solving activities using their own curriculum
Featuring current research and new activities, this hands-on resource helps teachers facilitate cooperative problem solving in social studies and provides teacher tips throughout the book.
Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email [email protected] . Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. For information on the HEOA, please go to http://ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html .
“Cooperative group learning is a powerful approach, and this book provides explicit ideas and guidelines.”
“These activities will foster participation and critical thinking in the classroom.”
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Problem solving problems for high school
The games featured in this chapter all have a connection to different aspects of rational problem-solving and help students to practice specific skills required.
Problem solving scenarios may be easy to find online, but this selection is geared specifically for speech therapy social skills training.
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Quick and easy problem-solving activities 10. Line Up Blind Communication Blindfolds 11. Reverse Pyramid Adaptability, collaboration.
To solve a math equation, you need to find the value of the variable that makes the equation true.
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5 Problem-Solving Activities for the Classroom 1. Brainstorm bonanza 2. Problem-solving as a group 3. Clue me in 4. Survivor scenarios 5.
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Social Problem Solving Activities for High School
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Engaging students in mathematical problem solving with technology during a pandemic: the case of the [email protected] club.
1. Introduction
2. theoretical ideas on solving mathematical problems with digital technologies, 2.1. on the role of the digital tools in mathematical activity, 2.2. on non-routine mathematical problems, 2.3. on solving non-routine problems and expressing the solutions with digital tools, 2.4. on the skills needed to succeed in mathematical problem solving with digital tools, 3. research methods, 3.1. the participants, 3.2. data collection, 3.3. data analysis, 4.1. the design and implementation of the [email protected] club, 4.1.1. how [email protected] works.
The [email protected] Club aims to be a special forum for students who are enthusiastic about mathematical challenges and enjoy using digital technologies, regardless of their achievement level in Mathematics. The students will have the opportunity to engage in an enjoyable, challenging, and exciting mathematical activity, in a relaxed yet learning atmosphere. [translation of excerpt from the advertisement leaflet]
4.1.2. The [email protected] Curriculum: Problems, Mathematical and Technological Resources
4.1.3. a typical session at the club, 4.2. the voices and experiences of participants in the [email protected] club, 4.2.1. on the mathematics problems.
They weren’t very difficult, but they weren’t easy either, it’s right there in the middle. [FN, interview]
For example, the one with the tables, as I was saying, in the restaurant, it wasn’t very easy but it wasn’t very difficult either…the pizza one, I even thought it was easy. [MP, interview]
4.2.2. On the Use of Technologies to Solve-and-Express Mathematical Problems
I think it was only on the first time we used paper and pencil. Yup. I think it was to visualize the problem more easily because I still I wasn’t sure how to solve it with technology, but later realized it would be simpler with technology. [CC, interview]
In my case, after solving it… and after the explanation of how it worked, I found it more convenient to do it on a computer, but before I preferred solving the problem on paper. [LC, interview]
[to explain,] paper and pencil may be easier because we are not so used to express our ideas easily… with technology I think it is easier to find the solution to the problem, but yes… I didn’t use paper and pencil because I realized that I could find my way with technology but sometimes it is useful to make diagrams faster. [CC, interview]
That includes every step… it has to be well explained. As my older sister says: “Explain it as if you were explaining it to a 5-year-old kid”. State the [final] answer. I think it has to be complete. Also, showing a sequence, we can’t present loose calculations. [LA, interview]
First [put] the topics that the problem deals with …then explain our thinking process, then see if everything is ok and I think that’s it. [LC, interview]
I think it’s always better this way because we end up meeting students from schools from north to south of the country and not just from the school where I go to. Even though I’m not much friendly and not very good at working in a group, I think it was good. I liked the feeling that I’m not alone. [LA, interview]
I really enjoyed working on the explanations and including images there and so on. [LC, interview]
I thought it was cool to be with colleagues from other parts of the country and… and to get to know new tools that I didn’t know about… [CC, interview]
4.3. Strenghts, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats: Inspiring the Future of the [email protected] Club
4.3.1. on the strengths and weaknesses of [email protected].
It gives the participants the opportunity to meet and make friends with other fellow mates that share the same interest and enjoyment for mathematical problem solving and technology use. [Maths Ed, interview]
I thought it was fun to be with colleagues from other parts of the country and get to know new tools that I didn’t know [CC, interview]
I would like to explore GeoGebra more at school because I found it useful. I also understand Excel better now, but I didn’t use to understand the mathematical formulas well, I used to use it to draw tables. [CC, interview]
I enjoyed using [Google] Drive. [LC, interview]
Problems are also nicer than the ones at school. [CC, interview]
The possibility of comparing solutions, ideas and strategies is quite important to many students…[they] may profit from new ideas, strategies, methods, and approaches that are not prevalent in the regular mathematics classes, unfortunately. [Maths Ed, interview]
[My recommendation would be] A little more time to solve the problems. [SS, interview]
I can handle two hours! No problem for me. [LC, interview]
4.3.2. On the Opportunities of and Threats to [email protected]
5. discussion and conclusions, 5.1. design features of [email protected] : structure, content, and organization, 5.2. participants’ perspectives on problem solving with digital tools at [email protected], 5.3. [email protected] ’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, 5.4. final considerations, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.
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Share and Cite
Jacinto, H. Engaging Students in Mathematical Problem Solving with Technology during a Pandemic: The Case of the [email protected] Club. Educ. Sci. 2023 , 13 , 271. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13030271
Jacinto H. Engaging Students in Mathematical Problem Solving with Technology during a Pandemic: The Case of the [email protected] Club. Education Sciences . 2023; 13(3):271. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13030271
Jacinto, Hélia. 2023. "Engaging Students in Mathematical Problem Solving with Technology during a Pandemic: The Case of the [email protected] Club" Education Sciences 13, no. 3: 271. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13030271
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Social leader calls to solve education problems in Panama
- March 3, 2023
- CST14:36 (GMT) -0500
- Published by: Ana Luisa Brown
According to Genaro Lopez, of the Pueblo Unido por la Vida alliance, one of the groups which last year formed part of the single table of talks with the Executive, the agreement to raise the allocation to this sector of 6.0 percent of the Gross Domestic Product is still pending.
In his most recent opinion article, the former presidential candidate in 2014 and historical leader of the Constructors Union, stated that a few days before the beginning of the school year, next Monday, there are accumulated ills which he considered chronic, as a consequence of governmental policies folded to the neoliberal vision, which sees education as a commodity and not as a right.
According to his analysis, many schools in the country do not have the minimum material conditions.
He also pointed out that the migration of students from private to public schools -more than 14,000- corresponds to the loss of purchasing power.
At this point, he pointed out, parents denounce that dozens of students did not find enrollment in any school in the country, some of them enrolled their children in centers far from their homes.
Panama, Colon and West Panama have a deficit in the number of classrooms and schools to attend to this year’s school population and it was announced in several institutions that classes will not start on March 6.
On the other hand, he rejected the high cost of some school supplies as another of the dilemmas faced by families, in addition to irregularities detected by the authority in defense of the consumer with adulterated prices.
The Government, which promised that ‘education would be the star’, has deepened the precariousness, by not allocating adequate resources, considered Lopez.
In this sense, he demanded that the Executive comply with the agreements of the talks initiated in the city of Penonome (Cocle), in mid 2022, after the most resounding social outbursts recorded in the last 30 years.
Providing an adequate school infrastructure for children and teenagers represents one of the main pending debts of the educational system that can not be postponed, he remarked.
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High school students need to learn not only how to think creatively, but often how to do so in a social setting. These activities will help with problem-solving, communication, and...
Make social problem-solving a game by telling the students that they are social detectives and that it is their job to use what they know about social rules to help them identify the possible and best solutions. Start practicing today with 71+ free social problem social task cards! Do your students need more practice?
Social Problem Solving Task Cards for Middle and High School - SEL Activities by Pathway 2 Success 4.9 (332) $12.00 Zip Google Apps™ This is a pack of 100 task cards that highlight social scenarios and situations that kids can discuss and identify how they would solve each situation.
We are continuing our list of problem solving activities for high school students with "Amoeba" that is a straightforward activity that can serve as a trust exercise, warm-up, or group...
Here are 5 steps to help kids learn social problem solving skills: 1. Teach kids to communicate their feelings. Being able to openly and respectfully share emotions is a foundational element to social problem solving. Teaching I statements can be a simple and effective way to kids to share their feelings.
Beginning in high school or earlier, problem solving enables students to apply what they've learned as opposed to merely recalling information that they have been spoonfed, equipping them...
Activities include:1. making a problem solving book.2. playing a problem solving puzzle game.3. discussing and completing worksheets.Skills include:* carryover of R,S, and L sounds.* determining and explain Subjects: Problem Solving, School Counseling, Speech Therapy Grades: 4th - 5th Types: Activities, Printables, Worksheets Add to cart Wish List
Activities where children visualize, role-play, or work through social interactions and engagements can develop their understanding, awareness, self-confidence, and self-knowledge. And "like any other skill, practice makes perfect" (Daniels & Rabar, 2019, p. 13).
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Social Problem Solving Scenarios #1 Open the box by Tobeyh Social Social Problem Solving- Size of the Problem Group sort by Aschoen Problem Solving Random wheel by Katelyna Problem Solving Random cards by Pfreeman PROBLEM SOLVING Flip tiles by Spizarro1 Reading OOPS! Problem Solving for Testing Open the box by Lara45 Problem Solving Random wheel
Here is a list of the top 50 problem solving activities, games & puzzles best suited for remote teams. Read on! Contents hide 1. What are problem solving activities? 2. Key skills evaluated in problem solving activities 3. Problem solving scenarios 4. What is a problem solving process? 5. Obstacles to problem solving 6.
This social-skill-building collaborative problem-solving activity is fun for any age. Organize students into teams then let them choose a color of yarn, build a team web, and see who can navigate. There are so many ways this activity can be adapted, but you can watch a video of one interpretation here. Learn More: KEYSAmeriCorps 14. Scavenger Hunt
Typically, there are five steps within this process: 1. Identifying that the problem exists: Recognizing there is a problem that needs to be solved. 2. Defining the problem: Naming and describing the problem. 3. Generating solutions: Coming up with many possible solutions for the problem. 4.
Some of these activities will be a great addition to a lesson plan. Conflict Resolution Worksheets. 1. Social Problem Solving Worksheet. Conflict resolution is, in essence, a social problem-solving situation. In this worksheet, we will follow the steps for problem-solving, with an important addition (calm-down):
Problem Solving Scenarios Your friends came over to your house for a movie night. One of your friends brought another friend so there are more people than you planned for. You want to pass out the drinks but you only have five cans of soda and you need 6 for everyone to have one. What could you do?
"These activities will foster participation and critical thinking in the classroom." —R. Jon Frey, Director of Speech Activities Aberdeen Central High School, SD "Cooperative group learning is a powerful approach, and this book provides explicit ideas and guidelines." —Stephanie van Hover, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education
Problem solving problems for high school - All Aboard. is a problem-solving activity that is suited well to a class-size group. Amoeba Ball Toss Balloon ... Social Problem Solving Activities for High School Social Problem Solving The Silent Burrito Group Timeline Blindfold Tower Three People Walk Into a Coffee
The COVID-19 pandemic and the requirement for social distancing led to the closure of extracurricular activities that usually involve teamwork and collaboration, such as math clubs. Research on the design and effectiveness of extracurricular mathematical activities that aim to promote student interest and improve mathematical skills is limited, particularly in these challenging times. This ...
Social leader calls to solve education problems in Panama. Panama City, Mar 3 (Prensa Latina) The deterioration of schools, the overcrowding of students in public schools and the high cost of ...