In this blog post, we will explore a valuable skill for PreK students: learning how to stay calm and solve problems. This skill is important in preventing small issues from escalating into bigger ones and promoting healthy relationships with peers. We will provide a no-prep activity, discussion questions, related skills, and next steps to help you teach this essential skill to your students.

Introduction

When young students encounter problems, it is easy for them to become upset and frustrated. This often leads to negative behaviors, such as yelling or refusing to cooperate with others. By teaching students to stay calm and think about how to solve problems, we can help them develop essential social-emotional skills that will benefit them in and outside of the classroom.

No-Prep Activity

For this no-prep activity, gather your students in a circle and have them take turns sharing a problem they have encountered in the past. Next, ask the student to explain how they reacted and whether their reaction helped or made the problem worse. Then, as a group, discuss alternative ways the student could have reacted to stay calm and solve the problem more effectively.

For example, a student might share a story about a time when they wanted to play with a toy, but another student was already playing with it. The first student might have become upset and tried to take the toy away. The group can discuss alternative reactions, such as asking politely to share the toy or finding another toy to play with until the first one is available.

Discussion Questions

1. Why is it important to stay calm when we encounter problems?
2. How can becoming upset make a small problem into a bigger one?
3. What are some strategies we can use to stay calm when we are frustrated?
4. How can we work together to solve problems instead of getting upset with each other?
5. Can you think of a time when staying calm helped you solve a problem more effectively? What happened?

Related Skills

Teaching students to stay calm and solve problems is just one aspect of helping them develop healthy social-emotional skills. Other related skills that can be beneficial for PreK students include:

• Active listening: Encouraging students to listen carefully to others and respond appropriately.
• Empathy: Teaching students to understand and share the feelings of others.
• Assertiveness: Helping students express their needs and wants in a respectful and confident manner.
• Conflict resolution: Guiding students in resolving disagreements and finding win-win solutions.

Next Steps

Now that you have learned about the importance of teaching PreK students to stay calm and solve problems, we encourage you to explore more resources and activities to support your students’ social-emotional development. To get started, sign up for free sample materials from Everyday Speech, which includes a wide range of engaging activities and resources designed for educators like you.