Children are often asked not to play ‘weapons’ however they continue to use items they find as a gun or a sword.
I have found that allowing ‘weapon’ play to continue while observing closely leads to trust and communication between adults and children.
Here is an example of how a group of children in our Early Years Program were using weapon play to communicate a message to their peers :
A group of children were playing a game in which they were singing loudly and making large body movements. The children had commented that their name was ‘Elsa’.
Another group of children were running around with sticks yelling “Let’s kill the Elsa’s”.
I gathered the children who were running with sticks. I first asked them to put their sticks down while we had a chat.
It is acceptable to ask children to put materials down while they take part in problem solving.
I asked the children about their play. One of the children commented that they were “Trying to kill the Elsa’s”.
Adults approaching this type of play should aim to use a gentle tone and a friendly face. The children might assume that this play is not allowed.This can lead to them becoming secretive.
Instead of telling the group they could not play this game, I commented “That’s interesting. What do you know about killing?”.
One of the children responded “It makes them go away”.
I asked “Why do you want the Elsa’s to go away?”
The child replied “Because they are bothering us and their singing is so loud”.
I asked the children if their strategy was working, they commented that it was not. I suggested they try using their words to let the ‘Elsa’ group know that the play was bothering them.
With sticks in hand, the group walked over to the ‘Elsa’s’ calmly letting them know that the singing was too loud and asking if the ‘Elsa’s’ could play somewhere else.
The group playing the Elsa game now understood the request and happily moved to a more spacious area. The group who had been running around with sticks changed their play to a Star Wars game where they created a space ship out of branches.
No more weapon play was observed during that time in the forest.
If this play had been shut down, would the children would have had an opportunity to communicate their thoughts to the other group?
On another occasion an Educator had reminded a child to be mindful of a long stick he was carrying, the end of the stick was repeatedly getting close to other children and was poking them.
The child had needed a second reminder so the Educator let him know that he was not managing with the stick and that he could try again later.
The child pointed the stick at the Educator and said “This is my gun and I am going to shoot you”.
I calmly asked “What do you know about shooting, what does that mean?” The child replied “She would get dead and then she wouldn’t be here anymore”.
I commented “Oh, I would be sad if she wasn’t here anymore. I asked the other children “How would you feel if Ms…. wasn’t here anymore?” The children replied that they would be sad.
The child with the stick commented “I was just being silly. I was just feeling mad”.
The child had been using stick play as a way to communicate how they were feeling. Talking it through helped them express their feelings with words instead of actions.
Educators and families may not feel comfortable allowing weapon play due to moral or cultural reasons.
Communicating the intention of a learning process through Documentation helps make learning visible to families.
Try setting out paper on an Easel or placing out a clipboard along with the documentation for families to contribute their thoughts and feelings on the subject.
Learning Discoveries 