Conflict Resolution Activities: Solve Your Conflicts Now Conflict Resolution Activities

Conflict resolution activities can be helpful in the workplace, in schools, or even in family life – any place where a group of people have to spend a lot of time in close proximity to each other. It’s only human that conflicts will develop in these situations, but it’s how they’re handled that really matters. Thankfully, there are a wide variety of conflict resolution activities that have been developed in order to help people deal with conflicts. These activities are equally useful for large disagreements and arguments as well as the small, everyday conflicts that simply nag at you constantly.

TV Show Simulations

A key part of any conflict resolution lesson is providing steps to deal with a conflict. There are a variety of problem solving or conflict resolution methods out there, but one of the simplest is the three-step method. The steps are: define the problem, brainstorm solutions, decide on one solution.

Popular conflict resolution activities often include simulating a conflict in order to practice working through a conflict resolution method. An interesting way to do this is by using TV shows; soap operas work well, as do reality shows (both of these types of shows depend entirely on conflict to tell a story) but anything from children’s shows to comedies can work as long as a conflict is identified.

For this activity, you can break into groups and work on defining the problem: talk about what the issue is, what the characters’ conflicting needs and wants are, and why the conflict is happening. You can then brainstorm solutions and decide which one is the best. Be creative! Don’t limit solutions to what actually happened on the TV show.

Real-Life Practice

After using this conflict resolution method to solve hypothetical problems that characters on a TV show have, a good step to take is to practice using this method on real-life problems. Have everyone in the group write on a piece of paper some conflicts that that have had recently, whether at school, at work, while out with friends, or at home. Generally, smaller, everyday conflicts work better for this exercise, as it should be fairly low-stakes–it is just practice, after all!

Once everyone has written down the conflicts they have had and what triggered the conflicts, group members can start discussing. Everyone should have at least once chance to talk about a conflict they have had and what, if any, steps they took to resolve it. Then, as a group, everyone can practice applying the problem solving method to the conflict at hand, and talk about what could have been done better to solve the conflict, if it was not handled well.

Consensus Building

Other conflict resolution activities focus on brainstorming solutions and coming to a consensus about group decisions. If groups have practice making decisions that everyone is happy with, disagreements can often be solved without escalating into major conflicts. A consensus building activity that is useful, fun, and easy is to brainstorm uses for an everyday object. Anything from a marker to a tube sock can be used here–the idea is to come up with as many possible uses for the object as you can in a limited amount of time. Three to five minutes is probably enough for this activity. Make sure everyone proposes as many solutions as they can, without judgment as to what can and cannot work.

Then comes the hard part. The group has to decide, either through discussion, voting, or some combination of both, which use is the best. This is great practice for the last two steps of the conflict resolution method: brainstorming solutions and deciding on one solution to implement.

Dealing with Internal Conflicts

Another possible use for conflict resolution activities is for dealing with internal conflicts. This is especially helpful for younger participants who get upset or become conflicted when faced with decisions that they have to make. A good way to do this is by externalizing an internal conflict. In this activity, the group first brainstorms different internal conflicts. Some good examples for children or families are “Should I spend my allowance, or save it?” or “Should I do my homework before I play outside, or after?” After coming up with several ideas, the group can then split into pairs. Each partner takes one side of the issue and presents reasons why they are right. After this, the partners can talk about their differences and decide what solution is the best (and you can read more about conflict resolution activities for kids if you want).

Conflict resolution activities are not limited to these few games and simulations, though. We have all experienced conflict, and anyone who has a good imagination and knowledge of a problem solving process can adapt these activities for larger groups, younger groups, or any possible situation. Any activity that allows participants to practice the steps of conflict resolution outside of an actual conflict is fair game!

It is so important for children to learn how to resolve conflicts in their lives. It’s a difficult thing to learn, especially considering that so many adults have not developed really good conflict resolution skills. Even if you struggle with this area yourself, there are conflict resolution activities for kids you can use to help your children learn these important skills.

Language Matters

Good conflict resolution skills start with great interpersonal communication skills. One of the easiest conflict resolution activities for kids you can employ is to have discussions during regular family meals. Don’t let them grunt and point to the potato salad. Make them use full sentences to ask for seconds. Engaging in regular, open dialogue will help your children learn how to master the language and put it to work for them.

When discussing problems, encourage your children to explain in words how certain things made them feel. Talk openly about their feelings, discuss what steps could have been taken to work through the situation. Ask them to put themselves in the other person’s shoes and try to see their point of view. This will help your child to understand his or her own emotions while also becoming aware of how other people feel.

Lead by Example

Some parents hate to fight in front of the children. They don’t want the kids to be upset, and they think that the only way to show a united front is to never argue. By doing so, however, you are depriving your children of a valuable opportunity. If you and your spouse are able to resolve disagreements civilly and effectively, then your children could benefit greatly from watching you two work through conflicts. If you and your spouse belittle each other, call names and yell, then you should start working on changing your own conflict resolution methods.

Role-Playing

There are few conflict resolution activities for kids that are more effective than role playing. When your child talks to you about a problem he is having at school, role playing can help them really learn the skills they need. When role playing, you should respond the way your child’s peers would. Encourage your child to use the solutions that were discussed over dinner. If your child practices saying, “I can’t play with you when you’re being mean to me”, then your child will be more likely to remember and use this phrase later when the time comes.

Your children look to you to teach them and guide them. You can’t solve all of their problems for them, but you can prepare them for how to deal with them. Encourage them to expand their vocabulary and learn how to put words to their feelings. Encourage them to look at conflicts from different viewpoints, being prepared to play “devil’s advocate”, if necessary. Take time to model appropriate conflict resolution by employing positive resolution methods yourself. Finally, role play with your children to make them more confident in their new skills.