Conflict Resolution Activities for Youth

Conflict resolution activities prepare students for dealing with confrontations.

Effective conflict resolution requires clear communication and active listening skills. If teachers include conflict resolution activities in their lesson plans, students will be more likely to use these skills later in life. Engaging activities and games can give students the chance to practice the skills needed in conflict resolution. You can adapt the activities to suit any age group or skill level.

Feelings Round-Up

Creating an open atmosphere in the classroom is essential to leading effective conflict resolution activities. Foster openness by instituting a daily feelings round-up. Give each student an index card and a marker. Ask students to think about how they feel so far today. Remind them to think about things that happened to them the day before or conversations from earlier in the day. Students then write down one word that describes how they are feeling. Each student holds up his or her index card so that the whole class can see. Lead a discussion about how feelings can impact actions or conversations. Focus on the fact that everyone brings different feelings to beliefs to a situation--and those feelings can create or dissuade conflict.

Conflict Journals

Long-term activities can be useful in helping students identify and rectify real-life conflicts. Invite students to keep a conflict journal for one or two weeks. Students can document incidences of conflict and reflect on how they feel about the situations they witness. At the end of the week, ask them to form small groups. Each group holds a discussion about some of the entries in their journals and selects one incident to role-play for the class. The groups create skits that include a depiction of the conflict and two possible resolutions. After the skit, the class discusses the best resolution to the conflict. For a follow-up, instruct students to keep conflict resolution journals in which they document their resolution skills in action.

Historical Conflicts

Examining conflicts throughout history is best suited for older students in late middle school or high school. Place students in groups of four. Each group then chooses a conflict from history. Sample conflicts include Black Panther protests, the Civil Rights movement or Vietnam. Each group is responsible for creating a presentation that details the conflict's causes, the major players, the strategy of the conflict and its resolution (or lack of resolution). Students also decide if the means and ends of the conflict were justified and suggest alternative endings for their conflict.

Friendship Focus

One way to foster conflict resolution skills is to celebrate the value of friendship and conflict-free living. Ask students to write and illustrate a story about their best friend. Include why the person is friend, what makes this person special and the types of things both of them like to do together. Ask students to share their stories about friendship. For a follow-up, ask them to write their names on a piece of paper. Pass the pieces of paper around the class and have each student leave a positive message on each piece. Tell students to remember all the qualities they bring to a friendship.

References

• PBS: PBS Teachers Thematic Teaching Conflict Resolution Activity Ideas
• Teacher Vision: Conflict Resolution Activities