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Art of Redirection
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I work with older kids in an after school care situation. I have had some students who get “bored”. When they do, they often mess with the other students in unpleasant ways. I try to have unique activities on hand for those times in order to prevent the behavior beforehand.
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I was with two students, where one of them wanted to climb the tree the other child was already on. If two children were climbing that particular tree, it would have been a safety issue. So I redirected by pointing out a different tree they could climb and letting them know that only one person can climb this tree at a time. I let them know that later, when the first student is done, they will have a chance to climb that tree. We have also used techniques such as stomping or clapping hands if they feel filled with emotions to redirect and calm their emotions through movement.
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One day in the late afternoon, the children had been playing with activities and were starting to get restless before their outside time. I then decided to clean up early and do circle time with some songs with movement. I was able to redirect their extra energy into a fun and safe way to wiggle their bodies and have fun together.
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Redirection works well in my preschool class, when children are fighting over a specific toy I redirect one of the children to a different toy. Since young kids are still learning how to share and talk about their feelings, I use fun and simple ways to help them communicate better. I use things like feelings puppets so they can show how they feel, short role-play stories to teach problem-solving, and songs like “Use your words!” to remind them to speak up. I also use timers to help with turn-taking and often model kind behavior by pointing it out: “Wow, you gave her a turn! That was kind.” These small, playful tools really help them learn how to get along with others.
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Yes, I’ve dealt with biting before in preschool. When it happens, I stay calm, separate the kids, and check on the child who was bitten first. Then I talk to the biter in a simple, firm way like, “Biting hurts. We use gentle touches,” so they know it’s not okay. I try to figure out the reason behind the biting—sometimes it’s frustration, teething, or not having the words to express themselves. To prevent it, I keep a close eye during high-stress times like sharing toys, and I make sure kids have teethers or other things they can safely chew on. I’ve noticed that teaching kids to use words like “stop” or “mine” also helps cut down on biting. Creating a positive environment with lots of praise for gentle behavior and clear routines really makes a difference too.
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A time redirection helped avoid behavioral issues was when I had two bothers in program that were 3 years apart, they would argue a lot as brothers do. I started to notice what triggers the younger brother had before he would blow up on the older brother, one day they were playing soccer and as the younger brother frustration was starting to build up so I asked the younger one to communicate his feelings and if he couldn’t communicate we could take a lap around the field to calm down before we returned to the group activity, He chose to walk around the field and as we walked I spoke to him the importance of being able to communicate what we are feeling. He ended up describing to me that big brother would use to much of his body weight trying to get the ball and that he didn’t like that. Once we returned to the group little brother explain to big brother what he didn’t like and if big brother could tone down the pressure.
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I use redirection many times throughout the day, but especially when it comes to aruging over toys, or a child needing to be moved somewhere else.
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There was a kid who struggled with transitions and would take a long time to get back into routine, what I did to avoid having the child struggle and have a hard transition was to start having frequent reminders 10 minutes before transitioning from an activity that we will be cleaning up soon, once it came to the actual doing of transitioning i got on eye level with the child and looked at him and patiently said “okay its time to clean up okay? we will get back to this at a later time okay?” child crossed arms and said “aww” and teacher gave child hug and said ” you are doing great, here ill help you put a toy away and you can help me with the rest” the child looked over at me and seen me put a toy away and he started to pick up his toys .
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During partner time, I had a student who would try to take the toys from their friend’s hand. I chose to stay close to this student during partner time and redirect them to the toy they were playing with first. Later on, I worked with that child to talk and ask if they could use their friend’s toy before grabbing it. This worked well with the child as they were able to communicate their need to their friends by using their voice before their hands.
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In a recent classroom scenario, a student exhibited disruptive behavior during circle time, opting to play with toys and distract peers. To address this, I employed a redirection strategy. I approached the child at their level, speaking calmly and soothingly. I then offered an alternative activity, such as listening to me read a book of their choice from the library. This approach successfully reintegrated the child into the circle time activity.
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I currently have a child who is going through divorced parents and the child is only 3 years old and ever since then the child is always sensitive or doesn’t want to participate with friends. Before this happened I always took note of what the child likes best like toys colors friends, I use redirecting by playing with them and have small talk with something that they love.
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I teach in a room full of 3 year olds. We are still learning the art of taking turns. There are a few special toys that all the kids enjoy. We have started setting a timer near the station. The kids know that they can grab the toy and start the timer. When the timer goes off they know their turn is over and it is time to give the toy to another friend. There is both a visual and auditory signal when the time is up. This has been working very well and the kids know exactly what to expect.
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I redirect the children when they urge toys by asking if they can wait until the other child finishes, like a minute, or they can play to get the solution themself sometimes.
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One of the children was pulling out all the books from the bookshelf and starting to throw them down. I calmly talked to him about finding a book on dinosaurs (that he was fascinated about) and instead sitting down and reading it
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<strong data-start=”68″ data-end=”92″>Redirection Example: One day, two toddlers wanted the same toy. Instead of letting the conflict escalate, I redirected one child to a similar toy nearby while teaching them to ask, “Can I play with that after you?” This prevented a meltdown and kept both children engaged.<strong data-start=”348″ data-end=”375″>Teaching Communication: I use role-playing and simple phrases like “my turn, your turn” to help children practice sharing. Using timers or visual cues, I show when it’s someone else’s turn, helping them understand the concept gradually since true sharing develops around age 4–5.
