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Art of Redirection
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I have found much success using the redirection technique solving conflicts with children. Knowing what the children like really helps. If all of the tricycles are being used on the playground, it’s always good to have one or two backup toys like chalk or a ball to for other children to play with. Changing the subject can help both the child and child care provider happily get through the day together.
As soon as a tricycle is available, let the child know that it’s their time and turn to ride it around the playground.
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Robert, your use of redirection is excellent. Providing alternative activities and communicating turn-taking effectively fosters positive behavior. Great job!
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I had a child in my class not too long ago who has taken to the habit of wanting to be involved in whatever the other children are doing. Which often leads to him taking toys that others were playing with. After soothing three meltdowns caused by this child, and several reminders, I picked him up (for his age group this was acceptable) and gently set him in a chair with one of the most stimulating toys it seems we have! Magnablocks! This redirection saved my morning and a lot more tantrums from happening.
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Using rederecting has been helpful when avoiding conflict between students. For instance if a child is intent playing by themselves and another student approaches them expecting to be able to play alongside the other child. Like adults children need alone time too.
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Redirection is important to use with children to help reset their mind set and difuse a negative interaction. My own child needs constant interaction. She loves to pull things out of outlets. If I were to yell at her to “get away or don’t touch that” she would 1,000% do those actions without hesitation. So we kindly grab her hand and say “I see you need to pull something, here is a toy that can be pulled across the floor. Lets pull this toy”. This helps change her direction of thinking and create zero confrontation for a fight or unwanted behavior.
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Two children were fighting over a toy and the one took the toy out of their friends hand. I explained to the one that if he wants a turn with the toy he needs to use his words and ask his friend if he can have a turn instead of grabbing it from him. I asked the other child how he could share the toy and he he would a set a 3 minute timer and then give his friend a turn.
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I had a child who constantly wanted whatever toy another child was playing with. I taught him the phrase “ask or wait”; you can ask to have a turn but if it’s not then you have to wait until that child is ready to stop playing with it. It took some time and redirection but he did learn to ask and be patient if the other child wasn’t ready to give up their turn yet.
For effective communication, I find repetition and speaking to children one on one is helpful.
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Redirection is an important and necessary technique to use in the classroom, especially during transition times. In my 2 year old class, I had a child who would struggle to follow directions during the transition from indoors to outdoors and vise versa. Once, while coming inside, I had him be my “big helper” and hang up all of the coats that were thrown on the floor. This gave him a goal and made him feel like he was in charge of a big task. It is important to let young children feel “in control” so finding those little ways in which they can do just that is critical.
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Kelcie, your use of redirection by giving the child a meaningful task was a smart approach! It not only prevented behavioral issues but also empowered the child, helping them feel important and engaged.
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I assist the toddler Two class, and I’ve learned many positive lessons that come with redirecting children. I had an experience with a child who had a hard time sitting down for lunch, this child is very active and social with all peers can easily be distracted during lunch time. I have found a good routine that really seems to help this child and makes lunch time a bit smoother. I communicate a few moments prior to lunch to give a heads up that lunch will be served soon. Once we are seated for lunch I engage with the children letting them help pass out water bottles to their friends and engage with each child what they see in their lunch box what they are most excited about eating today! While children are enjoying their meals I do sit with this child and even though they may get out of the chair a few times I always redirect the child to come sit back down that while we eat it’s important for us to keep our food at the table. I always encourage taking good bites of their food and make it fun by engaging conversation about how their day is going or what they did over the weekend. I have noticed communication is key and being present and more involved and staying consistent and being able to guide the children to make safe choices and decisions will help them overall.
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Wonderful example, Tessa! Your proactive communication and engaging routine during lunch beautifully demonstrate how redirection fosters positive behaviors. Encouraging interaction builds both trust and effective communication skills in young children.
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One time I had a child that kept climbing over the chairs to get into them. After asking many times for her to pull it out and then sit down, I finally paused her (by blocking her from climbing) pulled out the chair, and showed her how to sit without climbing. I did this many times and she finally started pulling out the chair when I reminded her.
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Alexis, your use of redirection by demonstrating the proper behavior and reinforcing it with reminders is a great way to encourage positive habits and help children understand expectations.
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Many new students when they arrive are very upset when their parents drop them off. I always give them extra love and attention and re direct them by finding out what they like and what is interesting to them. Within a few days they enjoy coming to school.
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Wenli, your approach of providing extra attention and using redirection based on the child’s interests is a wonderful way to ease transitions and create a positive school experience.
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I work with 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 year-olds. I use to say to the kids time to clean up, but that wouldn’t happen easily, so now I use a timer for transition times. This helps my class know when it’s time to move on from activity to another or bathroom times, to circle time, to outside time. When I forget to set the timer, the older children will say our timer hasn’t gone off. Then I’ll reset it and it’ll go off and they know what to do. Routine is really important in our classroom to have a smooth day.
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Julie, using a timer for transitions is a great strategy to establish routine and help young children understand expectations. It also encourages responsibility and independence in the classroom.
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when i noticed a child running around the room,
one might say its time to walk now
or if a child is hitting a toy, I might say Hey lets use a gentle touch with your hands and then i will demonstrate how to play with the toy gently.
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“Great strategies, Leslie! Using clear, positive redirection and modeling appropriate behavior effectively teaches young children communication and gentle play skills.”
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It was the 2nd time playing musical chairs. The first time, I had a student who melted down when he did not win. I prefaced the game with “playing the game is fun even if we don’t win” “It wouldn’t be fun it you knew you were going to win every time”… etc. After he lost this time, he proudly declared “I had fun and I’m not going to throw a fit.” I celebrated it by saying, “That’s great! Are you going to go wash your hands for lunch, or would you like to help me take away the chairs?” He helped me to take away the chairs and was happy that he still got to participate in some way.
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One year I had a child in pre k who kept trying to draw on the walls. Every time I tried to redirect him to a table, he would color there for a minute or two before heading back to the wall. I then taped a big blank piece of our paper roll to the wall and told/showed him that he could draw on the paper while standing at the wall. After that, he only colored on the paper that was attached to the wall.
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We had a fun art project with a few steps laid out on a table. A child came up and wanted to start it NOW and had not been instructed yet on the steps. We stood back and watched a child complete the project step by step as I explained each one to him.
