Nursery World - Power plays

Children may seem to be manipulating a situation when they just need your attention, as Jennie Lindon explains Young children can appear quite powerful sometimes. They may use their words and actions to secure themselves a firm place in their social world. It is perfectly reasonable that children should want to feel important to their family and key carers like yourself. Yet sometimes you need to redirect a child who has learned ways to gain recognition that bring upset to others and disturb the harmonious atmosphere that you try to create.

Young children can appear quite powerful sometimes. They may use their words and actions to secure themselves a firm place in their social world. It is perfectly reasonable that children should want to feel important to their family and key carers like yourself. Yet sometimes you need to redirect a child who has learned ways to gain recognition that bring upset to others and disturb the harmonious atmosphere that you try to create.

Knowledge is power

Within normal development, young children get to know the people in their social circle very well - enough to anticipate sometimes how someone else will react. Young children are alert to body language and tone of voice, the 'music' behind the spoken words. This knowledge is double-edged; it can be used to support or disrupt. Children may use it in the following situations:

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