ABSTRACT
Young children's social play may appear to be fraught with disagreements and hullabaloo but it is essential to their development because it teaches them to accept other people's points of view in a way that their interactions with adults could never achieve. Through this type of play children 'take account of one another's ideas about how to organise their activity' and 'form positive relationships with other children'. Children's aptitude for role-play and make-believe with objects and situations can easily be incorporated into your circle meetings and the dressing-up box will usually provide all the props you need to make your circle meetings truly magical. Puppets are particularly useful when you wish to model and talk about emotions that humans learn to hide, such as fear, uncertainty and embarrassment. This helps to teach young children essential problem-solving skills and also gives them confidence in their own wisdom and ability to think things through.
