Resource
Friendship Problem-Solving Cards
Discuss fictional peer problems and identify respectful, safe response options. Includes a two-page A4 printable, specific educator guidance, adaptations and a cut-off quick-reference card.
Ready for a real OSHC session
Preview both printable pages
Download 2-page practical printableCheck the preview, printing notes and licence before use.
When this resource is useful
Fictional scenarios allow useful discussion without asking children to disclose or publicly resolve current peer conflicts.
What children do
Choose a card, name the exact problem and compare at least two possible next steps.
Materials and preparation
Materials: Printed pages and pencils; use only the optional ordinary materials named on the page.
Allow about 2 minutes to print and place the resource. The activity itself usually takes 20 minutes and can pause when the group needs to transition.
Run the activity
Use “stop, describe, options, choose, check” as the discussion sequence. Adult help remains an available option.
The child-facing prompts are:
- Two people want the same game piece.
- A rule changed after the game started.
- Someone keeps interrupting a builder.
- A joke was not funny to the other person.
- A group has no role for a new player.
- Someone wants to stop a shared project.
- Two ideas cannot both fit on the page.
- A friend asks for help you cannot give.
Adapt participation
Simpler way to join: Choose between two pictured responses.
More challenge: Rewrite a response so it protects both people’s dignity and boundaries.
Children may draw, dictate, point, work beside a peer, observe or join later. Start, Explore and Extend labels describe task routes, not children.
Extend the idea
- Role-play only with willing participants.
- Create fair game-language sentence starters.
Safety and privacy
Do not use the cards to investigate real incidents in front of peers.
Learning opportunities
Look for agency, communication, environmental awareness and help-seeking choices. Record what children choose, explain, test or revise rather than treating completion as proof of learning.
Checking an open-ended response
There is no single required answer. A useful response follows the printed condition and can be explained, demonstrated or revised by the child.
Printing notes
Print at actual size on A4 paper. Page one is child-facing. Page two contains educator guidance and a dashed cut-off reference card that can be kept with the activity or laminated.
