Clean Language has 12 basic questions and a few specialized ones as well. For working with conflict in the playground you’ll only need a few of them, so it’s a great way to get started!

These are the questions I use most of the time in the playground when children come to me with a problem.

1. What would you like to have happen? (This invites children to focus on a solution instead of the problem.)
2. And what needs to happen for… (Insert their solution)?
3. And can that happen? (This invites children to check if it is indeed possible in the current circumstances – something else might need to happen first.)
4. And then what happens? (This invites children to reflect on the outcomes of their actions or proposed solutions.)