The Peace Table is one tool used at Small Blessings as part of the approach to social interactions that encourages children to peacefully interact with each other. This approach helps children to see all problems as solvable, allows perspective sharing, and scaffolds children in their attempts to “solve the problem” within an environment where adults assist children to feel empowered to actively solve interpersonal problems. The Peace Table is a safe and peaceful place to go to solve problems nonviolently with their peers. 

Does simply adding a Peace Table to a classroom insure there will be peaceful solutions to every problem?  Not at all. At first, children require a great deal of adult support and input in negotiating their problems, and often, it is the adult who guides the discussion. These discussions provide opportunities for everyone involved in a conflict to feel empowered and to participate in generating solutions to the problem. This process is effective with many types of problems and conflicts thatarise daily in an early childhood classroom. As time goes on and children gain more experiences with the problem-solving process, they are able to become more and more independent in clarifying misunderstandings and nonviolently solving their problems at the Peace Table.

Our teachers and parents talk about the Peace Table at Small Blessings: