3. In the beginning: Solo Play and Adult-
child play
Solo play, play is done alone, even with a room full of other children.
Adult-child play, is as infants mature, they develop relationships with the
adults that take care of them.
These are an infant/toddler stage which the Unicorns have outgrown
and moved on to more sophisticated forms of play.

4. Parallel Play
Children will play side by side with very little actual interaction

5. Dyad Play
Children will begin to play interactively with others and will identify
somebody as their friend

6. Small Group Play
To be successful at small group play, children must learn how to be
included in play, how to take turns and share, and how to play
common themes such as kitchen or building roads.

7. Large Group Play
The first step of identifying
themselves as an important
member of the classroom
community.

8. “I can manage my strong emotions and
I am in control of my behavior.”

9. At school we…
Take care of ourselves
Take care of each other
Take care of our things
“At school we clean up when we’re
done playing because we take care
of our things”

10. “You stepped on the puzzle
and it broke.”
Take responsibility of our actions
Children learn the cause and effect of their actions.
“You (action) and (result)”

11. Reflective Feedback
One of the most powerful tools we have to help children learn the
guiding principles of behavior is to give them descriptive feedback
when you see them behaving
“You (action) because (principle)”

12. “You feel
excited
because your
friend is here”
Feelings are Responses
Many young children have no idea where their feelings come from.
Before they can manage feelings, children need to have an
understanding of what triggers their feelings. Help children
understand that feelings are responses to outside events.
You feel (emotion) because (event)

14. Picture Schedules
An important component of self-regulation is the ability to
understand the passage of time.

15. Concrete Cues and Props
Props and visual cues help children begin to define their personal
space and the space of others. As children grow, mature, and
develop, they’ll be able to define space without these cues.

16. Sit- Upons
Many children become anxious
when gathering for group time.
Sit-upons are a system to assign
predetermined places for each
child. Sit-upons do this without
assigning permanent seats.

17. Places and Spaces
Learning how to regroup when we are losing control is an important
life skill. Help children explore this strategy by including places
within the classroom where they can go to center themselves when
they begin to spin out of control

18. Self Soothing
Self soothing is an important tool for managing emotions. Some
children do well with a familiar comfort item to help themselves
calm down such as familiar pictures of family.