Sand tray in the studio and the reemergence of battle play

Every material in a prepared environment (i.e. the classrooms, indoor/outdoor spaces, studio, etc.) has been intentionally placed.  The addition of the sand tray in the studio is a perfect example.  As a teacher, I have watched battle play show up, in one form or another, year after year.  As adults we look for ways to navigate it.  Some children gravitate toward it while others feel threatened by it.  I continue to ponder the value of battle play in human development and ask how I might investigate this question alongside young children?Children who simply do not think about the violence they bring into their play in the same way adults do.

In her article, Beyond banning war and superhero play: Meeting children’s needs in violent times, Levin points out, "From both therapeutic and cognitive perspectives, children use play to work out an understanding of their experience, including the violence to which they are exposed... War play can fill a child’s need to feel powerful" (p. 1-2).  Additionally Levin suggests that in order for children to, "...work through deep issues and needs in a meaningful way, [they often] require direct help from adults. How you help depends on the nature of the children’s play" (p. 3).  Most researchers suggest that we (as adults) take the time to observe their play and to see what the children may be working on and how. Then we can better support them as they develop the skills to work out violent content and/or just partner with them in the human effort to investigate and embrace the paradoxical qualities of life, including "good" and "bad".

I brought in several materials, the sand tray among them, in order to partner with my favorite researchers (the children) to find out a little bit more.

The children have a lot to share and right now I'm just observing and asking questions as we go.  

Here is a deeply insightful snippet from one of our conversations

Angelina        I’m not saying you shouldn’t have bad guys!  I’ve just noticed that bad guys always seem to show up every year in the studio and I’m wondering why bad guys are so important.

M.                 We need bad guys because they let us be better than them. People will always be a little bit bad so that we can always feel a little bit better.

No one is ever completely bad though.  

I learn so much from the children every year... not just about childhood but about humanhood.  M. pointed to the human tendency to project our unwanted qualities on others and thereby make them bad.  Something we all do.  
Please join me in research and let me know if your observations and dialogs shed new light on this question.  I'll keep you posted as things develop on this end.

Levin, D. (2003) Beyond banning war and superhero play: Meeting children’s needs in violent times. Young Children 65 (3).