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This video captures four boys negotiating turns while working with marble works. The children use positional numbers to appease, negotiate and solidify their place in the game. One child states, “We can all be first!” which seems to initially solve the problem. All the children involved seem to have a desire to keep the game going. In what ways do they compromise to keep all the players engaged? Later in the clip, a child insists on now being “last,” recognizing that whoever is last in this rotation is the next person to have the marble. What does this strategy illustrate about this child’s negotiation skills? Notice the difference in the older children’s understanding of the words “before” and “after” in comparison to the toddlers’ understanding. Other strategies include chasing after the marble, possibly inferring a belief that, “the person who controls the marble, controls the game.”

Keywords: Fours, Children-Object, Conflict Resolution, Communication, Rules, Sequence, Problem-Solving
Length of video: 3 minutes 13 seconds