Waiting and sharing

The last biscuit

What happened

One last biscuit on a plate between two children

There is one biscuit left. Two of you want it.

What do you want to happen?

For the grown-up

Halving is the rare disagreement with a real answer in it. What settles it is usually who gets to choose, not who gets more, so let one split it and the other pick. He may still want the whole one, and that is worth saying out loud.

Say what they wanted before you say what can happen. A child who is handed a solution first hears it as being told off.
The true thing beats the soothing thing. “The cup is in the wash” is something a child can be disappointed about and then get past.
Wanting the impossible thing is not a mistake. It is what they want, and this resource agrees with them before it says anything else.
It works far better on a calm day than in the middle of one. Going through it when nothing is happening is what makes the words available the next time something is.

This is a rehearsal tool, not an assessment, and it does not know your child. You decide whether what it says fits them — if a scenario is not right, close it and pick another.

There is one biscuit left. Two of you want it.

What do you want to happen?

Have the whole biscuit — You wanted the whole biscuit for yourself.
Cut it in half — You'd like both of you to get a piece.
Choose which half I get — You want to be the one who picks.
Not have any — You'd rather have none than argue about it.

One biscuit can't turn into two whole biscuits. But one biscuit can become two halves.

What can we do with one biscuit?

Cut it in half — Yes. Two halves means both of you get some.
Ask who picks first — Good idea. Then everybody knows which half is theirs. You could say: “Do you want this half or that one?”
Ask for a different snack — Okay. There might be something else in the cupboard. You could say: “Is there anything else to eat?”

There was one biscuit. Half of it is yours.

For the grown-up: Halving is the rare disagreement with a real answer in it. What settles it is usually who gets to choose, not who gets more, so let one split it and the other pick. He may still want the whole one, and that is worth saying out loud.

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