At first, supporting weapons play may not seem like best practice in an early learning setting. Such play is philosophically and aesthetically unbecoming to many adults but, like it or not, many children are drawn to weapons play. Sticks become lightsabers, toast is gnawed into the shape of handguns, and epic battles are always on the horizon. Supporting weapons play is the developmentally appropriate thing to do.

Heather Shumaker, author of It’s OK Not To Share and It’s OK To Go Up The Slide, and I recently recorded a four-episode arc of our Renegade Rules podcast that dives deep into the topic of childhood weapons play.

The first episode is a general overview of the topic; the second one looks at Power and Action Play; in the third, we discuss good guys, bad guys, and death; and in the final episode of the series we talk about ways of supporting weapons play. The four episodes add up to a 90-minute dive into the topic.

Supporting Weapons Play

I’ve embedded the episodes below:

RR_0111 Weapons Play Part 1

RR_0112 Weapons Play Part 2

RR_0113 Weapons Play Part 3

RR_0114 Weapons Play Part 4

Originally published July 2021. Links and featured image updated January 2023

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