Sticky Situations: Helping Children Learn to Problem Solve with Moxie

Tearri Rivers
a few seconds ago
3 min read

In early childhood, sticky situations happen every day. A toy won’t work the way a child expected. A zipper gets stuck. A block tower falls for the third time. Big feelings show up fast—and little bodies don’t yet have the tools to know what to do next.

That’s why we created the video “Sticky Situations: Moxie Learns to Ask for Help.” In this episode, Moxie models a simple, developmentally appropriate problem-solving routine that parents and teachers can use both at home and in the classroom.

The goal isn’t to eliminate frustration—it’s to teach children what to do when frustration happens.

A Simple 3‑Step Problem-Solving Routine for Young Children

Moxie’s problem-solving steps are intentionally short, concrete, and repeatable:

Pray
Ask for Help
Make a Choice

These steps can be used during play, routines, learning activities, and social situations—and they work because they are modeled with children, not demanded from them.

Step 1: Pray — Pausing Before Reacting

For young children, prayer is not about having the right words. It’s about pausing.

When we model prayer in a sticky situation, we are teaching children:

It’s okay to stop
I don’t have to react right away
I’m not alone when things feel hard

How to model this:

Say it out loud: “Let’s stop and pray.”
Keep it short: “God, please help us.”
Use calm body language: slow voice, relaxed shoulders, deep breath

This step helps regulate emotions before problem solving even begins.

Tip for teachers: Prayer can be modeled quietly or internally depending on your setting, while still teaching the pause-and-reflect skill.

Step 2: Ask for Help — Building Connection and Communication

Many children struggle not because they can’t solve a problem, but because they don’t know how to ask for support.

When children learn to ask for help, they are learning:

Communication skills
Trust and relationship-building
That needing help is not failure

How to model this:

Use the exact words you want children to learn: “I need help, please. ”“Can you help me?”
Narrate your own process: “I’m not sure what to do, so I’m going to ask for help.”
Acknowledge effort:“ You asked for help—that was a good choice.”

Important: Avoid rushing in to fix the problem. Let the asking be the success.

Step 3: Make a Choice — Empowering Children to Think

After pausing and asking for help, children are ready to think.

This step teaches:

Decision-making
Independence
Cause and effect

The adult’s role is not to decide for the child, but to guide the thinking.

How to model this:

Offer limited choices: “We can try again or take a break. Which do you choose?”
Think out loud:“If we try again, it might work. If we take a break, we can come back later.”
Respect the choice whenever possible

Over time, children begin to internalize this process and use it independently.