Problem solving is one of the important skills, which enables individuals to adapt to life and isassociated with skills like theory of mind, empathy and self-regulation, in their life. Problemsolving is an improvable skill and should be supported as from early childhood years. The purposeof this study is to determine how children generate solutions to problems and how they feel insuch cases. As long as children are good problem solvers, they will find effective solutions to allkinds of problems. In the study, the qualitative model and the case design were used. The data ofstudy were obtained from the children attending a kindergarten in the city center of Kırklareli inthe school year of 2016-2017. Eleven children who were selected on a volunteer basis wereincluded in the study where content analysis was carried out. Among the children whoparticipated in the study, six were girls and five were boys. During the application, a puppet andfive problem statuses were used. The data collected as a result of one-to-one applications withthe children were examined with content analysis method. As a result of the study, it wasobserved that the children were able to generate effective solutions including the use ofempathy and self-regulation skills to the problem statuses; however, they had difficulty in namingtheir emotions in relation to problem statuses. The results of the study suggest that primarilyparents and educators should emphasize emotions more and encourage children to think abouttheir emotions. Additionally, qualitative studies with larger sample groups concerning theory ofmind, problem solving, empathy and self-regulation skills can help to understand thedevelopment process of these skills better.
