Teach Children to Share

"It’s mine!” “No! It’s mine!” “I want it!” "No! I want it!” “Mom!” Does any of this sound familiar? From the time children are babies, their world is an egocentric one, which means that they are not likely to share without someone setting an example. You can try to encourage your children to share a teddy bear or toy, but unless your children learn to work together, they will not learn the concept behind sharing (and that’s the concept that will stick with them throughout life).

How do you get your children to understand how to share? Well, sharing really comes with cooperation, and cooperation cannot come at all unless it is forced. Sit your children down and try to play a game of Hand ‘n Foot. You can easily assist them (one adult on each side) with this task, but they will have to talk to each other in order to play the game. If one of your children sees the other one working peacefully and rationally, they will want to copy this behavior. Of course, Hand ‘n Foot will not become a magical tool, but it will certainly come close. In many ways, children are mere blank slates waiting to be impressed upon – make sure you give them the right impression when it comes to sharing.

Even though Hand ‘n Foot is primarily a game for adults, children can learn from this game too. Remember to be patient with your children, and teach them how to share. Chances are, after a few games of Hand ‘n Foot, your children will not fight over those toys so much. In fact, you may even be surprised to see your children sharing their toys following a few weeks of sitting down as a family to play Hand ‘n Foot – now, wouldn’t that be nice?