Importance Of Sharing In Children

TEACHING YOUR CHILD TO SHARE

It’s perfectly normal for very young children to find sharing difficult. Although most toddlers are beginning to understand the concept by the age of three, it can take a while longer before they are able to control the impulse to keep a tight hold of anything they perceive as their possession.

Rather than forcing your child to hand over a much-loved toy or play nicely with a playmate, there are gentler ways to encourage and nurture their growing sense of empathy and generosity. Here are a few tips on how to work towards teaching your child to share.

Don't punish your child for not sharing

Although it may be embarrassing to see your child snatching a toy or keeping a tight hold on something that he simply refuses

• Allow your child to have some special objects which are his alone.

• As a child matures he will begin to see that it’s more fun to play together rather than on his own.

Talk about sharing

The best time to discuss sharing is when you are playing together calmly.

• Trying to get a child to listen when he is already heading towards a tantrum is pointless because he won’t be calm enough to understand.

• If a playmate is holding onto something that belongs to your child, explain that the other child will return the toy when they leave.

• Reassure your child that you understand that it’s still his toy and you know how he feels about losing it.

• Accept that there may be reasons why he doesn’t want to share particular things – perhaps it’s something that a close relative gave him that he doesn’t want to lose.

• Allow your child to choose which of his possessions he wants to share when he has friends over. You can help him to keep some of his more treasured possessions separate from the general toys.

Make it fun

Practice taking turns together by teaching your child games and activities which encourage him/her to

• Share your ice cream or cookie with him.

• Offer him your scarf or ask if you can try on his new hat.

• Use the word share to describe what you are doing so that they get used to the concept in an unthreatening environment.

• Let him see you give someone else something or share your things with others.

Praise your child when they share

Children respond best to praise.

• Praising your child when they are doing something positive will work much better than pointing out when they are not

• Praise should be given for taking turns during a family game or sharing their pencils with a sibling.

• Offer up praise regularly, even for very small gestures, for example, when you ask them to hand you the remote control or your glasses, for example.

Make some toys communal

Not every item has to be labelled as belonging to one particular person.

• If you have more than one child it makes sense to have family toys. Games, building blocks, DVDs, books etc. can be communal.

• Even without siblings, many games etc. can belong to you all as a family.

• Your kids will be far less possessive if they already have shared