10 Ways to Teach Your Child to Share

Have you every watched Finding Nemo? Sometimes I feel like the gulls have raided my living room. For those of you that haven’t seen the film, toward the end there’s a group of seagulls all clamoring for the same fish, saying “Mine” “Mine” “Mine” “Mine”, non-stop. A fairly accurate description of how children can sound when fighting over toys.

Sharing can’t be forced. Making your child share a toy leads to resentment, and confuses them regarding the meaning of possession. You teach them that if a toy isn’t theirs, they can’t have it unless the person who owns it agrees. But then, when they own the toy, someone else can use it without them agreeing? That doesn’t make sense to your child, so ownership ceases to have a meaning. Instead of forcing your child to share, teach them to share by creating a positive atmosphere that continually exposes them to sharing and encourages them to share. Help your child foster positive emotions, like empathy, that will help them learn how to share.

Head over to Eyes On Heaven for 10 strategies you can use to help your kids learn to share.