6 Ways to Teach Your Children the Habit of Sharing

Mamma, do your children find it difficult to share? if your answer is yes, then it is time you started teaching them the habit of sharing.

Among other life lessons every mom should teach their children, this one is very important ooo.

Don’t play with it!!

Teaching your children the habit of sharing now would help them become better adults as the habit would stay with them forever.

This practice of sharing should not only be among siblings, but it should also extend to other kids.

It may be hard when you start teaching your children how to share.

But, that should not discourage you. Consistency is the key word here.

The reason is that it will become a very valuable life lesson to them if you don’t give up.

In this article, you will learn why it is important to teach your children the habit of sharing.

Also, you will learn actionable tips that will help you to teach your children how to share.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

Why is teaching your children the habit of sharing important?

Teaching your children how to share with other people comes with a lot of benefits for them.

Some of the benefits of teaching your children the habit of sharing include;

1. Sharing helps them to make friends:

When your children have developed the habit of sharing, they can easily make friends with other kids.

Not just that, they can also maintain lasting relationships.

You know all those friendships that start with “hello, can I borrow your eraser?”

Ehen!!

It will be easy for them to develop such friendships at school.

2. Sharing teaches your children tolerance and patience:

When your son gives out his eraser or toys, he will have to wait patiently to get it back.

Sometimes, they don’t even get it back.

This is where tolerance kicks in.

Because it is in your son’s nature to always give, he will be able to tolerate the other kid’s carelessness.

3. Sharing teaching children how to negotiate:

Children tend to learn negotiation from sharing.

For instance, if another kid comes to your son to ask for an eraser, he may tell the kid to bring back the eraser within a stipulated time.

If possible, he may even tell the kid to use the eraser on his desk and not take it away.

That is pure negotiation.

Since they have not started any business, sharing is a way for them to negotiate favourable terms.

4. Sharing helps your children to play cooperatively:

If your children are the type that like to share their properties with others, then they can play cooperatively.

What this means is that they will not need to fight over a toy during plays.

Instead, they will want to take turns to use the toy and act reasonably everytime.

How to teach your children the habit of sharing

Now that we know how important it is to teach our children the habit of sharing, what next?

The next thing you have to do is to start teaching them immediately.

But how can you achieve that with your children?

Well, check out these tips that you can use to teach your children about sharing.

1. Talk to your child:

It is your duty as a mom to encourage open and honest communication with your children.

So, talk to your child about why sharing is good for him and others.

You can say something like, ‘When you share your toys with your friend, everyone gets to have fun’.

2. Make it fun:

Children learn very quickly when it is fun for them.

That’s why the ABC and Nigeria states and capital are turned into poems for easy remembrance.

In this case, you teach your child how to share by engaging them in cooperative games.

These games will require them to work together with others rather than competitive games which focus on winning.

An example of such games include solving a jigsaw puzzle together, where the children take turns to add pieces.

3. Praise your child when they practice sharing:

There is a saying in Igbo that translates to mean “when a strong man is praised for what he has done, he will do more.”

Do same with your kids too.

When you see your child trying to share or take turns, give your child plenty of praise and attention.

For example you can tell your son, ‘I liked the way you let Ade to play with your train. Great sharing!’

4. Be a good role model:

As Stay At Home Moms, we are the first teachers to our children.

We are the first to teach our kids how to read and write.

We are also responsible for teaching them character.

So, we need to show our children that we’ve got this stuff.

They should see it in our character that this giving thing is in our blood.

That way, they can pick cues that will help them to be generous.

You can teach them the habit of sharing by sharing some of your things with them.

For instance, you can share your own potion of ice cream with them.

Also, it could be that your daughter may want to use your handbag for a fashion parade in the house… allow her.

If you always stop her from using your stuff, then she may develop the habit of not wanting to share what is hers.

5. Keep some things away before playdates:

It is very important that you know those things that your child may not be willing to share and keep them away.

It could be a favourite toy, pencil or whatever gadget.

When you keep those things away, your child will not have to drag them with their playdates.

6. Don’t punish your child for not sharing

It can be embarrassing to see your child not sharing their stuff with his friend.

For instance, imagine seeing your child snatching a teddy from his friend, or throwing a tantrum because his turn with the trucks has ended.

Too embarrassing, right?

Yeah, I know.

But that should not mean that an automatic punishment will follow.

You must intervene to settle the tantrum but not punish.

Punishing your child may send the message that sharing has negative consequences.

Conclusion

Sharing is a key part of getting along with others.

So, it is very important that you teach your children the habit of sharing.

This habit will help children when they start having playdates and going to child care, preschool or kindergarten.

Now, I want to learn from you.

How do you teach your children the habit of sharing?

Leave a comment in the comment section and share this article with a mom.

Keep being #fabulous💋

Rooting for you,

Viv🧡