Sharing is an important skill that helps children develop other social-emotional skills, including empathy, cooperation, and consideration for others. But do you know how to teach sharing?
In this article, we teach you how to teach sharing to your toddler, preschooler, or school-age child and give you tips for success at all ages.
Table of Contents
- How to Teach Sharing to Toddlers (18 months – 2 years)
- How to Teach Sharing to Preschoolers (3 – 5 years)
- How to Teach Sharing to School-Age Children (6 – 10 years)
- General Tips for All Ages
How to Teach Sharing to Toddlers (18 months – 2 years)
Focus on Basic Concepts
At this early age (18 – 24 months), your toddler has a limited ability to understand the complexities of sharing. So, instead of jumping into the deep end right away, focus on core concepts like “mine” and “yours.”
This lays the groundwork for everything that comes next and helps your child form a distinction between themself, their feelings, and others they interact with.
Demonstrate Sharing
As you focus on the basic concepts of “mine” and “yours” with your child, demonstrate sharing in your interactions with them.
An easy way to do this is to verbalize the act of sharing so they start to connect the action with the concept. For example, when you’re eating a snack together, give them a piece of your cheese and say, “I’m sharing my cheese with you because sharing makes us both happy!”
Or, when your child is playing with one toy and you’re playing with another toy (parallel play), give them your toy and say, “I’m sharing my toy with you because sharing makes us both happy!”
As you model sharing in this way, remember to smile and keep your voice upbeat so that your child starts to see the act of giving to others as something positive.
Give Them Praise When They Share
When your toddler does share—even if they don’t do it on purpose—give them plenty of praise.
The positive feeling they’ll get from your attention will help reinforce the behavior as something good. As a result, they’ll want to repeat the act of sharing in the future to get more praise.
Introduce Turn-Taking
Another way to encourage sharing is to introduce turn-taking at a young age. Explain to your toddler that they can play with a toy for a certain period of time and then you’ll play with that toy for the same amount of time.
Set a timer for a minute (keep it short so your child doesn’t lose interest), start the time, and then play with the toy. When the alarm goes off, give the toy to your child and restart the timer.
After the alarm goes off for the second time, ask your child for the toy, restart the timer, and repeat the process for a few rounds.
As you hand the toy back and forth, be sure to say, “Now it’s your turn” and “Now it’s my turn” so that your toddler connects your actions and their actions to the language that describes it.
How to Teach Sharing to Preschoolers (3 – 5 years)
Act Out Sharing Scenarios
Between the ages of three and five, your preschooler is much better at understanding concepts such as sharing and applying the lessons. Because of that, you can introduce sharing in a variety of new ways to help them connect action and behavior.
One way is to act out pretend sharing scenarios. Use dolls, action figures, or other toys to demonstrate how to share. Then, discuss how each character in the scenario might feel during the process.
Read Books that Highlight Sharing
Another great way to encourage your preschooler to share is to read books that highlight sharing in a positive light.
A quick internet search reveals plenty of titles to choose from, including Llama Llama Time to Share by Anna Dewdney, The Magic of Sharing by Ruben Lora and Ksenia Startseva-Lora, and I’m Glad When I Can Share by Rachel Cruze.
Create Sharing Opportunities
Playdates are also a great way to create sharing opportunities! When your child is playing with one or more friends, provide activities that include shared materials, such as puzzles, art projects, blocks, dolls, and toy cars.
Provide Positive Reinforcement
No matter how you’re teaching your child to share, continue providing positive reinforcement in the form of praise, hugs, and lots of love.
Take the opportunity to explain to your preschooler how their actions make you and others feel. And explain how sharing can make them feel happy, too!
How to Teach Sharing to School-Age Children (6 – 10 years)
Explain the Benefits of Sharing
When your child reaches school age (6 – 10 years old), you can start to explain the benefits of sharing in more detail. For example, tell them sharing will help make the time they spend with their friends happy and fun.
When talking about their day at school and how they interacted with classmates, give praise when your child mentions sharing with someone Suggest situations at school that might come up in the future that would be perfect opportunities for sharing in other ways.
Discuss Fairness
When your child starts school, it’s the perfect time to discuss fairness and why it’s important. Highlight how sharing fairly ensures that they and everyone else will get an equal turn (or an equal share of the activity or the object).
Encourage Empathy
Empathy is also a core component of healthy interpersonal interactions. Encourage your child to imagine how someone else might feel if your child does not share with or is not fair to them.l .
Connect this to sharing by asking your child how they feel when someone shares with them. They’ll likely say “good” or “happy.” Explain that friends and siblings likely feel the same way when your child shares with them.
Model Good Sharing
As your child gets older, continue to model good sharing behaviors in all your interactions. This signals that sharing is a part of daily life and should be done consistently.
Take the opportunity to discuss good examples of sharing with your child when you experience or observe them together.
General Tips for All Ages
Be Consistent
Consistency is key when teaching your child to share. At an early age, establish when and what they are expected to share (and with whom) at an early age. Then stick to those expectations throughout the toddler years, preschool years, and elementary school years.
This consistency can help your child in a variety of ways, including:
- Understanding the rules and what is expected of them
- Providing a sense of security
- Developing trust in you
Consistency also reduces confusion and anxiety because your child knows when they’re expected to share and when they’re allowed to keep things to themself.
Make Sharing Fun
Whenever you can—and at every age—make sharing as fun as possible!
Not sure how? Try these suggestions.
- Play games that specifically involve sharing and cooperation.
- Cook together and take turns adding ingredients and sharing measuring cups, spoons, and other utensils to get the job done.
- Set up some arts and crafts with limited supplies and then encourage your child to share what they have when they play with others.
These and other games can make sharing feel like a fun activity that your child will look forward to.
Avoid Forced Sharing
No matter what, avoid forcing your child to share. Doing so can make them feel resentful and end up less likely to share in the future.
Keep in mind that some children may take a little longer to learn to share than others. If that is the case with your child, be patient and understanding as you teach them to share and celebrate small victories when they occur.
It’s also OK to recognize and respect the fact that your child has a special toy that they don’t want to share. Encourage them to share other toys instead.
Help Your Child Learn to Share with Begin
There are few things as heartwarming as watching your child share with their siblings and friends. Begin is home to a collection of hands-on and digital learning programs, including Learn with Sesame Street, which helps teach your child social emotional skills, including sharing! Other programs include Little Passports, HOMER, and codeSpark.
Each of our products serves a range of ages, helping children reach big milestones through play-based learning. Our programs are designed to help with valuable life skills, including sharing. They’re created with many important milestones in mind so you can choose to focus on which ones are important for you and your child.
With Begin by your side, your child will be sharing happily in no time!
