Parenting Pointers: Teaching Kids to Share

Disclosure: I received complimentary products to facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.

It can be hard to teach kids to share. It can be especially hard to teach them to share for the sake of sharing, not because they have to or as a bargaining chip. We try to explain to our girls why they should share - because it's part of our belief system, because they'd want other people to share with them, etc. What we've found as the best way to teach kids to share, though, is by example and practice. We work with our kids to share with each other, we make sure they see us share, we point out when we notice other kids sharing and how happy it makes the people around them feel. We also make sure to read books that talk about sharing.

One book we read recently is Bimbambu. This book has a fun title that my daughters loved to say. It also shows a great example of a bird sharing selflessly, giving away beautiful feathers when he's asked - and even offering feathers to others before they ask him. But then winter comes, and he's cold without his feathers. The book has a touching lesson, colorful illustrations, and a unique visual style. It's available in print, and also for Kindle.