Share with Me

Activity Overview

Sharing is more than about possessions. It includes our time, feelings, and ideas. A foundation for healthy and respectful relationships is our capacity to share with others. This must be taught explicitly and is an exercise in empathy, frustration tolerance, connection and generosity. As parents, we model this for our children every day at home, and in the classroom, children get the opportunity to practice emulating this guidance within a group of peers. Because we are at home even more these days, it’s extremely important to shine a light on opportunities to extend generosity to others and name this for children. Through guided interactions, children begin to associate their actions with the reactions they receive and the impact they are having on others.

What You Need

• Something to share – it could be a ball, food, toys, etc.

• Time and attention to this practice

• Books about sharing – Llama Lllama, Time to Share by Anne Dewdney and Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems are two of our favorites.

Steps

1. Start by reading a book (or several) about sharing, so that students can see examples of this concept in text.

2. Students make deeper connections when you can address their learning on several levels. Narrating and praising their sharing in the moment is one way to extend this into learning time. Another way is to link a song to the action so that there is a correlation between the behavior and a tune that can act as a reminder when needed. You can easily make up a song about sharing or use one like “The Sharing Song” by Jack Johnson.

3. Turn sharing into a game! Pass a ball to each other or distribute crackers to everyone in the room as a way to practice this skill. Use the dinner table as a way to practice sharing at meals. Share a feast of toy food with stuffies or figurines as an additional opportunity.

4. Adults should have big, excited reactions when the student shares with them – positively reinforcing the joy that is elicited when sharing occurs.

5. Notice and verbalize for your student what happens when sharing occurs; “Grandma is smiling, you helped her feel happy.”

Guiding Questions

• How did Piggie feel when Elephant shared his ice cream? How did Elephant feel when he noticed his friend was happy?

• How can we make this activity more fun by sharing?

• How does Grandma feel when she has none? How do you think she would feel if she had some?

• How can we help Grandma feel closer to us?

Extensions

• Encourage your student to share with others outside your family – whether it means taking care packages to neighbors, sharing a song on Zoom with relatives, or playing a turn-taking game on FaceTime.

• Sharing can be about ideas and creative expression too, not just objects in play or food that is consumed. Take turns painting a picture together – one stroke for you, one stroke for me.

• For older students, the improv framework “Yes, and…” is a perfect addition to any dramatic play scenario that not only is a practice in sharing ideas, but also in extending creativity.