Tools to Help Your Child Learn to Share

Are you having trouble in your house because your children don't want too share? Do you feel like you have become more of a referee than a parent? Here are some ideas and parenting tools to help end the chaos and yelling in your home. The parenting tools will help you teach your children the importance of sharing and how to share in a way that feels fair to all kids involved.

First of all, children under the age of two should not be expected to share. At this age they are not developmentally ready to share. Ideally with children under age two you would have multiples toys that were the same. If you don't have two of the same toy so the children can each have one then you can distract one of the children who is in the confrontation over a toy. Children of this age are easy to guide away and distract with another activity. This is okay at this young age. The child will have time in the future when they are developmentally ready to learn to share.

If you have children over the age of two this is a good age to begin to teach them how to share and the importance of sharing. One method to do this is to use a timer such as the Time Timer. Let them know the amount of time each will have and they can set the timer to take turns. No more putting mom in the middle of things. This Parenting Tool can help you put the responsibility of sharing in their hands. Remind them if they can't make this work with the timer that the toy will be taken away and no one will use is. This will give them incentive to practice taking turns and sharing.

Another way to encourage your children to share is by using The Responsibility Chart. This chart uses positive reinforcement to bring about the behaviors you desire from your kids. Choose the sharing magnetic to focus on for the first week. This can be one of the goals for the week or it can be the only goal depending on your child's age. After showing your child the chart, explain to them that each week there are responsibilities they have. If they complete those chores and responsibilities then they will earn their reward. Figure out what each child's personal currency is and use that as their reward. Currency for children is anything your child values. Some examples are: extra T.V. time, a special one on one outing with their parent, family movie night, allowance, ect. The idea can be different for each child based on what they really value.

Sharing is a learned behavior for children. It is our job as parents to teach them the importance and value of sharing with friends and siblings. By implementing The Responsibility Chart in your household you can teach your children share and also reach many more goals you have for your children. These tips for sharing will help you teach your child the valuable life lesson of sharing.

The tools mentioned in this article can be found at www.ModernMommiesToolbox.com

By Anna Bignon Early Childhood Educator

By Anna Bignon owner of Modern Mommies Toolbox. We have all the parenting tools to help moms and dads parent more effectively. This is the place to come for parenting help, information, and products, that are helpful to today's parents. Come see our site and you'll see how we can help you to make the hardest job on earth, a little easier. http://www.modernmommiestoolbox.com

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