Sharing is an essential skill that helps your child navigate relationships and foster feelings of empathy for others. At Kiddie Academy® we use developmentally appropriate strategies from our Character Essentials® curriculum to teach children core values including acceptance, forgiveness, loyalty and teamwork to foster positive relationships. By instilling these values at a young age, sharing can become a natural and enjoyable experience as your child grows. Here are a few ways to teach this at home:
Building the foundation (ages 1-2)
At ages 1-2, children are just starting to understand the concept of ownership. They’re also in the process of juggling unregulated emotions. At this stage, sharing can be introduced gently. One way to achieve this is by having more than one version of your child’s favorite toy at home. For example, if their favorite toy is a dump truck, have a yellow and blue one on-hand. While playing together, use prompts like, “Which truck do you want to play with?” or “You picked the blue one, so I’ll play with the yellow one. When you’re done, can I have a turn?” This is a great way to slowly introduce the concept of sharing as a natural part of playtime.
Discovering big emotions and fostering acceptance (ages 3-4)
At 3-4 years, children begin to develop empathy and a better understanding of others’ emotions. This is marked by increased social interactions, during which children start to grasp the idea of fairness and mutual enjoyment in sharing. However, while they may understand the idea of sharing, they are still working on regulating their emotions. A great first step for this age group is to teach them about feelings.
Help them understand that just like they have feelings, their friends have feelings too. Use phrases like, “How do you think they feel when you take the toy away?” to encourage empathy and an acceptance of others' emotions. Role play is a powerful tool at this age and taking turns can help your child understand that sharing doesn't mean the toy is gone forever.
Encouraging teamwork and conflict resolution (ages 5+)
Children ages 5 and up begin to form deeper friendships and understand complex social dynamics. By now, they are usually capable of grasping what teamwork entails and are more likely to see sharing as an important part of group activities. Discuss the benefits of sharing by talking to your child about how sharing can strengthen friendships.
Use phrases like, “When we share, we can play together and have more fun!” and start to introduce conflict resolution. If a disagreement over a shared item occurs, encourage them to express their feelings and offer compromises. Phrases like, “Let’s find a way to both have a turn!” or “Can we trade toys for a while?” can promote peaceful resolution.
Teaching your child to share is not just about exchanging toys, it’s about fostering traits to help them navigate social interactions that evolve with their developmental stages. By introducing age-appropriate strategies, we can help children learn the value of sharing while also reinforcing important character traits. Whether it’s through simple turn-taking for toddlers, introducing empathy and feelings in preschoolers or focusing on teamwork for older children, the process of learning to share provides an opportunity to strengthen relationships and build a community of mutual respect.
