Parenting Tips On How To Teach Your Toddler To Share

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To most toddlers, sharing is a concept beyond their comprehension. Of course, learning to share and take turns is not an easy task.

Even so, it is essential that you teach your child the importance of sharing at a tender age in order to ensure that the message goes down deep and stays there. You may be concerned that your child is too young to learn the importance of sharing, but there is no age that can be too young to learn the importance of sharing [1].

In the early years of children's lives, when they accept your word without question, that is the perfect time for you to shape their personalities.

How To Teach Toddlers To Share?

It may seem simple to teach toddlers how to share, but in reality it is not that easy. If it were that easy, then there wouldn't be so many unruly children (right)!

• Sharing is a quality rather than a skill that can be taught. However, be assured that your toddler will grasp the concept very quickly.

• Make your toddler aware of the importance of sharing when the opportunity arises. If you are among the many families that have a single child, you will not encounter the need for sharing on a regular basis. This is the primary reason a single child becomes uncompromising. Therefore, you need to teach your toddler how to share when your friends bring their children over [2].

• You should teach sharing even when there is no occasion for it, for example, by buying a chocolate bar for your toddler and asking them to share a small piece of it with you and others in your family.

• To teach a toddler to share, you must persist. When the child becomes possessive of an object, you must gently explain that when you share something, the joy of owning that object increases [3].

• Instilling virtue in toddlers can be accomplished through stories, fairy tales, and folktales. For example, you could tell them that the good little pig shared with his friends, and that the mean little pig never gave anything to his friends.

• Practise sharing with your child at home and make it fun. Tell your toddler that you wish to share the couch for a cuddle or that you would like to take turns while enjoying an ice cream cone.

• If your toddler will be attending play dates, you can work to prevent sharing difficulties by establishing expectations about sharing and taking turns with friends. Experts suggest that your child should be asked if they wish to put away any particular toys during the play date if it will be held at your home.

• Positive reinforcement includes smiling, hand clapping, and saying 'good job' with excitement when the child shares with others can be very effective. Positive reinforcement serves as a powerful motivator when teaching children [4].

On A Final Note...

Sharing is a process that takes time to learn. Babies are not born knowing how to share, and toddlers certainly do not master the skill overnight. Children learn a lot by observing their parents' behaviours.

You can provide your children with a great example to emulate when you model good sharing and turn-taking in your family.