Children must learn to share in order to establish and maintain friends, to play peacefully, to take turns, and to deal with an array of other circumstances, all whilst also educating kids about tolerance and fairness.

With this in mind, let us take a look at 5 effective ways to teach children to share.

• Set a great example

When it comes to most social and life skills, including sharing, you are your child’s most important role model. Simply showing your child that you are sharing and committing acts of sharing should establish a positive example for them and help them to recognize that sharing is a nice act. Make sure your child notices you share with others in everyday life by doing things like giving and taking, compromise, taking turns, and so on.

You could even educate your child through introducing collaborative games which involve them cooperating with others, and having to share particular items like ride on toy cars, instead of just focusing on playing competitive games which focus on them having to win. As much as possible, strive to model and emphasise sharing in family life.

• Respect your child’s items

If your child fears that his or her possessions such as toys or clothes could get lost or potentially damaged, then they will be less likely to share them with others as a result. Therefore, you should seek permission before lending any of their toys and items to a friend or sibling – you could even offer them the choice of simply saying no. This will assure them that sharing is okay but they do have a choice and don’t always have to.

• Connect with your child

Giving your child attachment parenting during their early infancy will make them more likely to become someone who shares in the future – sharing with your child will encourage them to share with others. If your child is on the receiving end of kindness, they are likely to emulate their generosity and grow into kind and considerate people too. Attachment-parented children typically require less items to justify their self-worth.

• Time sharing

Use a timer on playdates.  When the timer goes off, it’s your child’s chance to give a toy to a buddy. Then, the toy is returned when the timer goes off again, and so on. After doing so for a specific length of time, you may set the timer. When the timer expires, the toy is passed on to the second youngster for the same length of time.

If children are having difficulty sharing a toy or piece of equipment, you can intervene by asking each one to choose something, such as a hand that might contain a coin, and whichever kid chooses the hand that has the coin receives the object first.

• Teach them sharing isn’t permanent

Make it clear to your child that sharing is just temporary and not giving away.  Sharing will only continue for the duration of the play date, after which the item will revert to belonging solely to your child. Sharing works a lot more smoothly if the youngster understands that they are not permanently giving up anything that is theirs.

And there you have it – 5 effective ways that you can teach your children to share. Happy playing!