How to Teach Children to Share

Teaching children to share is a fundamental part of parenting. Even if you have only one child, your child will have playmates and play dates, so sharing becomes a necessary social skill for your child to master. Read on to learn how to teach children to share.

Instructions

1. Recognize the child's developmental age. Children under the age of two have no capacity to share, take turns or wait. Don't frustrate yourself or your child by expecting a toddler to share. Be patient, it's a skill they'll be ready for soon.

2. Talk about sharing with your child. Once your child is old enough to grasp the basic idea of sharing, talk with him about it. It's a good idea to do this immediately before any sharing activity needs to occur as children have short memories. Explain what type of sharing needs to happen (taking turns with a tricycle, sharing a toy or dress up outfit) and see if your child grasps the concept.

3. Role play with your child. If you can see a simple talk isn't getting quite the response you'd hoped for, pretend together. Role play your child and have your child play the friend. See how it goes and take the opportunity to point out how taking turns or sharing works.

4. Avoid requiring sharing for special things. Give her the opportunity, prior to a play date, to choose three or four things that are too special to share. Be clear that these items are the only ones that can be put away for later or she will run to you with arm loads of items during the play date.

5. Don't fix the problem. For older children (five and up), let them work out taking turns and sharing. Be clear that if you need to settle a dispute, you won't let one child or the other have it, you'll take the toy away. This will quickly teach the children to resolve their own sharing issues amongst themselves and avoid drawing you in.