It’s important for children to learn how to share so they can make friends, take turns, and play cooperatively. Sharing is an essential life skill that will teach children concepts of fairness, compromise, and giving to others.
Many activities teach children how to share, and we’ve compiled ten of the best ones. Incorporate all of them into your classes to show children why sharing is fun.
Great Sharing Activities for Preschoolers
Teaching children the value of sharing isn’t challenging. With the right materials and being consistent with your efforts, it won’t be long before this skill becomes innate to them.
For this activity, you just need to pick books written to teach children the concept of sharing and read them aloud. The books should also have big and colorful pictures, so the children can easily follow and have a visual example of what sharing looks like.
Every time you read a story to the children, take the time to explain to them how the concept of sharing is expressed in the story. Incorporate some of your own stories focused on sharing to make it easier for the children to relate. Make sure to answer any of their questions, as well.
Supplies:
- Children’s books that encourage sharing such as:
Check out parentcircle.com for other tips to teach children to share.
Learning about sharing will be more fun if children can do it with toys. The whole experience becomes more engaging and memorable!
Begin the activity by starting a tower on a level surface. Offer a child a pattern to remember by saying that you two are going to take turns building a tower together. Tell them, “I’m going to go first, then you, then me, until the tower falls over.”
Avoid straightening or fixing the child’s block placement so that they to learn more about balance. If they try to add two blocks on their turn, gently remind them about the pattern. Once the children understand how the pattern works, pair them with another child and let them build their towers.
Supplies:
- Colored blocks
Visit lovevery.com to learn more about this exciting activity.
Children love ice cream — so why not come up with an ice cream-inspired activity to teach them how to share? This activity works as an excellent icebreaker, perfect for introducing preschoolers to their peers at the start of the school year.
Roll the paper into a cone shape, ensuring its opening is wide enough to fit a ball. Use clear tape to secure the edges. And that’s it — you’re now ready to play!
Read Should I Share My Ice Cream? to the children and talk about how rewarding it is to share with friends. After, give each child a paper cone and put a ball inside as if it’s the “ice cream.” Encourage each child to share the ice cream with a friend by passing the ball from one cone to another. If the ice cream gets stuck, encourage the children to help their friends.
Supplies:
- Beige cardstock or heavy paper
- Black marker
- Clear tape
- Plastic balls
- Ruler
- Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems
Sunnydayfamily.com features more sharing activities for preschoolers, so visit their site today.
Besides sharing, The Doorbell Rang also presents many mathematical concepts. It begins with two children evenly dividing a dozen of cookies. The doorbell rings, and two more friends arrive, prompting the children to share their cookies. As the doorbell continues to ring, more friends appear, leaving the children with fewer cookies to themselves.
To make the cookies for this activity, download the cookie printable and use it to trace a cookie with cardstock or printer paper. Cut the cookie and add small dots of brown-colored paper for the chocolate chips. You can laminate the cookies to last longer.
Act out the story based on the book. This activity is engaging and solidifies the math concepts in the book. As more children “arrive,” ask the preschoolers how many cookies each child gets. Have each child practice one-to-one counting as they physically touch the cookies.
Supplies:
- 12 Plates
- Cardstock or printer paper
- Cookie printable
- The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
- Bell or doorbell sound effect (optional)
- Laminator (optional)
- Larger serving plate (optional)
You can learn more about this activity by heading to pre-kpages.com.
This activity will require a bigger space as children will have to move around feeding the “monster.” It also sparks their imagination, as they need to help in making the monster.
Grab a piece of any old box (the bigger, the better) and cut a rectangular shape at the bottom for the mouth. Cover the box with any colored or printed paper and have the children add embellishments, such as pompoms and feathers, to the monster’s face. Then get something to feed the monster — perhaps dried pasta tubes or small balls.
The idea is to have the children take turns popping a piece of “food” into the monster’s mouth. It’s a very simple activity that teaches children how to take turns and share the game.
Supplies:
- Dried pasta tubes, small balls, or any items that can be used as a food
- Embellishments
- Glue
- Old box
- Printed and colored papers
- Scissors
For other sharing activities for preschoolers, check out earlyimpactlearning.com ASAP!
This activity gives a twist to the classic game of treasure hunt. Here, children are given the opportunity to help a friend in need and win a prize once they complete a task together.
Use index cards to add pictures of different items found inside the classroom. Pick pictures that resemble the color and size of the actual item, as preschoolers tend to think literally. Create a set of cards for each child, requiring them to look for the same items. Rearrange the items in each set but make sure that everyone ends in the same place.
Hide the clues in different locations. If a child gets stuck, encourage them to ask for help from the other players.
The game challenges each child to solve clues on their own for the majority of the time. But for them to win a prize, everyone should reach the end. This is a great way of teaching children that working together reaps better rewards.
Supplies:
- Index cards
- Printed photos of different items in the classroom
Visit kids.lovetoknow.com to access other sharing activities ideal for preschoolers.
If you’re looking for an easy-to-do activity that doesn’t require materials, try the Mirror Game. This teaches children how to take turns, help others, and look at situations from another perspective.
Assign each child with a partner and assign the partners to face each other. One child mirrors the other’s movement. Whenever the first child smiles, the second child smiles. When the first child scratches their elbows, the second child scratches their elbows, as well. After having each partner repeat the movement, switch partners.
End the activity by asking the children if they have a sibling or a friend who copies everything they do. Discuss why it’s important to take turns and share with others and how this can improve their relationships.
Access other sharing activities by visiting teachingnook.wordpress.com.
This activity will require preparation but is worth it. Divide your class into two sections: one section should be provided with a blue colored pencil and the other, a green colored pencil.
Hand out copies of small passages to every child in class. Ask them to find words that appear more than once in the passage and encircle them using the pencil. Instruct the children to use blue colored pencils for one word and then green colored pencils for the other. For example, if the words tree and birds are repeated throughout the passage, children should encircle the word tree in blue and then birds in green.
Some students will not have blue or green colored pencils. So, when you instruct the class to use both colors, they’ll have to ask for help from their classmates to complete the task. By the end of the activity, tell them how sharing the pencils helped the class complete the activity.
Supplies:
- Blue and green colored pencils
- Photocopies of small passages taken from a children’s book
For more information about this activity, click numberdyslexia.com.
Does your class love competitions? Then this activity is perfect. It requires children to compete with each other while learning how to share.
To start, pick a line that’s going through the middle of the parachute. Everyone on the right is one team, and the ones on the left are another team. Assign one team to roll or bounce the ball off the chute on the other team’s side. That team will work to try to bounce the ball on the opposite side of the parachute. The team that manages to roll or bounce the ball off the other team’s side wins.
Supplies:
- Ball
- Parachute
Find more sharing activities for preschoolers on earlyimpactlearning.com.
10. Donating/Trip to a Retirement Home or Homeless Shelter
Exposing children to the community is essential to their development, especially in terms of teaching them the value of sharing. This activity is one of the best ways of familiarizing children with the act of sharing.
Talk to the children’s parents and have their tykes bring unused items for donation. Schedule a trip to the retirement home or shelter. The joy the donations bring will surely encourage the children to share more often.
Supplies:
- Old or unused items for donation
Conclusion
With all the activities presented here, teaching your preschoolers how to share will become a breeze. These activities are perfect for children because they’re fun and easy to do and hone many essential skills.
Make sure to check our site again for preschool-friendly activities on different themes!
