CHARACTER EDUCATION:
Group Participation/Cooperation (Fairness/Sharing):

From Stormie:

By the time October rolls around, you have probably already played many games requiring children to "participate" and "cooperate" without even realizing it, and you've probably mentioned "sharing" too often to even count.  And of course, these all fit right in with the character pillar of "Fairness."  

Group Time Discussions/Thought Questions/Role Play: Provide examples of real life situations requiring children to "cooperate, share, be fair, and participate."
*Name some times we have to "take turns."
*What can you do if you are playing on the playground and you see a new friend sitting all by themselves looking sad?  (Perhaps this question, or a similar one, can lead to a discussion on how we can encourage new or shy friends to "participate" and become part of the group so they won't feel left out.)
*Jennifer and Amanda have the same bedroom at home.  They both hate cleaning up their room.  What can they do?  (Goal of this question, or a similar one: Open up a discussion on how we can also take turns doing chores and things we don't like doing.)
*Bobby and Alice play outside almost every day.  Bobby always rides the tricycle but Alice never gets to ride it.  What should Bobby do?  (Fairness)
*There is only one shovel in the sandbox and Jeanie and Susan both want to play with it.  What should they do?
*Laura gave some trick-or-treat candy to everyone except Shawn.  How do you think Shawn felt?
*And so on

Play games requiring children to "wait for a turn."

Play games requiring everyone to "participate."  (Be sensitive to those who are shy.  Encourage the children themselves to help their more shy friends to feel at ease in a group situation.)

Play games requiring children to cooperate (games with rules, for example)

Provide magazine pictures and have children create a mural of children sharing, taking turns, and participating in a group.

Provide a unique group of collage materials that must be "shared."

Snack Time Sharing: Serve a snack that requires children to share.  For example, you could provide a large bowl of a mixed snack and allow children to use a big spoon to scoop out an amount to place on their napkins.  During this process, talk about how we need to "share" what's in the bowl with everyone and how it wouldn't be "fair" for one person to get a whole bunch of the snack.  (Make sure hands are very clean.)

Suggested Books:
Franklin Is Bossy, by Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark: Franklin, the turtle, finds out that he needs to play fair if he wants to have friends.

Please share your ideas too.  E-mail me at stormie@preschoolbystormie.com

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Reminder from Stormie: If you would like to begin collecting ALL my current classroom ideas (each on a 4 x 6" index card), as well as new ones that I create, you can do so by ordering my "Activity Cards."  Click here to check them out.

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