Often in pre-school visits I hear adults having to step in and tell a child to ‘share nicely’. But sharing is such an abstract concept. It can be hard for all of us to share at times, not least when you’re three years old and fully absorbed in your play!
In the early years, it can be a tall order to expect a child to share toys and take turns with others. It’s also an important skill for learning within a group. When I received a question about this from a learning support assistant, I was glad to give some suggestions to help us proactively teach turn-taking, rather than only intervene when it all goes wrong.
In this video I share a simple, structured approach to helping your child learn to take turns.
Avoid trying to get your child to give you the toy first. There’s lots of steps before handing over a toy that can help a child learn about sharing and taking turns.
Let’s start with some simple turn-taking games in a 1:1 situation, then build up to taking turns with our own objects, then taking turns with one object between us, all before we try introducing the idea of sharing with another child.
I hope you have fun with these game suggestions!
PS. Did you like this? Check out my post on sharing books to build language right here.