This is the way we share our toys
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2. This is the way we share our toys
Learning Outcomes
- play cooperatively, take turns and share resources
- express preferences appropriately
We will know we have been successful if we
- take turns and share with all of the children.
Purposes of the curriculum 3-18
To enable all young people to become
- confident individuals able to relate to others and manage themselves
- effective contributors able to work in partnership and in teams
Resources required
- A range of small toys that are best played with friends - enough parts of each toy for each child in the group.
Time required
Anything from 10 - 15 minutes.
Method
Seated in a circle on the floor or around a table, talk about the importance of sharing, and that we don't just share with our very best friends - we share with everyone, even if we don't know them very well. Explain that we are going to play a game about sharing, and that it starts with a song. Sing:
This is the way we share our toys
Share our toys, share our toys
This is the way we share our toys
At nursery with our friends
to the tune of 'Here we go round the Mulberry bush')
Show the children the range of toys available for the game and, assuring them that everyone will get a turn, ask one child to choose a toy. Give her/him enough toys of that type. Explain that while we sing, the child with the toys will share them out with all of her / his friends. Substitute the type of toy into the words of the song and ensure that the child distributes toys to all children in the group.
This is the way we share our cars,
Share our cars, share our cars,
This is the way we share our cars,
At nursery with our friends.
Praise the child for sharing with all of the other children in the group. Make a point of saying that you know not everyone in the group is her/his very best friend but that they have still remembered to share with every child. Play with the toys together, emphasising sharing. Ask if anyone would like a turn of your car; thank them for swapping with you. Say how much fun you had playing with the cars together and gather them in.
Allow each child in the group to choose a type of toy to share in the same way. Just about any toy could be used here. Construction materials and arts and crafts materials work well. It's also quite quick and easy to share out jigsaw pieces and complete that together.
Links to Free-Play Activities
Take a photo of a tower built together in one of these sessions and display it in the construction area with a caption emphasising how well everyone can do when we work together.
Display pictures drawn together.
Encourage collaborative drawing, painting and collage work by providing resources such as A3 paper and large boxes that are easier for several children to work on simultaneously. It's an opportunity to emphasise how much we can do when we work together - for example, we made an enormous Chinese dragon together and performed a dragon dance. Children were very proud of this and realised no-one could have done all by themselves.