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SHARING & MANNERS THEME

CRAFTS:

Cover Your Nose When You Sneeze
Paper plate. tissue(klenex) color,markers,yarn, whatever to make a face on the paper plate. Trace there hands on construction paper and cut out for them unless they can cut that good. glue crumbled tissue over nose and then glue hands over tissue. Talk about covering our nose with tissue when we sneeze, saying excuse me. Remember to be an example to the kids doing the same.
 
 

GAMES & ACTIVITIES:

Cover Up and Block the Yuck
First read the book "Cover your nose when you sneeze" Then we took a paper plate and I let the kids draw a self portrait on the front. Next they traced their hands on colored construction paper and placed a kleenex, then the hand cutout on top and stapled it (over the nose of their picture) onto the paper plate.

Housekeeping Manners
Place a container of Honeycomb cereal in hour housekeeping area along with napkins, small paper plates, and a spoon. Set Miss Bee on the center of the table. Encourage each child to have a seat a the table, obtain a napkin and a plate, and serve himself a spoonful of cereal. Remind youngsters that Miss Bee will be watching for polite table manners.

Keep Your Hands To Yourself
The kids and I talked about keeping our hands to ourselves (not pushing, not invading others' space). Then the children paint their handprints onto a piece of construction paper. The older ones wrote "I can keep my hands to myself".

Kindness Pledge
Ask your kids what it means to be kind or to be a friend or to be nice, whatever they call it. I really made a list of their answers and put them in a rhyme. It is short, but to the point. It was important to me that the words were theirs- because they need to be able to understand what they are promising! Our pledge goes like this:
Today I pledge to be kind,
to use the nicest words I can find.
Today I pledge to try to share,
to wait my turn and to be fair.

Manners Tea Party
Celebrate good manners with a tea party. Discuss the manners that will be necessary at the party. Make honeybuns and have tea.

Manners Game
You will need a collection of pictures (cut from magazines, each showing children or adults experiencing one of the emotions. Glue to identical sizes of heavy construction paper or card stock. Number Some children have no words to express how they feel. They need to hear such words as "happy," "sad," "angry" and "afraid" if they are to understand their emotional experiences.
During circle time, hold up one of the pictures and ask the children how this person feels. (If they do not know, tell them.) Ask the children to talk about what they see that makes them Activity Stack at least three pictures of each emotion on a table in your classroom. Mix up the order of the pictures. Hand the stack to a child and ask him to group all the sad pictures together, Either at a table or during circle time, show several pictures portraying the same emotion and ask the children to identify how all the people feel.

Polite Puppets
Things you will need: small paper bags; Marking pens; Rubber cement; Scissors; Construction paper. Children like puppets because they can safely pretend to be someone else without fear of criticism. The ability to project What to do: Using a small paper bag, make a sample puppet whose face expresses one of the basic emotions. Set materials on the table in the art area and invite the children to make their own happy, sad, angry or Want to do more: Create your own puppet family, each puppet expressing a different emotion. Use these puppets to put on brief skits for the group.

Please and Thank You
~If you were the only person in the world, you wouldn't need manners. But there are lots of people in the world, and good manners help everyone get along together.
~When we ask for something we say "Please", when someone gives us something, we say "Thank You".
~At lunch time, we know we wash our hands and sit up straight at the table. And we know that its not polite to talk with our mouths full.
~When we play together, everyone has a good time when we share, and are polite to each other.
~When we are playing with our friends, it is not polite to whisper about someone who is near by, because it might hurt their feelings.
~It is not polite to interrupt someone who is trying to talk.
~Everyone likes a person who has good manners. Good manners make everyone happened make you a person who is nice to know.

Phone Manners Fun
Have the children practice using the telephone, dialing properly, and how to ask for their friend:
Hello, May I please speak to _________, Also practice how to answer the phone, "Hello" and "I'll get my mother"

Sharing Obstacle Course
Set up an obstacle course and have the children go through it moving in one direction. Remind the children about politely taking turns -- good practice for children who have trouble waiting for slower children ahead of them.

Sharing Box Fun
Make a sharing box that contains two or three toys for each child. Place the box on the floor and let each child choose a toy to play with. Set a kitchen timer to go off after several minutes. When the children hear the timer bell, have them put their toys back into the box and choose other ones. Then set the timer bell again.
For Parents
I print this out in letter form and send it out to all parents during MANNERS week.

Sharing
Each child brings in a toy or special item to "share" with the group. We talked about how good it makes us feel when we share things.

Share Cooking
Each child had a "job" when we made cupcakes... I explained about how the cupcakes would not turn out if each of us did not share in the work.

Sharing Colors
I made each child a cup of colored water--red for one, blue, and then yellow for the third. I then took empty cups and let red add some water and then blue (made purple)..and yellow added to blue (green) and red and yellow (made orange). Reinforced this double lesson with a chart (drew circles and in them wrote "Red" + "Blue" = "Purple"...etc...) and let them color them as they completed each mixing.

What to Do...
1.Two children are sitting at a table coloring. One child needs a crayon that is out of his/her reach. It is within the reach of the other child. What should the first child say to the other child nearest the crayons? (Choose two children to act this out.)
2. The children are in line at the drinking fountain. Another child asks the second child in line to let him/her have "cuts" in line. What should that second child in line do? (As many children may role-play this activity as the teacher desires).
3. The teacher is giving directions and one child in the class has a question to ask about the directions being given. What should that child do?
4.It's a cold day outside and one child has a sweater and a coat. Another child has no sweater or coat and is wearing a short-sleeved shirt. What should the first child do in this situation? (Choose two children to act out this situation. Either use a real sweater and coat or just pantomime putting them on.)
 

SONGS:

Getting Along (rhyme)
We know how to get along
every single day.
We take turns and share a lot
While we work and play.

Magic Words
There are three little magic words
That will open any door with ease.
Two little words are "Thank you!"
And the other little word is "Please!"

Manner
We say, "Thank you."
We say, "Please."
We don't interrupt or tease.
We don't argue. We don't fuss.
We listen when folks talk to us.
We share our toys and take our turn.
Good manners aren't too hard to learn.
It's really easy, when you find.
Good manners means
JUST BEING KIND!

Never, Never Pick Your Nose By G. B. Lipson
Pick a flower
Pick a rose
Pick a treat
Or pick your toes (just kidding)
Pick some buttons
Pick some bows
Pick some jeans
Or fancy clothes
Pick some friends
Or pick some foes
But never, ever
PICK YOUR NOSE!!
YECH!

Share your Toys (sung to row, row, row your boat)
Share, Share , share your toys,
share them with your friends
It's so much fun to share your toys,
sharing has no end.

Super Manners (Sung to I'm a Little Teapot)
I have super manners. Yes, I do.
I can say "Please," and "Thank You," too.
When I play with friends, I like to share.
That's the way I show I care!

Thank You Tune: If You're Happy and You Know It
When my grandpa gives me something,
I say "thank you".
When my grandma gives me something,
I say "thank you".
I can see it makes them happy
When I say it so politely
Yes, good manners mean to always
say "thank you"!
If I spill my drink at lunch
I say "I'm sorry".
When I break something of yours
I say "I'm sorry".
I can see it makes you happy
When I say to so politely.
Yes, good manners mean to always
say "I'm sorry"!
If I bump into someone
I say "excuse me".
If I need to interrupt
I say "excuse me".
I can see it makes people happy
When I say it so politely
Yes, good manners mean to always
say "excuse me"!

Table Manners (Sung to: Frere Jacques)
Chewing quietly, chewing quietly
Do not slurp, do not slurp,
We must say excuse me,
We must say excuse me
When we burp,
When we burp.

Three Nice Mice (3 blind mice)
3 Nice Mice
3 Nice Mice
See how nice they are
see how nice they are
They're always polite when they nibble their cheese
they never forget to say thank you and please
they cover their noses whenever they sneeze
ahhh ahhh ahhh-choo (pretend sneeze)
3 nice mice 3 nice mice
 

STORIES:

Have any good stories? Let us know!
 

FOOD SUGGESTIONS:

Snack Sharing
Give each child a different kind of fruit for snack (apples, oranges, raisins, etc) and let the children share their snack with one another so that everyone has a variety.
 

TIPS/NOTES:

THREE WAYS TO FIND COOPERATIVE BEHAVIOR
1) List ten things you would like your child to do. Spend five minutes, twice a day, looking for those behaviors. Each time your child does something on the list, put a check by the item. Be generous in interpreting the child's behavior.
2) Ask someone to help you look for desirable behavior. See how long a list you can make in ten minutes. Try again an hour later.
3) Ask your child's teacher, day care provider, or scout leader to tell you three things your child does well.

TEN WAYS TO ENCOURAGE DESIRABLE BEHAVIOR
1) Smile at your child.
2) Offer your child a hug.
3) Praise the behavior, "Thank you for walking quietly."
4) Watch him while he practices the piano or any other activity
5) Acknowledge your child with a nod when he enters the room.
6) Put a happy face sticker on her hand.
7) Read a book or watch TV with your child.
8) Write a note to your child acknowledging his effort.
9) Make a point to attend events your child participates in; such as sports or theater.
10) Write a letter to a friend at the table while your child is studying.

THREE *RULES* FOR EFFECTIVE PRAISE
1) Be specific. "Good job sharing your dinosaurs," is much better than, "Good boy!" Children need to know exactly what they're doing right. You can praise effort as well as success by saying, "I like the way you tried to...".
2) Be sincere. Don't exaggerate praise. A child will probably not believe the statement, "That's the best drawing I've ever seen," but will respond positively to, "I sure like the way you drew this part of the picture up here. How did you do that?" or, "I can see that you worked really hard on this."
3) Be immediate. You must praise children while they still remember what they did. Young children need information right away. For example, "Thank you for closing the door gently. I like the way you remembered to do that."