To Share Or Not To Share . . .

The children know that sharing is an act of generosity and they have some definite ideas  

regarding "the rules" of generosity . . . or do they?

I presented two puppets - the scene: they are at school and stay in at recess to help the teacher tidy the room. When they're done the teacher tells them she has a snack for them but she has to go to the office. She wants them to wait until she's gone before they eat their snack. Sofia and Simone helped the puppets lift the lids to reveal the snack and discovered that one of the plates was empty. "Oh no!" exclaimed Alfie. What should they do? Almost simultaneously Simone and Alfie said "Share!" and Sofia picked up the sandwich and quickly ripped it in half and gave one to each of the puppets.

A yummy sandwich!

Oh no! There's nothing!

They should share

I asked the children if that's what they would do and they said yes "We have to share." 

We watched a clip on Youtube called The Sharing Experiment to see an actual experiment where real children were faced with this dilemma. 

Here's the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUPzr2MGKMs

Why do we share?

Everyone agreed - because it feels good and happy and proud

Do you have to share? "Yes!"they said enthusiastically. Always? "I think so . . . "

After reading Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister we discussed how hard it was for Rainbow Fish to share   his shiny scales. Is there something you have that you wouldn't want to share?

"My stuffie dog." - Sofia

"My bunny rabbit." - Alfie

"My wings, I really like them and everyone wants them and I say no. But I only have one pair of wings and Rainbow Fish has lots of scales so he should share." - Simone

We will explore Rainbow Fish's philosophical dilemma further!