Fun Activities to Teach Children About Being Respectful

Teaching children about respect can provide a fun learning process. According to the U.S. Department of Education, children learn about respect and character when parents and other positive adults model this behavior in their lives. Adding enjoyable activities to the practice of teaching respect helps ingrain the information in the child's everyday life.

  1. What Makes Someone Unique

    • Write the definition of unique on a board. Discuss the meaning of the word unique to make sure the children understand it. Draw a unique person. Have each child draw a part of the unique person such as the head, arms, legs. Talk about why this person is unique. Encourage a discussion about what makes each child unique and why people should be respected for the unique qualities they possess.

    Respecting Property

    • Gather three items that belong to each of the children. Then have the children write what would happen if the items were damaged or stolen. Discuss how each of the children would feel if his individual items were damaged or stolen. Start a conversation on the importance of respecting everyone's property.

    Role-Play

    • Role-play a disagreement. Pretend that the child did not clean his room and was given a consequence. Teach the child how to get upset without being disrespectful to authority figures. Have him role-play the wrong way to act and show what consequence he would receive with that attitude. Then demonstrate to him the right way to respond and show him that he does not receive as much of a consequence when choosing respect.

    Talk to the Mirror

    • Provide a mirror and ask the child to share what he sees in the mirror. Encourage him to talk about his facial features, clothes, colors and characteristics. Then have the child share the differences between himself and someone else. The child should then share what he likes about the other person. Then discuss with the child why each person's differences make them special. Encourage the child to draw a picture of himself and the other person and write the positive characteristics about both people.

    Fingerprints

    • Each child should trace his hand on a piece of paper. Then have the children put their hands in fingerprint ink and press their hand on the outline that they drew. Have the children compare the pieces of paper with one another and talk about how each of the children is different. Then discuss how the difference makes them special.

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