Activities on Character Moral Development for Toddlers

Home Environment

• What a child sees in the home is of utmost importance in developing a sense of moral awareness, acknowledges Harvard professor emeritus Robert Coles. He suggests that toddlers in particular observe the behavior of those around them, particularly parents and teachers. As you seek to develop morality in your toddler, begin with yourself and your family behaviors. For example, if you want to support your toddler's ability to be kind and generous, provide a consistent example of generosity and kindness yourself.

Good Literature

• Foster an environment of moral development in early childhood by reading books with valuable moral lessons out loud. These books encourage character development and moral awareness. In his ̶0;Books that Build Character,̶1; Dr. William Kilpatrick addresses these issues and analyzes the power of literature to aid in moral development. Kilpatrick argues that reading good literature aloud to your toddler is an excellent method for teaching character traits such as respect for others, bravery and honesty. Literary narratives have the ability to touch a child̵7;s imagination far more than reason alone and to linger there. As a resource, Kilpatrick includes a booklist in ̶0;Books that Build Character̶1; that is categorized by genre.

Group Games

• Toddlers also gain opportunities to grow in character as they engage in group activities with one another. Group games provide an excellent opportunity to practice taking turns, sharing and obeying an agreed-upon set of rules. As Dr. Rheta Devries acknowledged, such games encourage the development of children's moral development by allowing a degree of the child to regulate without parental intervention. Group games that serve this purpose include chasing, guessing and circle games as well as duck-duck- goose, ring-around-the-Rosie, I-spy, adult-assisted hide-n-seek and age-appropriate relay races.

Family Service

• Encourage moral development in toddlers by serving others. The benefits of volunteering as a family include a strengthening of the family unit through shared memories, a chance for parents to model service for children, strengthened family value systems and increased awareness and gratitude in children. Even toddlers can participate in family service. Among other activities, they can use their sorting or counting skills in a food pantry, dig in the dirt to plant flowers, visit elderly people in a nursing home, help collect loose change around the house or help parents deliver food to elderly shut-ins.