Helping Others

Guide younger children to learn how to care for others by showing them how helping another person is valued. Follow the steps below to provide a school or community project to help young children learn how to share with, and care for, others.

Purpose: To provide a rewarding and cooperative classroom project to help children understand the concept of helping and sharing.

Materials: "The Lion and the Mouse"; large chart paper and markers

Preparation: Download the song "The Lion and the Mouse" to play on CD/MP3 player or have access to computer speakers and the Internet to play the music online. Write the lyrics of the chorus on large chart paper.

Procedure: Gather the class in a group and play "The Lion and Mouse." Have the students sing along with the chorus. Ask the students to talk about the meaning of the line in the mouse’s song, "Treat others as you’d have others treat you."

• How did the mouse help the lion?
  He chewed through the ropes of the net that trapped the lion.
• What could the lion do for the mouse?
  Be his friend; take care of him when he’s in danger.

Explain that the mouse’s song is sometimes called the Golden Rule.

Ask the students to talk about examples of the Golden Rule that they have experienced in the classroom. For example:

• Letting someone join their game
• Letting someone else go first in line
• Helping someone who is hurt
• Sharing a cookie from their lunchbox
• Letting someone play with a toy first

Next, talk about putting the Golden Rule in practice to help others outside of their classroom.

How could they help others in their school? For example:

• Create a bulletin board about the Golden Rule in the hallway to let everyone learn about ways to share and help.
• Volunteer to clean up the playground.
• Start a campaign to keep the hallways free of litter.
• Share books with younger students in the pre-school classes.
• Keep the toy area clean in the classroom.
• Help to keep the lunchroom clean.
• Let someone go on the slide first.

What are some things they could share with the community? For example:

• Contribute to a classroom jar of pennies for a month; then, deliver the savings to a community group.
• Bring in gently used clothing, toys, or books to share at a homeless shelter or home for abused families.
• During the holiday season, choose small gifts to wrap and donate to a local charity.
• After you have checked with your local food bank to see what types of items they need, children could bring in food items to share.
• Write cards or create seasonal decorations for a local children’s hospital.
• Prepare a performance for a senior citizens’ home.

Optional Procedure: Use A Tale of the Lion and the Mouse: The Golden Rule to play a classroom game to help students understand the many ways they can follow the Golden Rule.

Related Family Article: Caring and Sharing

Resources:

• "Children and Charities: Teaching Kids To Share" from More 4 Kids has ideas for helping children show that they care by sharing with children’s charities.
• "Helping Children Learn About Kindness" from Missouri Families Relationships gives tips to support children caring.
• "Celebrate the Holidays: Teach Children About Giving" can help you find activities to encourage and teach giving from Sharon Vincz Andrews, Professor at Indiana State University.
• "Giving (and Getting) in the Holiday Season" from Bright Horizons Family Solutions has ways to manage a balance between giving and getting from e-family news.