We are in the throes of trying to teach Bug about manners.
He says “thank you” pretty regularly. “Please” is a little bit tougher for him.
Every morning he asks for something to eat and he forgets to say please. Or he demands we give him a toy or turn on the TV. I’m getting pretty tired of saying “What do you say?” or “How do you ask?” But we’ve got a long way to go so I’d better get used to it.
We also are having to deal with what TV characters are doing and what his friends at school do. Thank you so much 1950’s Donald Duck and Huey, Duey and Lewey for teaching him about burping. At least now he know’s that it’s bad manners and they should say excuse me.
Now I’m trying to educate him on table manners, specifically no smacking your food. I think it’s a pretty difficult concept to teach, so I’m turning to books.
Here are five books that I’ve found to help our family navigate the world of manners. Hopefully they can help you teach your preschooler manners too.
1. The Little Book of Good Manners – This cute book covers everything from covering your mouth when yawning to not interrupting.
2. What Do You Say Dear – A book of funny, hilarious scenarios to teach kids manners. For example, what do you say if you bump into a crocodile?
3. Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners – I loved the Berenstain Bears books growing up and find them to be great even today to teach some of the basics.
4. How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? – I adore this book. It’s great for teaching table manners and for showing kids that it can be difficult for everyone to learn, even dinosaurs.
5. Manners Can Be Fun This book is a little advanced for Bug, but it covers a lot of good topics like table manners, sharing, and cleaning up. The message is good and highlights the type of person you DON’T want to be (one with bad manners!)
What a great resource, thank you for sharing!
I am ordering and/or reserving all of these books right now! Great list! Thanks!