Sharing for Kids
Commitment Pooling ABC 123
Hey there! Imagine this...
You and all your friends in the neighborhood decide to all share your toys.
Cool, right? 🚂🪁🧸
Just like we divide up chores at home to keep things running smoothly, let’s manage our toys to make sure everyone gets a turn.
So, everyone brings their favorite toys to a special toy library, and you all agree to let anyone play with any toy in the library as long as they share one of theirs too.
Now, think about this...
Some kids might not have a toy to bring. No worries! There's a special parent watching over and they have a area where they keep toys from a "toy-timeout". This toy-timeout is a little rule where the longer you hold onto one toy, the more toys you have to give back before you get to trade for … another toy. (After staying with a toy for 1 week - Georgy will have to give back 2 toys to get any one other toy – these extra toys go to the toy-timeout area).
Remember: Only play with your toy for up to a week then, let someone else try it next! This way, everyone gets a turn.
Think of it like snack time: everyone gets a piece, but sometimes we save some food for someone who didn’t get a snack yesterday.
Is that fair, flowing and fun? …. maybe, but ….. yes and …
Ok ... and what if you have lots and lots of toys? Well, you can share them directly with other kids or just put them into the toy library for anyone to trade with to avoid the toy-timeout.
Ok … and what if you don’t have toys to share? Of course, kids without toys can be cared for by the special parent to receive toys from the toy-timeout area. This way, even if some kids don’t have many toys, they still get to play. 😊 Your friends can help fill the toy library, so there is always something fun for everyone!
Just like in games, rules make sure everyone has a chance to play and enjoy."
Now,
you know the first two rules of
Toy Sharing!
A. Trade your toys for other toys in the toy library
B. Toys held for too long go into the toy-timeout area and are shared with kids that have no toys.
yes and …
What if the toy library is empty!?
… and kids bring their toys to trade – but there are no toys yet there!?
Well someone has to start right? Big or small, all communities can share. It starts with us! Sharing isn't always easy, but/and with a toy library, we learn how much fun it can be to give and receive! All you have to do is plant a seed with one of your toys into the library and eventually the library will be full of toys for you to trade with!
We can start our toy library with a special Toy Week where everyone brings one toy. This way, we’ll have lots of toys from the start! Create your own Toy Week or Toy day and invite your friends to play!
Imagine how many toys everyone will have to play with now!
C. You and your friends can start by giving a few of your toys to the toy library.
More buts ….. !
What about cheap toys vs expensive toys!?
Let’s imagine there is a nice Nintendo Switch with Mario Cart on it - and it’s IN the toy library! Why would someone have placed that in the pool!?
They choose to: They could have put it in there to trade for something else they wanted.
They choose to: They could have had excess toys and/or not wanted a Toy Timeout and gave it to the toy library (knowing that they could trade back for it later if they wanted.)
But now that this expensive Nintendo Switch is in the toy library - could anyone put in say a pet rock and pull out that Nintendo? Or does the value of the toy going in - have to match the value of the toy coming out?
Who decides how much each toy is worth compared to other toys?
Well there is that special parent there - that assess each toy’s value relative to other toys. Now this is a hard job! It might be nice to have a silly robot or Artificial Intelligence (AI) do this for us!
“Hey robot - is a pet rock worth the same as a Nintendo Switch?” and the silly robot might say ..
Silly Robot voice: “a Nintendo Switch with Mario Cart is worth $600 USD and a pet rock is only at most one dollar and are available on nature trails.”
That silly robot might need more training before it can replace a parent! Imagine if a friendly silly robot could learn with us about sharing and fairness in our toy library!
A parent on the other hand might decide that the child with a pet rock was not being mischievous but sincere – loving that rock as much or more than other children might love that Nintendo Switch. These decisions are tough and – knowing the relative value (aka price) of something takes some careful thinking. All toys are special, but some toys, like the Nintendo Switch, can be shared by many friends at once, so we'll need to think together about how to share it fairly. We could create a star points chart on the wall of the library and assign each toy a certain number or range of stars so that everyone can agree and update it regularly. Every toy has stars; more stars mean that you need that many stars of your own toy you are trading for it.
Could you share like this without a parent? Perhaps even a group of kids could act like the special parent? Even best friends sometimes disagree, but every problem has a solution when we talk it out. Let’s even have a Toy Librarian every week to sort out problems! They can help make sure everyone gets a turn and learns about sharing.
Remember: When there's a toy tussle or problem, we talk it out in the discussion area to find a fair fix with other kids or a toy librarian or parent if you need help. Sometimes, sharing big toys like a Nintendo can be hard. It’s okay to feel that way, and we can talk about it in our group to understand everyone’s feelings. Sometimes, sharing your favorite toy can be tough, but seeing friends happy can make us feel great!
Think of it like this: every toy gets a turn to be the star of the library, just like every player in a game gets a turn to play. Our toy library is for everyone! No matter what toys you bring (with parental advisory), you are a part of our fun sharing family.
D. Together come up with a fair way to compare toys.
Adults can Learn from Children right?
Now, let's swap out just toys for something a bit different.
Just like we share toys, we can also share things we’re good at, like drawing or gardening. Maybe someone can teach us a fun class! Instead of just toys, people can bring commitments or promises of things they can do or give, like bringing toys, helping in a garden, teaching something, or sharing food. They create a big library of all these promises.
If someone needs help or something from the library, they can use a promise they put in to get something back from someone else’s promises. It’s like saying, "I’ll put my drawing class into the pool and take out a math class I need," but with lots and lots of people making these kinds of trades.
Why is this super cool? 🌟
Well it works with toys and other stuff! This system, called commitment pooling, helps everyone get what they need by using what everyone can do or give. It's like a magic circle of giving and receiving, making sure of fairness and that everyone can help each other out!
And guess what? This isn't just a make-believe story. It’s a real thing happening in many places around the world, helping communities to be happier and more connected. Toy Libraries exist!! and many of our great great great great … grandparents were great at this and practiced sharing - with similar rules.
Sharing, like any skill, gets better with practice. Let's practice together!
So, what do you think? Would you like to start a toy library or commitment pool in your neighborhood? What would you share? Let’s chat about it! 🌍💬
Hope you enjoyed this! 😄✨
Now, you know the first four rules of Toy Sharing!
A. Trade your toys for other toys in the toy library
B. Toys held for too long go into the toy-timeout area and are shared with kids that have no toys.
C. You and your friends can start by giving a few of your toys to the toy-library.
D. Together come up with a fair way to compare the value of traded toys.
Here are a few more reminders:
Sharing is caring! Here’s a simple guide: Share your toy, enjoy others', and bring it back on time.
Share your sharing stories: “I shared my race car, and my friend shared his action figure. We both tried new games and had double the fun!”
Treat every toy like it’s your favorite! Keeping them safe and clean means they last longer for more fun with friends
If two friends both want the same toy, here’s what you can do: Use a timer to share it! Each friend gets the toy for the same amount of time. It's fair and fun!
Feel free to add, remove or change the rules. See what works and add onto the Knowledge Commons (the biggest-big Toy Library). Stay curious and keep sharing ✨
❤️ Dedicated to my daughter Nia and littlest brother Aaron. ❤️
