Teaching Your Toddler the P’s and Q’s of Good Manners

A toddlers world is a world of give me’s.  It’s part of their everyday vocabulary. It’s a parent’s nightmare. No parent wants an ill-mannered, disrespectful child.

Good manners are tricky. Please and thank you are the top priority manners a toddler needs to learn. As a parent, you have to teach your child their P’s and Q’s. It’s like a game of give and take. Make learning manners fun.

One of my favorite games I played with my toddler was pass the peas please. This is a simple game to teach your toddler to say please. For this funtastic learning game you’ll need ten green peas. This game is best played at the kitchen table. It can get messy!

Of course make sure your playing surface is clean. Your toddler will probably be a little resistant to this game. Take the peas and put them on your side. This is where the fun of learning good manners comes into play and a lot of patience.

Offer your child a pea while saying please. Your toddler will make an effort to either snatch the pea from your hand or say give me now. Don’t give in. Take the pea back and offer two peas, repeating the same routine until your toddler has mastered the word please. You’ll probably go through all ten peas, but it’s well worth it.

Now the real fun begins, you have to get the peas back. This is how you teach your toddler to say thank you. The hard part is getting your toddler to turn loose of the peas or not eat them first. Approach your child by saying “may I have a pea please?” If your toddler offers a pea, reciprocate by saying thank you. Repeat until you have all ten peas once again. At this point in the game you’re child may get frustrated, but don’t give up. You’re toddler is almost there.

The final step is to get your child to ask for the peas back using please. Once your child does, get them to repeat the word thank you once you hand them the pea. By the end of the game, your toddler will have learned how to use please and thank you. They’ll also have ten green peas to eat or smash!

Not only are you teaching your toddler good manners, you’re teaching them to eat healthy and they don’t even know it.