Find a story for tonight · Sharing and taking turns
Start sharing with a ten-second turn, not a two-minute timer
Brookes Publishing’s guidance for early educators says to keep first turns very short and count to 10 for each one, so children can anticipate the wait. Timers of one to two minutes come later.
The Little Light who knows this feeling: Ruby.
Try this tonight
- Pick a toy and a pretend ball.
- You go first, and keep your turn short: count to ten out loud.
- “Ten! Your turn!” Pass it over and let their turn be longer.
- Then make the turns even: ten each.
- Clap for each other at the end.
Why it works
“At first, keep turns very short… count to 10 for each turn—this helps both children anticipate how long they’ll have to wait.” Start “with an adult who gets a very short turn compared with the child’s longer turn,” then make the turns equal. “Setting a timer for 1–2 minutes may be helpful.”
Counting to ten at about one number a second is roughly 10 seconds. A 1–2 minute timer is 60 to 120 seconds, six to twelve times as long.
So: Start with the counting game, and take the short turn yourself first so your child gets the long one. Move to a timer only once ten seconds is easy.
If you skip it: Starting with a two-minute timer asks a toddler to wait up to twelve times longer than the step that teaches waiting.
What the source doesn’t say
“One number a second” is our estimate of counting pace, not the source’s. The source says count to ten. That count is what children learn to predict.
