Shaping children’s character at a young age is a fundamental part of the development of their social and emotional well-being. Embarking on lessons that teach children to love themselves and appreciate the value of others is very amusing and fulfilling. I worked on a project that encourages children to fill the bucket of others which is based on the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today? Through this Bucket Filling activity, children will be able to value themselves as individuals and be able to demonstrate kindness and respect to others.
I emphasised that the essence of bucket filling starts within ourselves. Thus, I tasked them to decorate their buckets and write ways on how they think they can become a Bucket Filler. The activity serves as a springboard to the formal bucket filling in the classroom.
The most awaited Bucket Filling in classroom has finally come. The activity underlies in a philosophy that each one of us has an invisible bucket that is constantly emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When it’s empty, we feel awful. Therefore, we need to strive to do good to others and invite positive emotions. With that, we fill others bucket and our own too. This shows that kindness works in two ways. Every child has a bucket displayed at the Kindness corner in the classroom. When they catch someone doing kind deeds, they will write a thank you letter to them, stating the reason for filling their buckets. The letter will be rolled and placed inside their friend’s bucket along with a pom pom ball and will also drop one for herself/himself.The one who gets their buckets filled will receive an price as a gratification for their kindness acts. At the end of the project, there will be a Bucket Filler awarding ceremony.
