Character Building Buckets (Free Resources)

Many of you, like me, have been reading and using Carol McCloud's book "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?"  This is in hopes to create better character development in our students. I introduced the concept to my class by reading the book and then having discussions about it. Immediately, my group started to speak in terms of "buckets."  
I heard, "I'm going to fill your bucket!" I listened to them reminder each other, "You're not filling my bucket."

These ideas work because they are concrete. They take the abstract ideas of emotion and interaction put them into a pronounced form. I love the idea of physical buckets for each child and special notes or trinkets placed inside for acts of kindness. Our little ones need manipulatives to conceptualize ideas.

Here are two great read alouds on Youtube.  These are terrific resources to introduce the bucket concept.

These are two fabulous songs that will reinforce character development.

I created this resource to help teachers facilitate conversations with their classes about being kinder to each other.

Free here!



If you aren't already familiar with it, here is the main website for bucket concepts:Bucket Fillers 
You can find many ideas and resources at the site.