A great way to introduce Get-Along is with a role play like the one described for Too-Tired. Kids get a big kick out of adults saying the words of a Get-Along Crabbie!

“I’m telling!”
“You can’t come to my birthday.”
“Gimme that!”
“That’s mine!”

Below are a few tips, reminders, and phrases to use often; before long the kids will be using them all by themselves!

Explain that if there is a problem they are having with each other, they need to try to…

“Work it out!”

Using your own words give them a few tips such as:

“No hitting.”
“No grabbing toys away from someone else.”
“No yelling.” (that’s right, you either...)

Soon enough, they will start adding their own ideas to the list:

“No spitting!”
“No biting!”
“No kicking!”
“No pulling hair!”

Note: They will be more dramatic than you would think necessary...which works great for getting it to sink in!

Before long you’ll all be laughing about ways to BEAT Get-Along!

Sometimes they won’t be able to work it out on their own – especially early on. Explain that when they can’t work it out alone, the best thing to do is to come to an adult to help get everything worked out.

After getting it worked out you can use what just happened as a good example of how to solve problems so that next time they will be able to handle it themselves.

Be sure to explain the difference between getting help to work things out and being a tattle-tail. Tell them that when they can’t figure it out they need to say something like, “We need help.” It is not okay to yell “I’m telling!” and to run to you to cry, “Johnny’s not sharing!”

Remind the children that hands are for helping, not hurting.

Teach them to give ‘warm fuzzies’, NOT ‘cold pricklies’. Warm fuzzies are nice, but cold pricklies are mean! Sharing is a warm fuzzy. Grabbing a toy from someone else is a cold prickly. “I like your coloring.” is a warm fuzzy. “YOU SCRIBBLE!” is a cold prickly.

Similar to warm fuzzies is something called “Snaps!”

When you catch someone being nice or beating a Crabbie, just say, “Hey, that was nice!” or “Good work!” and then, “SNAPS FOR JOHNNY!” (while snapping your fingers). The kids love this! One aspect of what’s intriguing for them is that they simply like learning how to snap their fingers! Hey, whatever works! That’s what we CrabbieMasters say!

Related to “Snaps!” is the “Snap Cup.”

The idea here is to have everyone write something nice about someone else on a small piece of paper. As the adult, be sure to manage this a little so that when it comes time to read the Snap Cup messages everyone is included and each message is appropriate.