Hi! Luke here. There comes a moment in a teen's life when he or she refuses to share his or her diary with their younger siblings. In A CBBC Fairytale, I at first refuse to let Sophie read my diary, but then I allow her to do so. In this activity, if your tween has a younger sibling, you are going to teach them both how to share. I'm very good at sharing with my younger sister, so from my experiences I will show you how.
First, ask your tween about all the times he or she refused to let her younger brother or sister refuse to read his or her diary. Your tween should be emotional as she responds and she may apologise to her younger sister, but don't let the waterworks get to you too! Then ask your tween's younger brother or sister why he or she wanted to read your diary. Ask the following questions:
- Did you want to see through your brother/sister's eyes?
- What is your brother/sister's secret life?
- What can you both do to share your worlds?
- How can you two learn to share together?
- Is there anything you can do to be best friends?
Next, have your tween take out her diary and read it aloud to his or her younger sibling. It doesn't matter if it's about stuff like periods or crushes or teen fall outs, just read the best bits for your tween's younger sibling depending on his or her age. If your child has a disability, don't worry, it'll be an excellent experience for the two of you to bond and find out more about each other's lives like Sophie does with me. Next, you two can draw a picture of you sharing the experience with your younger sibling and find out what life is like if you were to see the world through your younger sibling's eyes. Like for instance, "Cody's drawn a picture of you experiencing a trip to the fair together." or "Jasmine, would you like to see watching CBBC through your older sister Amya's eyes?"
Finally, you two can play a game of Chinese Whispers, but with a twist! Get the whole family involved for this one, and trust me, you can even let a werewolf play if you allow. First, you have to pass a message about me and my siblings to the entire family through whispering, for example: "Cleo and Sophie love playing with bubbles." However, at the end of the game, instead of sharing the message with the whole group, you have to write it down on paper and hold it up for the whole family to see. Then, one by one, each of the family has to draw out the scenario using colouring pens and pencils with another sheet of paper. Trust me, it's great fun.
Next time your tween or his or her siblings are refusing to share, use this helpful technique to bring the value of sharing into your children's lives. I think I might play Chinese Whispers with Resus, Cleo and Sophie now. Better go! Bye!"

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