How Full is Your Bucket

How Full is Your Bucket was written by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer
 and illustrated by Maurie Manning. Published in 2009 and is intended
for readers ages 3-5.

"Tom Rath is one of the most influential authors of the last decade. He studies
 the role of human behavior in health, business and economics. Rath writes 
and speaks on a range of topics, from well-being to organizational leadership.
 He has written several international bestsellers, including the #1 New York
 Timesbestseller How Full Is Your Bucket? In 2007". (Barnes and Noble)

This is a great story about a little boy named Felix. His grandfather tries
 to explain to Felix that everyone has a bucket. When their bucket
is full, they are happy, but when their bucket is empty they feel sad or
angry. Felix thinks his grandfather must be kidding, but little does
he know he will soon see differently. Throughout the day he starts to 
see how his interactions with others can fill or deplete their buckets.
By the end of the day he starts to understand that filling others
buckets in return makes him feel good too. Yet, when he is negative
and empties their buckets, it too has an effect on him. 

This story is a great way for children to understand that for every action 
there is an equal or opposite reaction. They can learn to respect their friends 
feelings, and in doing so will better their day too just as Felix did. Maurice
Manning did a great job with his use of colors and captions, really 
bring this metaphor of filling your bucket to life.

Thought Provoking Questions:

• Do you believe that your interactions with your friends and family really have an effect on how they feel? Why or why not.
• Did Felix really care in the beginning of the story about others as he did in the end?
• What is something you could do throughout today to make someone feel better?

Motivational Activity:

A great activity for the children to do with this story would be to think about how they could fill the buckets of others around them, and in return fill their own buckets. The students can write about how they could do this and what they believe would cause someone to have an empty bucket. A great homework assignment would be for the children to explain to their parents that they are to think of things to help fill others buckets. Then they could do somethings to fulfill this assignment and have their parents sign off on the tasks that they did. This would be a good homework assignment for the week, as it may be harder to fill within one night. The students could then on Friday explain what things they did and children could compare the different activities they did. 


Reference: 

 How Full Is Your Bucket? For Kids Hardcover – April 1, 2009. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2016, from http://www.amazon.com/How-Full-Your-Bucket-Kids/dp/1595620273

 

 How Full Is Your Bucket? For Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2016, from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-full-is-your-bucket-for-kids-tom-rath/1102216761?ean=9781595620279