How Full is Your Bucket?

ABOUT THE BOOK
FAMILY ACTIVITIES

Text: Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer | Illustrations: Maurie J. Manning Translation to Arabic: Muna Abu-Bakar

From his grandfather, Fares learns that he – and everyone else — has an invisible bucket. He watches his metaphoric bucket empty and fill as the day unfolds through his interactions with his sister, his friends and his classmates.
He discovers that when his bucket is full, he feels great. When it’s empty, he feels awful. Gradually, Fares learns how to fill his own bucket and those of others through acts of kindness and acceptance.

Family Activities

What if each of us had an imaginary bucket, which fills with drops when others treat us kindly and we reciprocate, and gets empty when we offend them with our words and actions?

Video

Dear Parents,

This story deals with a basic educational value, which is important for us to instill in our children’s hearts. Violence towards others, whether verbally or physically, doesn’t only hurt their feelings, but offends us as well. We turn into angry, anxious people, and we see nothing but the bad side of life. But respecting others, supporting them, and dealing with them with kindness and compassion fills us with positive energies too. This makes us “see a beautiful world,” as the poet said.

This value is first instilled and strengthened within the family. When we as parents listen to our children, encourage them, express our love for them, and support them when they need our help, they grow up to fill buckets, not to empty them.

Family Activities

Together, we can recall the situations that Fares went through during his day, and that led to the emptying of his bucket. How did he feel? We can talk about other situations that Fares would have encountered at home, in the street, and at school, which would empty his bucket.
With our child, we can remember the situations in which Fares felt that his bucket was full. How did Fares feel in every situation? Can we imagine other situations in which he feels his bucket getting full?
How do we encourage and help others in our daily life? We can chat with our child about what they are doing and what they can do to achieve that.
We can write the title “We are a family that fills buckets” on a large paper, on which family members can record actions and words that help them fill buckets, such as saying thank you, helping with housework, sharing games with siblings, and others.
Enjoy your reading!