Have you filled a bucket today ? A guide to daily happiness for kids

This heartwarming book encourages positive behavior by using the concept of an invisible bucket to show children how easy and rewarding it is to express kindness, appreciation and love by "filling buckets."

Updated and revised, this 10th anniversary edition will help readers better understand that "bucket dipping" is a negative behavior, not a permanent label. It also explains that it's possible to fill or dip into our own buckets.

In addition to being loved, children must also be taught how to love others. Children who learn how to express kindness and love lead happier lives. When you care about others and show that love by what you say and do, you feel good and you fill your own bucket, too.

As you read this book with children, use it as an opportunity to model this concept by filling their buckets. Tell them why they are special to you. Help them imagine whose bucket they might fill and what they could say or do to fill a bucket. Tell them whose bucket you filled that day. Practice with them to become daily bucket fillers. Very quickly they will experience the pride and joy of filling buckets.

Suitable for children aged 4- 10 years old 

How do you feel when your bucket is full?
When your bucket is full, you feel more confident, secure, calm, patient, and friendly. Your thoughts are positive and you expect positive results. When your bucket is overflowing, you experience an intense happiness that can spread to those around you. Have you ever felt better after someone gave you a friendly smile or happy grin? This is the "ripple effect" of a full bucket.

How do you feel when your bucket is empty?
When your bucket is empty, it contains few, if any, positive thoughts or feelings. When your bucket is empty you can easily become sad, negative, insecure, nervous, angry, depressed, stressed, worried, afraid, or physically ill. When you experience any of these feelings, it's easy to believe that life is too challenging and that nothing you attempt will be successful. An empty bucket can affect your behavior and cause you to express your emotions in a way that empties the buckets of those around you.

What affects the level of happiness in your bucket?
Negative life events. The careless or even cruel words and behavior of others can also affect the level of happiness in your bucket. Your own self-talk and thoughts can dramatically reduce or raise the level of happiness in your bucket. It's important to know that you are responsible for what you choose to think and when your thoughts are positive and healthy, your bucket levels will reflect it.

What is Bucket Filling?
Actions or words that show that you care about someone. Saying or doing something kind. Giving someone a heartfelt smile. Using names with respect. Helping without being asked. Giving sincere compliments. Showing respect to others. There are hundreds of wonderful ways to fill buckets. The language of bucket filling has become synonymous with being kind and thoughtful. Your bucket will be filled when, at the close of each day, you reflect on the ways in which you have filled buckets.

What is Bucket Dipping?
Making fun of someone. Saying or doing unkind things. Refusing to help. Failing to show respect or being intentionally disrespectful. This is a partial list of ways in which it's possible to dip into another's bucket. Another is bullying, the behavior that has become the essence of bucket dipping. It is very important that we learn to understand the motivation for these behaviors.

Note: It is also dipping when we unintentionally dip into another's bucket with a thoughtless word or careless action. These are small and should be repaired with a swift, sincere apology.

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