Fairness
FAIRNESS means to be just and to be free from bias or injustice. A person
who is fair plays by the rules, share, take turns, and listen to others.
Activity 1
Go over the meaning of the word fairness with your children. Tell your children that you will share a new activity with them called
Count the Jelly Beans. Explain that fairness has a lot to do with the way we treat others. Positive behavior is developed when we
understand what it means to be fair-minded with our actions, our words and our things as well. The activity that you create with your
children is to have a small jar or other container and a bag of jellybeans and place a bean into the jar each time your children act in a
fair manner. Examples of fairness would be sharing toys, being patient, not rushing ahead of someone, not squabbling about chores,
and doing their share of helping around the house. Watching positive behavior that grows with each positive act of fairness will give
your children inspiration to be fair at home and at school. Within a few days they should see and enjoy the results. Discussion about
which acts of fairness warrant a jellybean is the end product of this activity.
Activity 2
Tell your children that one way of learning fairness is to use a recipe to make a chocolate pudding. This activity is called the Flavor of
Fairness. Explain that recipes call for certain measurements and ingredients. Ask your children to participate and have them in the
kitchen with you to measure out what is called for in the recipe. When the preparation is finished, pour only a tiny amount in one
or two bowls. Fill the rest with the balance of the pudding. Discuss why it is not fair to not be equal when dishing out pudding and
relate it to not playing fair at school. Next, let them measure out the pudding being careful to place the same amount in each dish.
Emphasize that the flavor of fairness applies to other situations as well. Treating everyone the same way you would like to be treated
is the goal of fairness and may just stop others from becoming bullies.
Activity 3
You have heard your children say, “That’s not fair!” many times before. Helping your children understand that life is not always going
to be fair can be difficult since they can’t always have what they want. Showing fairness to each other helps prevent bullying and
playing by the rules means that everyone gets a chance. The following is an activity that your children can all participate in and will
emphasize that fairness begins at home. Discuss fair ways to have the front seat in the car, fair ways to select a movie, book, or
game. Write these ways down and have your children place them on the fridge with a magnet. It is important for your children to be
able to see that consistency and fairness is a family effort and one that leads to positive behavior in their daily lives.
Activity 4
Review that fairness means being unbiased also. Begin this activity with a discussion with your children about a famous person who
has made a difference in our lives today. What injustice did this person suffer or see others suffer? What did he or she do to stop it?
What was the outcome? Now talk about their ideas of unfairness at home or bullying in school. Talk about which of these injustices
are minor or temporary and which are more serious to them. One example of a minor injustice would be having a set bedtime!
Discuss major unfair things that they see around them and brainstorm ways that major injustices could be solved such as by writing
a letter, creating a petition, formulating a letter to the editor, or attending a public meeting. If you and your children feel you want to
address one of the injustices you discuss, decide what road to take by deciding who should receive a letter or how you want to tackle
solving the injustice.
Activity 5
Being just and fair represents all that is good about people. Bullies and those who are mean and call others names, harass them, or
treat others unfairly should be talked about and emphasis should be on how to resolve some of these conflicts. One activity that can
be fun for your children is called Here Comes the Judge. Write down on pieces of paper as many things as your children can think
of as being unfair. Examples would be cheating on a test, stealing from one another, playing favorites, being jealous, etc. Have your
children take turns playing the role of the judge and have others play jury members. Decide on the examples of unfairness to “take to
court” and discuss the punishment at the end of the activity.
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