Has your child come home saying he is a” Bucket Filler” or that someone helped fill his or
her bucket today? Are you wondering what that means?
This year we will be emphasizing a “culture of kindness” through Bucket Filling. Bucket
filling is an easy-to-understand concept: Everyone carries an invisible bucket that holds
our good thoughts and feelings. When our buckets are full, we feel happy and when our
buckets are empty, we feel sad. Children quickly understand that they can fill buckets
and be “Bucket Fillers” when they do and say things that are kind, considerate, caring,
helpful and respectful. They also learn that Bucket Dipping” occurs when they are unkind,
inconsiderate, uncaring, or disrespectful, removing those good feelings from others’
buckets and even their own bucket. Even the youngest child understands that actions
and words can either fill a bucket or dip into it. During this school year we will be
encouraging, reminding, and recognizing everyone’s efforts to be Bucket Fillers at home,
at school, and everywhere they go. Our goal is to make choices that make our class, our
school and our world a better place!
During the first week of school the children are introduced to a book called Have You
Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids . It teaches children the
concept of Bucket Filling in a light-hearted but appropriate way. The concept of being
a “Bucket Filler” is basically showing kindness to others. “Bucket Dipping” results in the
loss of good feelings in others’ buckets and in the “Bucket Dipper’s” bucket as well. The
best way to have a full bucket is to be a “Bucket Filler” for others. When you fill another
person’s bucket, there is actually an unexpected benefit of having your own bucket filled
as a result! It feels good to be kind to others! Giving not only helps the receiver but the
mere act of giving also benefits the giver.
In our classroom we recognize that all of the children carry an invisible bucket. Everyone
is encouraged to fill each other’s buckets. When a child’s bucket is filled by a classmate,
he or she can fill out a “Bucket Filling Note, explaining how his or her bucket was filled.
The note is put into our class mailbox and is read at the end of the day. The recipient of
the note gets to take it home to share with his/her family. Our goal is that as we get
better and better at being a bucket-filling class, all of our buckets will be full to
overflowing.
We will also be sending home the book with a “Bucket Filling” Journal. When it is your turn,
please find a cozy spot to read the book together. Talk about how others have filled
their bucket and think of ways for your child to fill someone else’s bucket. Please write
in the journal one “bucket filling” that you saw your child give. Then have your child write
about a time he or she had someone else fill his or her bucket. How did it make them feel?
Have you filled a bucket today? 