Parenting Packs: Manners

For an overview of the Book Bundles and Parenting Packs early literacy kits, please visit the original post. The cost listed is the list price of each item, regardless of whether or not we got it on sale/discount. The activity sheets and resource guide amount was calculated by cost of binder clip + lamination sheets.

Itemized List

• Carrying Tote ($15.99) — The Container Store
• Be Polite and Kind by Cheri J. Meiners ($10.95) — Baker & Taylor
• Emily Post’s The Gift of Good Manners by Emily Post ($19.99) — Baker & Taylor
• Excuse Me! A Little Book of Manners by Karen Katz ($5.99) — Baker & Taylor
• Manners Time by Elizbeth Verdick ($7.95) — Baker & Taylor
• Time to Say “Please”! by Mo Willems ($16.99) — Baker & Taylor
• Golly Geepers Manners Flash Cards ($12.99) — Amazon
• Playskool Picnic Basket Manners Game ($16.95) — Amazon
• Vinyl Bag ($2.99) — The Container Store
• Activity Sheets & Resource Guide ($3.00) — created in-house

Total: $97.80

I wanted to have a variety of kid-appropriate titles for caregivers to use. I went with two board books: Manners Time (which has caregiver tips at the end of the book) and Excuse Me!. Both of these titles work well for the younger crowd and will help toddlers navigate beginning manners. For the older kids who might be using this Pack, I included Be Polite and Kind and Time to Say “Please”!. Be Polite and Kind is very much a “teaching” book. With Time to Say “Please”!, I hoped that including a favorite author’s take on manners would help kids engage with the material.

For the caregivers, I choose Emily Post’s The Gift of Good Manners. It took me some time to find a caregiver book that specifically addressed teaching children manners as opposed to adult manners. I could have easily have selected a book on grown-up manners and etiquette, but that didn’t seem productive in the Pack.

I found the Golly Geepers Manners Game very quickly on Amazon and I was impressed with the quality of the cards and the customization for families. I also liked that this was a game to play DURING a meal together. What a great way to encourage manners and family together time!

The Playskool Picnic Basket Manners Game was another purchase from Amazon. I think this one appeals more to children because of the brightly colored pieces and the picnic basket and tablecloth game board. It encourages polite manners and turn-taking during gameplay.

The Manners Pack has been checked out six times since debuting five months ago. (That’s pretty much on par for the Parenting Packs average circulation. I find that these kits stay out for the full two weeks since there’s so much information and lots of materials in them.)