21 Fun Activities to Teach Your Children Good Manners

kids enjoying an activity that teaches good manners

As parents (or homeschoolers), we have the unique ability to influence our children to be forces for good in this world. 

One small step forward in that mission involves teaching good manners. It’s often overlooked in our culture today but so very important. 

I love the idea of a Good Manners theme week or “Manners Month” to kick things off.

To help you get started, I’ve gathered 21 free good manners activities to make teaching manners easy and fun!

To kick things off, grab this Manners List that you can print and hang on your fridge or wall in your classroom:


Angry girl in need of manners training

get your free list of good manners here!


I’ve organized the list of activities below into 4 main categories:

  • Songs & Books
  • Arts & Crafts
  • Games
  • Worksheets & Printables

Just find the way your child learns best and have fun!

Songs and Stories

These make great preschool and kindergarten activities. There’s just something about a jingle and a rhyme that makes things “stick.”

1. The Manners Song 

Children, especially young ones, tend to learn more through play. 

Although there is far more to manners than this song depicts, it’s a great way to introduce manners to preschoolers. 

The song is fun, catchy, and helps teach the concept of basic manners to young kids

2. Cute Collection of Manners Poems

These poems offer a fun, gentle way to help children understand what type of behavior is acceptable and which actions to avoid. 

They cover some elementary manners concepts like being friendly and willing to help others. 

3. Behaving Properly by Little Mandy Manners

This is one of those teaching good behavior activities that provides a visual experience for kids while reinforcing the principles through song. 

I like that it presents real-life scenarios and situations that children find themselves in.

It’s not an in-depth overview of manners by any means, but I think it’s a fun way to start the process of modeling good behavior, bit by bit. 

4. “Mind Your Manners” Picture Books at the Library

I love reading. I wanted to instill that love in my children at an early age, and children’s books were a good way to do that. 

In many cases, they naturally spark good discussions about good manners. 

These books in particular are bright, colorful, and capture the attention of little minds well. 

They’re not necessarily a series of lessons but are instead fun illustrations that discuss both good and bad behavior. 

From actions like sharing to saying “thank you,” the more simple acts of good manners are demonstrated well within their covers. 

Combat a culture of rudeness with clear action steps and character-building insights in the Good Manners Guide:


a thoughtful, bible-based approach to teaching good manners!


Arts and Crafts

Let’s face it—children love to get their hands dirty!

These activities related to good manners provide a delightful outlet for their creativity (and desire for gooey textures and colorful sparkles).

5. Teaching Manners Through Art Activity

This is a unique manners craft as it is different from most methods of teaching good manners

I love that it allows for practicing manners in a very normal, everyday scenario. 

Students engage in all sorts of group activities, and they need to know how to politely ask for items and share. 

That’s exactly what this art activity teaches—without children even realizing they’re learning.

6. Good Manners Box

I wish I’d thought about this when my children were younger. All you need is a tissue box and a few of your typical school supplies. 

The idea is to create a visual “holder” of their positive actions. It’s a fun way to call attention to good behavior and encourage them to continue in it. 

You can create little “coins” for things like:

  • I held the door for someone
  • I listened carefully to my teacher
  • I remembered to ask politely 

Overall, it’s a simple activity that highlights how good manners should be weaved naturally within our speech and actions and speech. 

7. Paint “Happy” Rocks

As simple and silly as it was, my children loved painting rocks. Do yours? 

If so, this little good manners project might be their favorite one of all!

It involves painting words or phrases like “love others” or “be kind” and displaying them somewhere visible as a daily reminder. 

8. Place Setting Craft

Do your children set the table? If not, would you like them to learn how?

This simple, yet fun craft helps them understand the basics without it feeling like a chore. 

Games

It’s usually a win for the whole family whenever you can incorporate good manners into games.

It’s makes the task of learning more like a play. 

As you might guess, many of these game are geared toward younger students. If you have older ones participating, get creative with ways to include them that don’t feel as childish. 

For instance, you could role play for table manners. The older student(s) can serve the younger ones—both practicing their 

9. The Please and Thank You Game with Animals or Action Figures

As your children get older, you’ll want to encourage good manners in age-appropriate ways. 

This is a great manners activity for kindergarten that’s fun and easy to do—just incorporate their favorite toys! 

10. Monster Manners Game

Have you discovered the wonder of file folders in your homeschool?

It’s really quite amazing how many uses they have, and this creative game highlights just one of the many!

The cute monsters put a different type of spin on this game. Boys, especially, will love it. 

Each monster represents an action or manner, and you have to decide if it’s a good or bad one!

11. Holiday Meal Manners Game 

This is an engaging way to introduce the concept of “please” to young children. 

It’s so important to teach our little ones how to ask for something politely (as opposed to snatching), and this game makes the process light and fun. 

12. Printable Board Game to Teach Manners

This good manners game works well with kids up to third grade. I liked that it was similar to other types of board games we play. 

It’s easy to set up and even easier to not realize you’re “learning.”

13. The Mind Your Table Manners Game

This is a great one to tuck away for a night when you eat out. 

As moms, I think we all know the struggle of teaching children to sit still and wait patiently. This game helps pass the time while waiting for your food.

It’s set up similar to board games where you have to reach the finish line to win, but you learn to recognize good and bad behaviors in the process!

Worksheet Activities

Do you have a child that just loves worksheets? These good manners activity sheets should be right up their alley. 

14. Manners List for Your Fridge

This is the list of manners created by my dear friend, Stacy, here at Homeschool Adventure.

I mentioned it at the beginning of this post, but I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss it.

If you want to teach manners in a way that focuses on the heart behind them, you’re going to love it!

15. Lend a Hand Coloring Page

This is a great option to work into your lesson plan on good manners and habits. 

Unlike other manners activities, I like that it focuses more on the heart behind the action. 

Manners go far beyond chewing with your mouth closed. I appreciate that this coloring sheet highlights empathy and helping people others.

Check out this post for more activities to teach kindness and empathy.

16. Patience and Manners Activity Printable

This activity is more like a mini-lesson plan to help develop social skills. It focuses on patience, which can be especially hard for children to master. 

With a checklist used to track progress and gauge success, it’s an easy, engaging way to teach good choices and appropriate behavior. 

17. Colorful Good Manners Classroom Posters

I love a good poster, and these are bright and colorful! They’re great to hang up around the house or wherever your children do school.

I’m a firm believer that “in sight” means “in mind.” 

I like that these posters serve as an ongoing reminder and a passive way to encourage good behavior. 

18. Manners Detective Lesson Plan

If you want to go further than an activity sheet but don’t have time to create a full-blown lesson, this good manners lesson is a fantastic tool. 

It provides a fantastic overview of teaching manners in a fun “detective” theme and can be used for a wide range of ages. 

This resource isn’t a standalone one, but it’s great to pair with other lessons you may be doing on manners. 

Word searches help kids build their vocabulary and attention to detail, so it’s a win-win. 

20. Using Polite Words Lesson Plan

I don’t know many children who like to sit still in desks for long. Get them up and moving with this fun collection of games and activities!

I especially loved the skits and role play aspect of this lesson plan. 

They get to act out different scenarios (several are provided for you), but I think I’d encourage them to come up with their own narrative (throw a little critical thinking into the mix!).

21. Manners Matter Coloring Sheet

Training your children in good manners doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated. 

I love coloring sheets—they engage the eye and employ the hand while training the brain. What’s not to love?

Plus, children love displaying their artwork for all to see, so they act as daily reminders, too.

If you’ve considered dedicating some school time to teaching good manners, I highly recommend it! 

The benefits last for life.

As you can see, it doesn’t have to be time-consuming, complicated, and certainly not boring. 

Looking for something more significant than games, crafts, and activities?

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