Valuing what matters

For 4-year-olds

By four, children can hold two things in mind and weigh them. They notice when a friend is left out, sense what is fair, and can give something up on purpose because someone else needs it more. Effort starts to count too: something made yourself feels different from something handed over. Look for stories where a character faces a genuine choice and says why they chose as they did, and where kindness or a promise carries more weight in the end than the newest, biggest thing.