Music is an ideal tool to teach toddlers about manners, as children of this age often relate to musical tunes and are thus more likely to internalize the messages related to the music. Use a simple, yet catchy song that is set to a tune that most toddlers are familiar with to teach about manners. This song is set to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot":
"I have super manners. Yes, I do.
I can say "please" and "thank-you," too.
When I play with friends I like to share.
That's the way I show I care."
You can teach toddlers how to have good manners through modeling. When you're interacting with the children and when they see you interacting with others, always use proper manners. You want to do things like say "please," "thank-you" and "you're welcome," hold doors open for other people and offer praise and compliments to the toddlers and to others when deserved. While sitting at the snack table, exhibit proper manners, such as placing your napkin on your lap and not putting your elbows on the table.
You can reinforce using manners while playing in the classroom. Either play with the toddlers yourself, or watch as they play with other children. Encourage them to share their toys with whomever they are playing with. You can prompt the children to use inside voices if they are playing inside. In addition, have the toddlers ask each other if they want to play. When it's time to clean up, don't do it for the children; have them help you or encourage them to clean up the toys themselves. Practice makes perfect in all areas of life, including using manners.
Using proper manners can be practiced with arts and crafts activities. Set out a few items for children to use to create arts and crafts projects -- one pair of scissors, one of each colored crayon and one container of glue, for example. Explain to the toddlers that they can use the materials to create pictures, but since there are only a few items, they need to use their manners while creating their projects. Kids will have to learn to share, wait, ask nicely and graciously thank one another while creating their crafts.