Lesson Learned: Good Losers

"I do a couple of things that can be a bit controversial," says Francine Ouellette Lavoie of the Centre de la petite enfance la Montgolfière. "Some games are competitive and I don't shrink from using these as an opportunity to draw out lessons about life," she explains. "Competition makes winners but it also makes losers."

And what valuable lessons can children learn? Competition teaches children not only how to deal with defeats and losses but also how to be a good winner (not mocking others, for example).

It's not an easy lesson. "I remember one little boy who was very disappointed that he didn't win. He came to me just barely holding back tears and said, 'I'm a good loser aren't I?'"

And he was. So good, that Ouellette Lavoie created a special trophy just for the good loser.