Friends and Friendships

My son has recently turn four and we had his very first “birthday” party with children from his preschool. When I went to write the invitations out, I realised that I didn’t really know many of his friends; children that he spends his days with building mountains of sand and zooming cars around a make believe track. My son’s friends come from such a variety of backgrounds and this made me think about friends and friendship.

I spent a lot of time travelling as a child and moved to a lot of new schools as a result of this I spent a lot of time making new friends. It is a great skill to be able to make friends quickly and in a way it often comes down to the adults to facilitate social interactions, encouraging participation and know each child. Whether it is an experience of building volcanoes in the sandpit or playing a game of soccer, childhood is full of friends and friendship.

Some children find it difficult to make friends and need support to approach children or become involved with groups of children. Some children even find it difficult to talk to others, including staff. It may help to have something familiar to them maybe a toy from home and item of clothing or something that helps them be comfortable at the programme.

One thing I have seen a lot of lately is a “getting to know you” booklet one that the children can fill out themselves or with a little help from staff or a parent. The children can use this to get to know each other as well as getting to know themselves a little too.

Giving children the opportunities to become acquainted with each other means that those, who find it difficult to make friends, can become socially engaged with others. Involving children in activities where they have to meet others as a part of a game or something similar will expand their opportunity to have social interactions including activities in pairs or small groups.

Some children have a huge amount of friends and get included in everything whilst others may only make one or two really great friends. The best approach is the one the meets the needs of the individual child at the time.

So take the time to make a new friend and support others to do the same.

Ariana