Encouraging Friendships
February 15, 2018
Friendships are one of the most important and valuable parts of childhood
Here are a few ways to help support your child’s friendships…
1. Model that you care.
- Let your child know that you feel friendships are important and worth the effort.
- Get to know your child’s friends – remaining involved in your child’s social life is important regardless of their age.
2. Give them opportunities to make new friends.
- Help your child to make friends by inviting classmates over, setting up playgroups, or signing them up for extracurricular activities. Children need practice at friendships!
- Have your child play with others who are of different ages and backgrounds.
3. Practice with them.
- Try role playing friendship situations. For example, “what would you do if you wanted to introduce yourself to a new child in your class?”
4. Understand your child’s social style.
- Note that some children enjoy having a lot of friends, while others prefer a few close friends; some make friends quickly, others warm up to friends slowly.
Here are some book suggestions (for grownups) that deal with encouraging friendships in children:
- Good Friends are Hard To Find by Fred Frankel
- Cap it Off With a Smile: A Guide for Making and Keeping Friends by Robin Inwald
- Nobody Likes Me: Helping Your Child Make Friends by Elaine McEwan
For information on how to help children deal with getting in a fight with a friend,
click here.
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