The Importance of Making Friends
When children start preschool, one of the very first things that a preschool teacher does is teach the young people how to make friends. Building strong social bonds and communication skills in an early childhood setting is important to the success of a child’s learning. Often times this is the first experience of being away from ones parents for a child. The importance of feeling confident and comfortable in this setting is one that both the teachers and the parents want for the children. So how do you get this accomplished with young and impressionable minds? Music and singing of course! Anyone who has young children knows that one of the best ways to teach children a skill is through music. Here are some great songs to help children to get to know one another and build lasting friendships through singing.
Find a Friend Song
(Sung to the tune of This Old Man)
Find a friend, Say “Hello!”
Help to make your friendship grow.
Be good to friends,
And they ’ll be good to you.
Find new friends, keep old ones too!
Meet a Friend Song
(Sung to the tune of Mulberry Bush)
Today I ’m going to meet a friend,
Meet a friend, meet a friend,
Today I ’m going to meet a friend and
We ’ll be friends together.
Today I ’m going to play with my friend,
Play with my friend, play with my friend,
Today I ’m going to play with my friend, and
We ’ll be friends forever!
How to Meet and Keep Friends
Children in preschool need lots of guidance in knowing what is appropriate and what is inappropriate in terms of making, playing with, and keeping friends. Modeling appropriate ways of making friends is a great way to teach your child how to make new friends. Some important things to remind and model for your young child at home or at school are:
Model how to make a friend. “Hi my name is _____. What is your name? Would you like to play?” Learning these few simple sentences will help your child to learn to make friends in any social setting.
Learn your friend’s name and call your friend by his or her name.
Take turns using toys. Be sure to ask for something and not just take it.
Expose your child to a variety of opportunities to both play with other children and make friends. Parks, libraries, and indoor play places are all great opportunities for children to build their social skills.
Friends 1,2,3 Song
Friends, friends, 1,2,3
All my friends are here with me!
You ’re my friend, you ’re my friend,
You ’re my friend, you ’re my friend,
Friends, friends, 1,2,3,
All my friends are here with me!
Hickory Dickory Bumblebee Song
Hickory Dickory Bumblebee
Hickory Dickory Bumblebee
Won ’t you say your name for me?
(student/child says name)
Clap it, _________ (clap while saying name)
Shout it, ___________ (shout it loud!)
Whisper it, _________ (whisper name)
***Repeat for all students and teachers present.
Additional Activities to Build Friendship
Connecting the modeling of making a friend, the songs to sing about friendship and some activities that you can do with friends are all pieces to the complex puzzle of making friends. If you are looking for some activities that will help to reinforce these ideas, here are some ideas to get you started.
Friendship Circle: Simply paint the palm of each child’s hand. Place the hands on a large blank sheet of paper so that the hands are side by side to create a circle. You can print each child’s name under his or her hand and label the center “Circle of Friends.”
Friendship Garden: Have each child create a flower and build a friendship garden on a wall or bulletin board. You can even add a picture to the center of each flower to show the uniqueness of each young person.
Friendship Rainbow: Create a rainbow on a wall or bulletin board. On each color, add a characteristic that is important to make or keep friends. At one end place a pot of gold. Put a yellow circle with a picture and name of each child in the pot. You will have a treasure of friends at the end of the rainbow!
Lifelong Friendships
It is important for children to have a core group of friends with similar beliefs and values as they grow and develop. Of course friends will come and go in your child’s life but the earlier that you help your child the skill of building friendships, the easier it will become as they grow older and other social challenges come into play. Using some of these songs and activities will help your child to make finding friends a natural part of themselves.
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