Introduction
Developing social skills is an essential part of early childhood education. One crucial skill for young children is learning how to ask friends to play. This blog post will guide educators through an engaging no-prep activity, discussion questions, and related skills to help PreK students learn how to ask their friends to play while promoting social-emotional learning.
No-Prep Activity: The Role-Play Game
This activity requires no preparation or materials from the educator. Gather your students in a circle and introduce the concept of role-playing. Explain that role-playing is when we pretend to be someone else or act out a situation. For this activity, students will take turns acting as a child who wants to ask a friend to play, while the rest of the students play as friends.
Begin by choosing a student to start and provide a simple scenario, such as asking a friend to play with blocks or join in a game of tag. Encourage the student to get the attention of their “friend” and ask them to play. The “friend” can then respond with either a “yes” or a “no” answer. After each scenario, briefly discuss with the class how the interaction went, what went well, and what could be improved.
Continue this activity by rotating through all the students, providing different scenarios each time. This will help students practice asking friends to play in various situations and build their confidence in initiating play with their peers.
Discussion Questions
- Why is it important to ask a friend to play before starting a new game or activity?
- How can we make sure we have our friend’s attention before asking them to play?
- What are some ways to respond if a friend says “no” when we ask them to play?
- How can we show kindness and respect when asking a friend to play, even if we feel nervous or shy?
- Can you think of a time when you asked a friend to play, and it went well? What did you do that made it successful?
Related Skills
Along with learning how to ask friends to play, there are other important social-emotional skills that PreK students can develop. These skills include:
- Taking turns and sharing.
- Listening to others and showing empathy.
- Recognizing and expressing emotions appropriately.
- Respecting personal boundaries and understanding personal space.
- Problem-solving and conflict resolution.
Next Steps
Teaching PreK students to ask friends to play is an important step in building their social-emotional skills. To access more engaging activities and resources to support your students’ growth, sign up for free samples of the discussed skill and others at Everyday Speech. By incorporating these activities into your teaching, you will help your students develop strong social-emotional foundations for their future success.
