Introduction

Friendship is an essential aspect of social-emotional learning for kindergarten students. A friend is someone who cares about your feelings, makes you feel comfortable, and is someone you can trust. Building friendships involves learning about others, asking questions, sharing about oneself, and spending time together. In this blog post, we will explore a no-prep activity that encourages kindergarten students to practice these skills and foster friendship-building. Additionally, we will discuss related skills and provide resources for further exploration.

No-Prep Activity: Friendship Circle

This activity requires no preparation or materials from the educator and is designed to help kindergarten students practice making friends and learning about others. Follow these simple steps:

1. Have the students sit in a circle.
2. Ask each student to think of a question they would like to ask their classmates to learn more about them. Examples include, “What is your favorite color?” or “What is your favorite animal?”
3. Starting with the first student, have them ask their question to the class.
4. Go around the circle, allowing each student to answer the question.
5. Continue this process until all students have had a chance to ask their question and listen to their classmates’ answers.

This activity promotes active listening and encourages students to learn about their classmates, forming the foundation for building friendships.

Discussion Questions

Use these questions to stimulate further discussions about friendship and related concepts:

1. Why is it important to ask questions and learn about others when making friends?
2. How can we show kindness and care for our friends’ feelings?
3. What are some ways you can spend time with your friends during or after school?
4. How does having friends make you feel?
5. What can you do if you see someone who needs a friend?

Related Skills

In addition to friendship-building, there are other relevant social-emotional learning skills for kindergarten students to develop:

• Empathy: Understanding and sharing the feelings of others.
• Active Listening: Paying full attention to the person speaking and showing interest in what they have to say.
• Communication: Expressing thoughts and feelings effectively, both verbally and nonverbally.
• Conflict Resolution: Working together to find a solution when disagreements or problems arise.
• Cooperation: Collaborating and working together as a team to achieve a common goal.

Next Steps

Now that you have explored the concept of building friendships and related skills, we encourage you to sign up for free samples of these skills and others at Everyday Speech. These resources will provide you with engaging and effective tools to support your students’ social-emotional learning journey.