Thanksgiving is the season of gratitude, reflection, and togetherness. It’s also the perfect time to help students strengthen their social-emotional skills by exploring the concept of friendship. Everyday Speech’s Thanksgiving Friendship Activity offers a creative and meaningful way to do just that. The Friendship Pie craft invites students to reflect on the qualities that make a great friend while fostering connection and kindness in the classroom.
This hands-on activity encourages students to express their thoughts about friendship and creates a visual reminder of the value of building positive relationships. It’s an excellent tool for elementary educators to incorporate SEL concepts into their Thanksgiving celebrations.
Why Focus on Friendship?
Friendship is a vital part of a child’s social-emotional development. Learning how to be a good friend and recognizing the traits of a good friend helps students build stronger connections with their peers. The Thanksgiving Friendship Activity reinforces these concepts by encouraging students to think about the characteristics that make friendships meaningful, such as kindness, honesty, and respect.
Teaching friendship skills also promotes empathy and reduces conflicts in the classroom. As students reflect on the traits they value in a friend, they begin to understand how their own actions can positively impact others.
How the Friendship Pie Activity Works
The Friendship Pie activity is designed to be simple yet impactful. Students create a pie made of “friendship ingredients,” with each piece representing a quality or characteristic of a good friend. Here’s how it works:
- Think About Friendship
Students brainstorm qualities they value in friends, such as sharing, honesty, and helpfulness. Each pie slice gets labeled with one of these traits. - Add a Creative Twist
Using phrases like “A tablespoon of kindness” or “A dash of honesty,” students write and decorate their pie slices, reflecting on what makes each quality important. - Assemble the Pie
Students cut out and assemble their pie pieces, creating a complete Friendship Pie. This serves as a visual representation of the values they prioritize in friendships. - Share and Reflect
After completing their pies, students share their ingredients with the class, fostering discussions about what makes friendships strong and meaningful.
Benefits of the Thanksgiving Friendship Activity
The Thanksgiving Friendship Activity isn’t just a craft—it’s a powerful tool for teaching SEL concepts and fostering a positive classroom environment. Here’s why it’s so effective:
- Promotes Reflection
By identifying and writing about friendship qualities, students practice self-awareness and consider how their own actions align with these traits. - Builds Empathy
Sharing their pies with classmates encourages students to recognize and appreciate the perspectives and values of their peers. - Fosters Creativity
The craft element allows students to express themselves artistically while reinforcing the lesson’s key themes. - Encourages Collaboration
Group discussions and sharing create opportunities for students to connect and build stronger relationships.
How to Incorporate the Activity into Your Lesson Plans
The Thanksgiving Friendship Activity is flexible and can be adapted to fit different teaching styles and schedules. Here are a few ideas:
- Morning Gratitude Circle
Begin your day with a gratitude circle where students share one quality they appreciate in their friends before creating their pies. - Writing Extension
Pair the activity with a writing prompt, such as “Describe a time when a friend showed one of the qualities in your pie.” - Classroom Display
Assemble the completed pies into a “Friendship Wall” to showcase your classroom’s collective values. - Home Connection
Send the pies home as a Thanksgiving gift for families, encouraging students to discuss friendship and gratitude with their loved ones.
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Everyday Speech’s Commitment to SEL
The Thanksgiving Friendship Activity is part of Everyday Speech’s robust library of SEL resources. With activities, video modeling lessons, and interactive games, Everyday Speech helps educators teach essential social-emotional skills in engaging, age-appropriate ways. Each resource is thoughtfully designed to fit seamlessly into your classroom routine, making it easy to incorporate SEL into everyday learning.
Thanksgiving is just one of many opportunities to teach gratitude, kindness, and empathy. Everyday Speech provides tools to support these lessons year-round, helping students develop skills that will benefit them for life.
Why Thanksgiving is the Perfect Time for SEL Activities
The spirit of Thanksgiving naturally aligns with SEL concepts like gratitude, kindness, and connection. Activities like the Thanksgiving Friendship Activity provide a structured way to explore these themes while celebrating the holiday. By focusing on the qualities that make friendships strong, you help students reflect on their own behaviors and build a more inclusive classroom culture.
Final Thoughts
The Thanksgiving Friendship Activity is more than just a craft—it’s a way to teach students about the importance of kindness, respect, and connection. As they create their Friendship Pie, students engage in meaningful reflection and learn how to build positive relationships with their peers.
This Thanksgiving, bring the spirit of gratitude and friendship into your classroom with Everyday Speech’s Thanksgiving Friendship Activity. It’s a creative, hands-on way to help students grow socially and emotionally while celebrating the season of giving. Watch as your classroom becomes a space filled with gratitude, connection, and a deeper understanding of what it means to be a friend.
Sample Video
Students learn best by watching others their same-age model the behavior! Check out a sample video modeling lesson below. We offer our entire Social-Emotional Learning platform free for 14 days here!
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