By Karen Whiting

Back to school or homeschool groups will restart soon. It’s time for children to make new friends and enjoy the ones they have. Nurture the ability to make and be a good friend.

First, help your child understand what makes a good friend. Discuss and practice qualities and actions of good friends like loyalty, honesty, sharing, listening, forgiving, and kindness. Discuss being happy for friends when something good happens and avoiding jealousy. Discuss how to respond when a person is sad or upset and ways to comfort someone.

Help children make friends starts with a greeting and positive words. Consider what a child can say after they smile, say hello, and ask the other child’s name. Simple questions like ‘What games do you like to play?’ ‘ What are your favorite snacks?’ or ‘What books do you like?’ help start conversations. Once you start talking you can ask about getting together to play and swap contact information. Practice these skills.

Read scriptures about friendships like Proverbs 17:17, 1 Samuel 18:1-4, and 2 Samuel 1:23. Discuss Jesus and his friends, the disciples. They walked together and went by boat together. They listened to Jesus and shared meals with Him. Discuss Jonathon and David’s friendship as well as friendships of women who supported Jesus.

Encourage Your Child to Build the friendship. Help your child to spend time with friends, share in similar interests, and thank the friends for being a pal. Make sure you let your child know your home is open for friends to come. Before the guest arrives, prepare snacks together. Get to know your child’s friend and his or her parents.

Be ready for bumps in the friendship. All friends encounter problems and may get angry or not want to play. Many times a new day is a fresh start and children will reunite on their own. Problems can result from tiredness or a fight. Ask your child what happened and discuss what to do. Does your child need to ask the friend’s forgiveness? Can your child simply ask the friend to play together again? If the friendship breaks up, encourage your child to make a new friend.

Have your child fill in a friendship bingo as your child works at making friends.

Gave a compliment	Smiled at someone I don’t know	Asked someone to play with me	Listened well	Noticed when someone did something good
Cheered a friend on in a sport	Shared a snack	Let a friend have the first turn	Forgave someone	Prayed for a friend
Introduced myself	Found someone who shares an interest of mine	Laughed at a friend’s joke	Played with a friend	Talked with someone new
Talked with a friend	Congratulated a friend	Introduced someone new to my other friends	Read a scripture about friends	Encouraged a friend
Made a date to get together with a friend	Kept from getting angry at a friend	Made a friend at church	Studied with a friend	Played outdoors with a friend

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