Good friend activity for kids – Our children are faced with many things that can hinder their self-confidence, their self-esteem, and make them doubt or mistrust others around them. But we can do so much to help them better their mental health and improve their self-confidence and self-esteem, too. We have been featuring a lovely series to help with kids mental health in partnership with Leanne Brown, author of the book Daniel’s Dream. Remember to visit her website and check out her book as well. Get the full digital resource pack too (£9.50)! Today we have another post in the series. This one is about focusing on the choices kids make and their resilience. It’s titled What makes a good friend activity is a great resource for kids.
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What makes a good friend? Perhaps some children will think it’s someone who plays with them, or someone who they can have a laugh with. Other friends may think that a good friend is someone who helps them when they are in need or someone who cares about them. While it is wonderful for our kids to know what makes a good friend, it is also crucial for them to understand that sometimes there are times when friends can behave in a way that makes them a “bad friend”.
Being able to know and differentiate positive traits from negative traits in a person teaches our kids to trust their judgement. This not only helps them in the short term, but can equip them to make better choices in the future and even as adults.
The printable worksheet below will show you a bit more about how your kids can identify traits in someone that can make them a good friend or a bad friend.
Good or bad friend
Before you download the good friend activity, take a look at the printable.
The worksheet gives your kids a set of phrases and challenges them to identify whether they go in the good friend category or the bad friend category. There is no right or wrong answer per se, but it’s a great way to start the conversation and find out why your child thinks the way they do. It’s very simple so you can do it with kids of all ages and the older kids can fill out the activity independently.
This sheet was designed to be used in either a one on one setting or a group setting. It can be used by parents at home to get to know more about what their kids think makes a good friend or a bad friend, or it can be used in a classroom setting. This allows for dialogue to take place and can help kids reflect on how they can be better friends.
<< Click on the circular image below to get your own copy of Good or Bad Friend >>
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We have more posts in this series and on the site to help your kids with mental health and mindfullness. Do take a look.
Here are some other ideas to help children to understand and cope with their feelings and emotions.
How to help your kids recognise their emotions: Free printable #31DaysOfLearning
A printable to help kids understand what feelings they are having.
Anxiety in kids
Ideas from KiddyCharts to help with kids expressing themselves, and focusing on improving mental health.
Positive writing prompts for kids emotional development #31DaysOfLearning
Writing prompts for children that focus on feelings, and emotional development.
31 Days Of Learning
Find all of our 31 Days of Learning events on one page! Print out our calendar and work your way through each activity! Have fun!
Friendship mindful activity for kids: Friends who lift my spirits most
Simple mindful activities for kids focusing on friends that lift us up.
There is also more advice on the web that we include for your below.
Mindful activities for kids from other sites
Here are a few more ideas for you about mindful activities that your kids can do today.
50 Mindful Journal Prompts for Teens
Some prompts for the journal that you might now have from Upside Down Books - or just some general journaling ideas for your kids.
Tip To Encourage Mindful Sibling Relationships
Ideas for encouraging mindful sibling relationships - something that we struggle with a little in our family...so perhaps some of you do to?
Inspiring Your Child to Love Themselves
Helping your kids with their self-esteem is a great way to encourage them to be more mindful too. Why not check out this advice to help them?
Come back and see us for the next post.
Helen
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Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!