Making Friends One Day at a Time – teacher guide for days 1 – 5
Teach making friends skills by starting the school year with the, Making Friends One Day at a Time, friendship activities. Each day read a book, talk about one friendship concept, sing a song or play a game and complete a page of the student book, available for free below.
At times it feels like you’re repeating the same friendship concepts over and over throughout the school year. Don’t give up! Children’s abilities to make and keep friends do improve as they mature and learn from the consequences of their choices.
Making Friends One Day at a Time student pages
Student pages for part one and two are available for free here.
Teacher Guide for Days 1 – 5
If you are looking for Days 6 – 12 go here…
Day 1 – Making the book cover and learning friends’ names
Talk: Keep it Positive
Foster a positive atmosphere concerning making friends by stating that we’re all friends and that we’re all learning how to be better friends. Avoid talking about or reading books about best friends, as doing so can result in children feeling excluded. Rather emphasize that in kindergarten, everyone plays with everyone.
Read: Making Friends, by Fred Rodgers
Mister Rogers discusses some of the typical problems kids have when they’re just learning to form friendships and explains how they can be resolved.
Game: Learn Names Ball Game
- Children sit in a circle
- Teacher calls out a name
- The child with the ball rolls it to the child the whose name the teacher called out
- Teacher calls out another name and the game continues…
Student Activity in the booklet: Book Cover
Materials and instructions are in the “Making Friends One Day at a Time” student pages download.
Day 2 – This is one of my new friends…
Read: The Very Lonely Firefly
The Very Lonely Firefly is a delightful story by Eric Carle about belonging. Share with the children how we all want to belong to a group of friends and that is why it is important to learn to be kind and polite to each other.
Sing: If You’re Friendly and You Know It…
Tune – “If you’re happy and you know it”
If you’re friendly and you know it, clap your hands. 2x
If you’re friendly and you know it, and you really want to show it,
If you’re friendly and you know it, clap your hands! (Friends can take turns changing actions for more fun.)
Student Activity in the booklet: This is one of my new friends…
Materials and instructions are in the “Making Friends One Day at a Time” download.
Day 3 – Sometimes friends visit at my house…
Read: The Rainbow Fish by Mary Ann Stewart
The Rainbow Fish is a simple story about a beautiful fish who learns to make friends. The message of this book is to help others and spread happiness rather than selfishness.
Talk: Having Friends Over for a Visit
- Give children a chance to share what they can do to make a friend happy when the friend visits at their house.
Sing: The More We Get Together by Raffi
The more we get together, Together, together,
The more we get together, The happier we’ll be.
For your friends are my friends, And my friends are your friends.
The more we get together, The happier we’ll be.
Student Activity in the booklet: Friends visit at my house. I live at…
Materials and instructions in the “Making Friends One Day at a Time” download.
Day 4 – Friends work together
Read: Swimmy by Leo Lionni
Swimmy learns that when he works together with all the other fish, they can fight the large problems facing them. Swimmy also learns that being different can be a wonderful thing.
Talk: Friends work with each other
Ask children to tell you stories about when they helped a friend. Prompt them with suggestions like cleaning a room or cleaning up centers.
Game: Copycat with Pattern Blocks
This game assumes the children have had some teaching of repeat patterns. AABB AABB
- Pair children up with a child they don’t usually play with to help them get to know new children.
- Children tell each other their names first
- Tell students that they are going to work together to make patterns.
- Give each 2 kids a thin strip of lightweight card about 15 inches long and 2 colors of pattern blocks.
- How to play: Demonstrate first. This kindergarten pattern activity starts with one child making a repeating pattern until half the strip of card is covered, then the second child finishes it.
- Children trade places and the other takes a turn creating the repeat pattern and the first child finishes it.
Student Activity in the booklet: Friends work together …
Materials and instructions in the “Making Friends One Day at a Time” student pages download.
Day 5 – Friends forgive each other…
Read: Little Polar Bear Finds a Friend by
Hans de Beer
This book is harder to find now. Amazon has links to book dealers who have new or used copies.
Lars, the little polar bear, returns in an exciting new adventure. This time, while searching for someone to play with, he is caught in a trap and finds himself in a cargo plane full of animals destined for the zoo. Luckily, Lars’s cage breaks open when the plane lands and, as he sets the other animals free, he finds the friend he’s been seeking all along.
Talk: Friends forgive each other
Talk about how everyone makes mistakes and how our friends will not always do what we want them to. Sometimes they will shout or grab or have a bad day. To have friends we need to forgive our friends for whatever specific action they did. Also, talk about how we feel when we make mistakes and hurt our friends’ feelings and how we like it when our friends forgive us. Teach children what the word, forgive, means. There is a great article by Jamie Perillo, LPC on how to explain this here…
Game: Mirror game
- Set each child up with one new friend
- Children tell each other their names
- The two children pretend they are looking in a mirror
- The first child poses in a position and the second child copies
- Switch and the other friend poses and the first friend copies
- Keep the time short
Student Activity in the booklet: Friends forgive each other. I can tell my friends how I am feeling.
Materials and instructions in the “Making Friends One Day at a Time” student pages download.
Friendship Posts:
6 Ways to help children make friends
Making Friends Student book Part One
Making Friends Student book Part Two
More Friendship Theme ideas
Social skills readiness tips for parents
To get a FREE printable copy of the, “Making Friends One Day at a Time”, student pages, go here.