Friendship

[:en]At any age, having friends provides support and promotes mental health and wellbeing. Children’s friendships are also very important for their social and emotional development. Through friendships children learn how to relate with others. They develop social skills as they teach each other how to be good friends.

Most children want to have friends. Children who have friends are more likely to be self-confi dent and perform better academically at school than those without friends. When children have diffi culty in making friends or in keeping them, it often leads to feeling lonely and unhappy with themselves. Feeling rejected by others may lead to significant distress. Learning positive friendship skills can help children socially so they feel happier and more confident.

Friendships require give and take. By sharing toys, time, games, experiences and feelings, children learn that they can have their social needs met and can meet the needs of others. Since friendships develop through this kind of mutual exchange, close friendships are usually based on well-matched needs.

Children’s friendship needs and skills change as they grow. Similarly, children’s ideas about friendship change as they develop. This is reflected in the different kinds of activities that children like to spend time doing with their friends at different ages. The table below indicates the ways children tend to describe close friends and the kinds of skills that support positive friendships as they develop.

Barney’s Friendship Song
Friends are special so important, they make the world go ‘round
We like helping one another in school or on the playground
Friends are there to help each other when one is feeling sad
Being friends is very special, be a friend and you'll be glad

Friends are special so important, they make the world go ‘round
We like helping one another in school or on the playground
Friends are there to help each other when one is feeling sad
Being friends is very special, be a friend and you'll be glad
Being friends is very special, be a friend and you'll be glad[:zh]

At any age, having friends provides support and promotes mental health and wellbeing. Children’s friendships are also very important for their social and emotional development. Through friendships children learn how to relate with others. They develop social skills as they teach each other how to be good friends.

Most children want to have friends. Children who have friends are more likely to be self-confi dent and perform better academically at school than those without friends. When children have diffi culty in making friends or in keeping them, it often leads to feeling lonely and unhappy with themselves. Feeling rejected by others may lead to significant distress. Learning positive friendship skills can help children socially so they feel happier and more confident.

Friendships require give and take. By sharing toys, time, games, experiences and feelings, children learn that they can have their social needs met and can meet the needs of others. Since friendships develop through this kind of mutual exchange, close friendships are usually based on well-matched needs.

Children’s friendship needs and skills change as they grow. Similarly, children’s ideas about friendship change as they develop. This is reflected in the different kinds of activities that children like to spend time doing with their friends at different ages. The table below indicates the ways children tend to describe close friends and the kinds of skills that support positive friendships as they develop.

Barney’s Friendship Song
Friends are special so important, they make the world go ‘round
We like helping one another in school or on the playground
Friends are there to help each other when one is feeling sad
Being friends is very special, be a friend and you'll be glad

Friends are special so important, they make the world go ‘round
We like helping one another in school or on the playground
Friends are there to help each other when one is feeling sad
Being friends is very special, be a friend and you'll be glad
Being friends is very special, be a friend and you'll be glad[:id]At any age, having friends provides support and promotes mental health and wellbeing. Children’s friendships are also very important for their social and emotional development. Through friendships children learn how to relate with others. They develop social skills as they teach each other how to be good friends.

Most children want to have friends. Children who have friends are more likely to be self-confi dent and perform better academically at school than those without friends. When children have diffi culty in making friends or in keeping them, it often leads to feeling lonely and unhappy with themselves. Feeling rejected by others may lead to significant distress. Learning positive friendship skills can help children socially so they feel happier and more confident.

Friendships require give and take. By sharing toys, time, games, experiences and feelings, children learn that they can have their social needs met and can meet the needs of others. Since friendships develop through this kind of mutual exchange, close friendships are usually based on well-matched needs.

Children’s friendship needs and skills change as they grow. Similarly, children’s ideas about friendship change as they develop. This is reflected in the different kinds of activities that children like to spend time doing with their friends at different ages. The table below indicates the ways children tend to describe close friends and the kinds of skills that support positive friendships as they develop.

Barney’s Friendship Song
Friends are special so important, they make the world go ‘round
We like helping one another in school or on the playground
Friends are there to help each other when one is feeling sad
Being friends is very special, be a friend and you'll be glad

Friends are special so important, they make the world go ‘round
We like helping one another in school or on the playground
Friends are there to help each other when one is feeling sad
Being friends is very special, be a friend and you'll be glad
Being friends is very special, be a friend and you'll be glad[:]