Friendship

Preschool lesson plans about friendship, including arts and crafts, games, group time activities, and song ideas.

Arts and Crafts

Friendship Art 1

Have two children work on an art project together.

Friendship Art 2

Have each child draw a picture of their friend. Label the picture as such.

Friendship Art 3

Have each child draw a picture for another child.

Friendship Art 4

Have one child trace another child’s hand, color it and cut it out.

Friendship Art 5

On a very big piece of paper, have one child lay down, and the other child trace the first child. The children may color in their bodies and cut them out to hang around the class.

Friends Holding Hands

Have the children use non-toxic paints to paint their hands. Then have one child place their left hand on a piece of paper and another child places their right hand on the same paper. Label with the children’s names.

Friends Holding Hands 2

Have each child place their hands along the outside of a large piece of paper. On the center of the paper write “Preschool Friends Holding Hands” Change Preschool to be more appropriate to your program. Say your class is the bluebird class… “Bluebird Friends Holding Hands.”
Ask the parent to bring in pictures of the children with a friend to post in the classroom. Place a piece of contact paper over the picture to attach it to the wall at eye level. Talk to the children about their friends in the picture. If possible, take pictures throughout the week to post as well, of the children with their new friends.

Photo Album

You can purchase a photo album from most craft stores. They come in a variety of sizes. Ask the parents to bring in a picture of their child, or take pictures of each child. The child would decorate one page of the book, then place the picture of the child on the page, along with their name. The possibilities for this activity are endless!

Body Shapes

One child lays on a large piece of bulletin board paper while another child traces around them. The children can cut the shape out and decorate it.

Friendship Collage

Have the children cut pictures of children out of magazines and glue them to a piece of paper.

Games and Group Time Activities

I Like…

Have the children sit in a circle and say one nice thing about the child sitting next to him/her.

Getting to Know You

Pass out memory cards to each person. Then have them walk around and try to find their match. But, before they see if they have a match, they would have to say
“Hello, My name is Mark”
and the other person would say
“Hello Mark, my name is Jane”
“It’s nice to meet you Jane”
Then they can see if they have a match. The first group to find their match wins a small prize. Then, you would have them ask a few simple questions of their new friend. Name? Age? Favorite Color? Whatever…
Then you would go around the room and each person would introduce their new friend.
Then… Ask each child to name their new friends. Count how many they get right… and the people who remembered the most.. get a prize.

Name Game

Ask each child to name all of the other students during circle time.
During Group Time Have the children count the number of children in the class. Every child can have a turn. Make a graph and make how many boys and girls are in the class. Extended version: continue to mark the graph each day.

What Time Is It, My New Friend?

This is a fun game to play outside. You can change the name to suit any theme. The children all line up against a wall or fence. And one child, (My New Friend) or the teacher faces away from the children, a good distance away from the children. The children yell, what time is it “My New Friend”, My New Friend answers 1 o’clock, and the children all take one step toward My New Friend. The children yell again, what time is it “My New Friend”, My New Friend answers (fill in the blank) o’clock, and the children all take same number of step toward My New Friend. This continues until all the children are very close to My New Friend then My New Friend will answer it’s midnight, and My New Friend chases the children back to the fence or wall that they started at. The first person My New Friend touches will be the new My New Friend.

My Friend, May I?

Played just like “Mother, May I?” The child and parent stand at opposite sides of a room. The child asks if he/she may: take so may step forward. i.e. “Mother may I Please take 3 baby steps forward?” the answer would be either, “Yes you may”, or “No you may not.” The child wins when they reach you. Encourage the use of descriptive words, such as little, big, huge, tiny, and giant. You can also play this with a group of children. The winner would be the one who reaches you first.

Red Rover

Line the children up against one side of the room. Have one teacher on one side and one on the other. The teacher on the opposite side of the children calls out “Red Rover, Red Rover, let (child’s name) come over.” The child goes to the other side of the room. This continues until all the children have gone to the other side of the room, then the other teacher calls out the names. Variation… call out “Red Rover, Red Rover, let children wearing red come over” and other colors, this allows more children to be active at one time.

Name Ball Game

Have the children sit in a circle and supply the children with a ball or bean bag. The child must say the child’s name that they are going to pass the beanbag to or roll the ball to.

Friendship Tables

Set up a table for two children to play together, Lego, blocks, crayons whatever. In order for the children to sit there they must cooperate in their activity and one must ask to other to join him/her in the activity before they go to the table.

Friend Memory

Ask the parents to supply you with a picture of each child in the class. Make 2 black and white photo copies of each photo and glue the copies to the back of a blank index card. Now you have the cards to play memory.

Who Is Missing?

Have all the children cover their eyes. I have found that when they lay on their bellies they tend to peek less. Tap one child on the shoulder. That child will hide. Then the other children have to guess who is missing.

Hello My Friend!

Have one child sit in the middle of a circle on a chair. This child should cover his/her eyes. Then pick one child to go up to the child in the middle and say “Hello my friend, can you guess who I am?” The child in the middle gets three guesses. Then the child who spoke sits in the middle and the child that was in the middle chooses another speaker. The children can use their normal voices, but if they are familiar with the person in the chair, silly voices can be more difficult and amusing.

Follow My Friend

Play follow my friend just like follow the leader.

Who Is This?

Have a picture of each child. During circle time, ask the children “Who is this” as you show them each picture.

Songs

Jump Song

(child’s name), (child’s name),
Jump up and down, Jump up and down, Jump up and down,
(child’s name), (child’s name),
Jump up and down, now sit back down
Variations:
replace “act like a clown” or “spin all around” for “jump up and down”
replace “child’s name” with “everybody” or the name of your class, eg “Tot 2”

Pick a child, and have them pick a friend to jump with.
Let’s say you are singing for Sarah and Mike
Sarah and Mike, Jump up and Down,
Jump up and Down, Jump up and Down,
Sarah and Mike Jump up and Down,
Now sit back down.

Special Song

Sung to “Where is Thumbkin?”
(Child’s Name) is Special,
(Child’s Name) is Special,
Yes (he/she) is,
Yes (he/she) is,
(Child’s Name) is Special,
(Child’s Name) is Special,
Yes (he/she) is,
Yes (he/she) is,
This song works really well when you
have the children sit in a circle,
and allow the named child to stand/dance in the
middle while the other children sing,
and/or clap along. They really like it.

The More We Get Together

The more we get together, together, together
The more we get together the happier we’ll be.
‘Cuz your friends are my friends and my friends are your friends
The more we get together the happier we’ll be.
With child’s name, and child’s name, and child’s name, and child’s name
The more we get together the happier we’ll be.
With child’s name, and child’s name, and child’s name, and child’s name
The more we get together the happier we’ll be.

Jump Jim Joe

Have the children sit in a circle before lunch. Pick one child, have that child pick a friend, then have the two children hold hands and follow the directions as you sing:

Sung to “Hurry Hurry Drive the Firetruck”
Jump, Jump, Jump Jim Joe,
Shake your head,
Nod your head,
Tap your toe,
Round and round,
And round we go,
Go and wash your hands
WITH SOAP

1, 2, 3 Good Friends

1, 2, 3 good friends,
4, 5, 6 good friends,
7, 8, 9 good friends,
10 good friends are we!

You can also sing it in Spanish
Uno, dos, tres amigos,
Cuatro, cinco seis amigos
Siete, ocho, nueve amigos
Diez amigos son!

Who is here today?

Sung to “the Farmer in the Dell”
Who is here today?
Who is here today?
Everybody clap your hands,
Who is here today?
Jill is here today!
Jill is here today!
Everybody clap your hands,
Jill is here today!
Substitute Jill for the names of the children in your class. Great circle time song where the children can dance or jump while you sing their name.