Launching Friendships and Improving Social Skills of Kids

What does being friendly mean?

In a world full of strangers, life can feel overwhelming and intimidating. However, simple acts of friendliness can break down barriers between strangers and create connections that foster a sense of acceptance and belonging. Being friendly encompasses positive, approachable, and welcoming behaviors that reach out to others with warmth and kindness. It is a positive action that can improve one’s self-concept, mental health, and overall well-being.

Smile is the universal language of friendliness. It is a simple gesture that can build bridges between individuals, mend strained relationships, and launch a thousand new friendships. This evidence-based SEL lesson focuses on teaching this language as early as kindergarten. It intends to help children learn social skills and friendship-building so they can grow into individuals who can engage in positive social interactions.

An interactive puppet play opens this lesson, featuring beloved Picks-It Raccoon and Nix-It Panda. The puppets share friendly smiles with students and highlight the significance of this gesture. After that, the students review previously covered concepts, including respect, empathy, and the importance of making friends.

Following the puppet play is a reinforcing activity that aims to reiterate the power of a smile as a friendly gesture. This activity involves a poem, "What Is a Smile?" Each line of the poem is a question, and students can show their answers without saying a single word.

After this fun activity, the lesson ends with another class discussion around the importance of greeting new people with a smile and a heartfelt "hello." Here, the teacher reminds the students how to turn their differences into something positive, just like what the story "Friends at Last" in the previous lesson has shown.

Practicing acts of friendliness goes beyond creating a welcoming environment; it can also improve children's mental health, overall well-being, and social-emotional development. By teaching this lesson, kindergarten students can develop friendly behaviors, cultivate essential skills that promote personal growth, and positively impact their interactions with others.