Community - day 2 - my friends
These activities can be done alone, but work best with one or more friends on a video chat like Skype, Zoom, Facetime, etc.
Grades K-3
Mindfulness Activity:
Trivia Question: What province do we live in?
a) British Columbia
b) Alberta
c) Manitoba
Mindfulness Activity:
- Put your palms together at chest height.
- Push your hands against each other as hard as you can.
- Which muscle gets tired first?
Friendship Necklace
Supplies:
- Cardboard
- Scissors
- String
- Beads
- Markers or crayons
Have your child draw and cut out a heart on a piece of cardboard. In the middle of the heart write "best friends." Decorate the heart.
In a zig-zag motion, cut the heart in half (now you have two pieces). Make a hole at the top of each piece. Use string to create a necklace for the two pieces. Add beads or other decorations.
Keep one piece of the heart for yourself and give the other piece to your best friend.
Five Finger Friendship Challenge
Supplies:
- Paper
- Markers or pencil crayons
Help your child trace their hand onto a piece of paper and decorate it. Choose 3 of the fingers to write 3 things that make you a good friend (e.g. Keep promises, I am kind).
For the rest of the fingers, write down the answer to the question: What could I do better? (e.g. Tell the truth, show gratitude). Call a friend and ask them to do the same activity so that you can share your hands with each other!
Friendship Wands
Supplies:
- Sticks
- Beads
- Ribbon or yarn
On your next walk, have your child collect a few sticks they think would make a good wand.
Decorate the wand using whatever materials you have at home such as beads, ribbon, or yarn.
Create a "twin" wand that you will give away as a gift. Package the wand nicely and either mail or deliver the friendship wand to someone special in your life. You can create new magic spells together over the phone!
Review Questions:
Ask your child:
- How do you feel when you play with your friends? (Feel)
- What do you think are important qualities in a friend? (Think)
- How can you show support to your friends even when you can’t play with them in person? (Act)
Mindfulness Trivia Answer
Answer: Alberta
Grades 4-6
Mindfulness Activity:
Trivia Question: I'm tall when I'm young and I'm short when I'm old. What am I?
Mindfulness Activity:
- (Stay near the room’s light switch) Sit down so you’re comfortable.
- Notice your energy level.
- Now, turn the lights off. Does it feel better or worse?
- Now turn the lights back on. Does that feel better or worse?
Plan a Virtual Date with Friends
Seeing your friends in person might not be possible, but you can still stay connected.
Have your child use a video chat to plan a virtual date with your best friends. Select a day, time and theme. Then send your friends the invitation in advance so they can all attend and be prepared.
These can be some of the themes for your virtual date:
- Working out together
- Talking about a specific movie(s) or watching a movie at the same time while being in a chat.
- Talking about a favourite book
- Talking about a video game and their progress
- Talking about mental health during the pandemic. What are they doing to stay healthy?
- Talking about future plans. What will you be doing next year at this time?
- Share an easy favourite recipe
- Make a weekly virtual date to talk all about your week/school work/what they have been up to
I am a good friend because...
Supplies:
- Jar
- Straws
- Construction paper
Friends are a support system during difficult times. What are some of the qualities you have that makes you a good friend?
Have your child make "flowers" using different colours of constructions paper. Each flower will have 2-3 circles of different colours.
Have them write the reasons why they are a good friend on the edge of one of the circles. Attach a straw to the back of the flower.
After making 3-6 flowers, put them inside a jar. You can choose to paint the jar or decorate it.
Kind Words
Supplies:
- Paint (watercolour)
- Glue
- Straw
- Paper
- Pencil, markers or pencil crayons
Help your child draw a profile of their face on a piece of paper. Paint or colour the inside with any colour.
Put a few drops of liquid watercolour paint close to your profile drawing. Blow through the straw to stretch out the paint drops. Do this a few times with different colours and let them dry completely.
Have your child write, on a separate piece of paper, kind words they can tell themselves and others. Cut out the sentences and glue them on top of the paint.
Review Questions:
Ask your child:
- How do you feel when you are with your friends (in person or virtually)? (Feel)
- Do you think it is easy to make friends? (Think)
- How can you show appreciation and love to your friends? (Act)
Mindfulness Trivia Answer
Answer: A candle.
Grades 7+
Mindfulness Activity:
Trivia Question: How many muscles does a cat have in each ear?
A: 2
B: 32
C: 47
Mindfulness activity:
- Put your palms together at chest height.
- Push your hands against each other as hard as you can.
- Which muscle gets tired first?
Friendship Kit
Supplies:
- 5 items/objects
- Sandwich bag/paper bag
Think about one of your important friendships and what it means to you.
Think of 5 items that represents or is symbolic to your friendship. For example, a Life Saver candy can represent that friendship can always support you, or a paper clip can represent you always sticking together.
Find something personal, like a movie ticket from the first movie you watched together. Put your items in a bag to keep them together.
Call your friend and share your friendship kit and what each item means.
Photo taken by Calgary Neighbourhoods
Two Truths and a Lie
Supplies:
- Pencil
- Paper
How well do you know your friends?
Call a friend. Share two things that are true about yourself, and one thing that is a lie. Have your friend guess which of the three things you shared is a lie. Then, have your friend share two truths and one lie, and try to guess which one is a lie.
Friendship Quality Tree
Supplies:
- Paper
- Pen
- Markers
Draw an outline of a tree with branches coming out on all sides. Draw out leaves big enough to write the characteristics and qualities you look for in a friendship. For example, humour and loyalty are two good characteristics in friendship.
Try to come up with as many as you can to complete your friendship quality tree.
Review Questions
- How did it feel to share your items with your friend? (Feel)
- Why is it important to know what qualities you look for in a friend? (Think)
- What can you do to be a good friend to others? (Act)
Mindfulness Trivia Answer
Answer: B: 32