Henry and Blue Dog are best friends. They have been for quite some time now. It makes me wonder how long he’ll keep his stuffed animal friend…
Even though Blue is just a stuffed animal, he gets treated like a real friend. Blue is sad if I don’t say goodnight to him. Blue gets excited and angry. Henry tells us what Blue thinks on a regular basis. Henry even puts out dog food for him at meals.
This week’s theme of the Readathon is friendship. I’ve wanted to do an activity with Henry that teaches him the importance of friendship, but can’t seem to find the right angle for him.
It wasn’t until I really browsed through It’s Playtime that there are many different ways to talk about friendship.
There’s acceptance in friendship. There’s no judgement in friendship. There’s encouragement. There’s sharing. There’s empathy. And, of course, there’s a lot of playing!
Learning about friendship:
Above, clockwise from top-left:
- Crayon Freckles teaching about no judgement in regards to racial differences using M&Ms.
- Being a good friend and encouraging your friends through the book ‘Let’s Say Hi to Friends that Fly’ and a flying sorting activity from Inspiration Laboratories.
- Learning about emotions, Reading Confetti adds a simple post it note to pages in a book that asks how the character feels. With a simple sticker answer for the child to use!
- More emotions with this fun busy tin of face parts! Such a cute idea from Inspire Imagination Through Creation.
- Growing Play shared a simple printable of character traits to discuss with your child after reading a book.
- And of course, we can’t forget the importance of playing with friends! From Chalkboards to Strollers set up a fun play date for babies!
The books that are available from MeMeTales free to check out this week are ‘StickFiggy Makes a Friend’ and ‘Lott’s Tea Party’ and ‘Arthur’.
- (below-left) ‘StickFiggy Makes a Friend’ activity that has your writing your own friendship story! Using photos of your child and their friends, Rainy Day Mum creates a story!
- (below-right) ‘Lott’s Tea Party’ activity using action cards while reading the book. Carrots are Orange has many suggestions for teaching early reading and problem solving.
WANT TO SAVE THIS ACTIVITY?
Enter your email below & we'll send it straight to your inbox so you can access this activity later! Plus, you'll get simple activities from us every week!
The Iowa Farmer's Wife says
Love the new look!!!
Margaret@GrowingPlay says
Thank you so much for including my Character Trait Report Card. I am honored.
Mackenzie says
Jamie,
Thanks for hosting Playtime! I look forward to all the great ideas weekly! You always have awesome features too! Thanks for all your hard work in sharing!
Mackenzie :)
Rebecca says
Lots of fun activities linked up already.
Lorie says
Thanks so much featuring our post-it activity! Love all these ideas!