Helping Your Child Make New Friends

**Collaborative Post**

AD: Making new friends can feel stressful and daunting even as an adult so it is easy to understand why children may find it difficult to navigate the world of friendships and finding good ones. Young children often find making friendships difficult due to the amount of communication and understanding they need to make, but this can be a lot easier on kids if they’re shown how to socialise over time. It’s a slow but rewarding process that will teach your child how to make friends from their own age group and become more confident in doing so. 

There are a number of reasons why making friends is so important including social skills, mental health reasons, and for their own well-being. If you think your child may be struggling here are some top tips from this boarding school in Wales.

Arrange playdates

One way we can help as parents, especially when our children are young is to arrange playdates with a variety of children, Having playdates is a good way for toddlers to get to know others, as well as teaching your child how to communicate with one another. Even when they’re around the age of an infant they can greatly benefit from organised activities between parents and other children their age. Playdates are where children can really first start exploring the tasks that come with friendships such as sharing and communication. Talk to your neighbours or other parents at the primary school to see what will work for you and your child. If you are struggling to find parents with children of a similar age reach out to your health visitor, sure start centre, or local mum and baby groups who may be able to help you get started in meeting other parents. 

Make time for them to attend lots of events

Children get the chance to be invited to lots of different parties and events across the year - this is the perfect time for your child to socialise and meet new kids of their age. You should try to be keen to take your child to these places where you can so that your child is not only gaining a great place to develop their skills but the best opportunities to play with other kids. Whilst it can be hard fitting everything in your commitment to these events and parties help just as much as your child’s willingness to make new friends as well. They will also have the opportunity to see you socialising with other parents too and take queues from you when it comes to being more social, 

Encourage lots of open conversation

Being open and honest is what gets children to open up and be responsible for themselves. There’s a lot to learn from each other through open conversations, which is a good thing in helping your child learn to make friends. Having the chance for your child to pick up new skills and mannerisms from you makes communication a whole lot easier. Your child is going to feel a lot more comfortable talking to others through talking and engaging with them if they are used to talking openly about friendships. This means your child will likely feel more confident choosing which friends are good for them and which maybe aren't, it will also give them the confidence to ask to join in,

Just remember, friendships don't happen overnight and, sometimes no matter how much you want your child to play with a certain child (perhaps because you are friends with the parent, etc), things don't always work out this week. Friendships cannot be forced, they simply will not work. Therefore the best thing you can do is arm your child with all the tools and skills they need to make the best friends that make them feel the best about themselves. 

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