Friendship skills help children form and maintain positive relationships with peers. These skills include initiating interactions, showing interest in others, sharing, taking turns, and resolving conflicts. Strong friendship skills contribute to social confidence and positive peer relationships.
Through guided activities and social opportunities, toddlers learn how to approach others, engage in play, and maintain friendships. These skills develop gradually and require practice, modeling, and adult support to flourish.
Practice greeting others and initiating play, which are foundational friendship skills.
Practice greeting: "Hi! My name is..." or "Want to play?" Use puppets or dolls to practice. Model friendly greetings. Role-play approaching others to play. This builds confidence in social initiation.
Engage in different types of play that build toward cooperative friendships.
Arrange playdates with peers. Start with parallel play (playing alongside), then progress to simple cooperative activities. Supervise and guide interactions. This builds social skills gradually.
Practice acts of kindness that strengthen friendships and build positive social connections.
Create cards or small gifts for friends. Practice helping others. Model and discuss kind behaviors. Read stories about friendship and kindness. This builds prosocial behavior and empathy.
Read and discuss stories about friendship to build understanding of positive relationships.
Read books about friendship. Discuss how characters are good friends. Talk about what makes a good friend. Connect story examples to real-life situations. This builds friendship understanding.
Play alongside peers (parallel play). Show interest in other children. Begin to imitate peers. May show preference for familiar playmates.
Engage in simple interactions with peers. Begin to share and take turns with guidance. Show affection toward familiar children. Start to form preferences for playmates.
Engage in cooperative play. Form clear friendships with preferred peers. Show concern for friends. Begin to resolve conflicts with help. These skills support positive social development.