TAKE-HOME STRATEGY

Supporting Peer Relationships at Home

Aerial view of child-sized shoes beside backpack

What It's About

Young children have a natural desire to connect to their peers. Early on, this can look like sitting and playing near other children. Later, it can become budding friendships where children cooperate and play together.

You can help your child make and maintain friendships by modeling social skills, providing opportunities to interact with their peers, and helping them connect to other children.

ACTIVITY CHOICE BOARD

Here are some ways you can help children strengthen Peer Relationships at home. Keep in mind that you can change these activities to work for you and your child based on their current abilities, interests, and what you have available at home. Make sure to use safe materials and watch your child closely during these activities.

Take a look, and try out your favorites!

Read Friendship Stories

Read books, and point out when characters are being a good friend. This can include skills such as sharing, taking turns, or helping others.

Shared Activities

Take time to do an activity with your child. For example, draw or color a picture together. As you do the activity, point out positive traits you notice such as teamwork, sharing, or taking turns.

Act it Out!

Use dolls, stuffed animals, or other toys to act out positive friendship behaviors. Point out ways the toys are being good friends. For example, “Bear shared their ball with Bunny! That was so kind of them.”

Friendship Poster

Make a list of what a good friend does for your child to decorate and display. Or, display pictures of your child interacting with other children. Refer to the pictures as you talk about your child's friendship skills.

Pen Pals

Send mail to friends and family. Encourage your child to scribble, draw, or write letters for others. You can mail the letter or take a picture of it and text it to their new “pen pal.” Talk to your child about how sharing things with others is kind and makes others feel good.

Connect with Friends

Have a playdate with another child. Talk to your child about what they might do or talk about with their friend. As they play, encourage your child to cooperate with their friend through sharing, talking, or taking turns.

Quick Cues for Supporting Peer Relationships at Home

Some things you might do or say to help strengthen your child’s relationships with their peers

Point Out Friendship Skills

Name and describe your own and your child’s self-help skills. Explain and show how to do things.  

This can sound like:

“You are both playing with the blocks! How fun!”

“The kids in this book are doing a nice job sharing their toys. They decided to take turns.”

“I saw you and your friend sharing blocks to build a tower. That was such nice teamwork!” 

Consider Others

Ask your child to consider what someone may need and the friendship skills that could help them.

This can sound like:

“They’re crying, I think they’d like it if I helped them pick up the toy they dropped.”

“I see they look frustrated. What do you think we could do to help them?”

(Pause in a book or favorite show) “What does the friend need? How are they feeling? What would a good friend do?” 

Give Support During Play

Give ideas, or model ways to play near or with other children without taking over their play. Let children decide or lead.

This can sound like:

“Look, they are playing with the trains! Let’s go see if we can play with the trains, too.”

“They’re looking at a book together. Do you want to see if there is a spot for you to see the book?”

“I see you watching them play in the sandbox. Do you want to play too? Let’s ask them – ‘Can we join you?’” 

Our Book Recommendations for Peer Relationships

Engaging stories that support children's Peer Relationships
Kindness and Strong Book Cover

Kindness Makes Us Strong

Written and illustrated by Sophie Beer, this story highlights the power of everyday acts of kindness. Kindness is a friendly hello, a roaring cheer, or a quick boost.

Have fun with it:
Help your child brainstorm a small act of kindness they can do in their classroom or community.

A page of the book Thank You Omu, where children and adults are gathered

Thank You, Omu

Written and illustrated by Oge Mora, Thank You, Omu is a story about how small acts of kindness, like sharing, can bring a community together.

Have fun with it:
Talk about a time you or your child shared with someone else and how it felt.

More Take-Home Strategies

We’re creating a library of resources like these so families and other caregivers can quickly and easily promote children’s development at home. Be sure to see all the strategies we have available!

visit our take-home strategy library