Description: The Friendship Flower is a heartwarming and interactive classroom activity designed to teach young students about the qualities of a good friend. This vibrant and hands-on project visually reinforces the concept that friendship, like a flower, needs care and kindness to thrive.

VIDEO LINK

VIDEO LINK 2

How to Create Your Friendship Flower:

1. Purchase a poster board for this activity.

2. Glue the label 'Friendship Flower' at the top of the poster board.

3. Place the descriptive clouds, which illustrate what friendship is, near the label at the top.

4. Cut out the provided flower petals, each of which bears a friend-making trait.

5. Draw a flower stem and a middle circle on your poster board. Arrange and glue the petals around the circle to form a flower. Customize the size of your flower to match the number of students in your class. (For reference, this package includes a total of 25 flower petals.)

6. Laminate the poster board for durability, and separately laminate the flower petals.

7. Attach Velcro dots to the laminated poster and the corresponding spots on the petals, allowing them to stick securely onto the poster, yet be removed and reapplied as needed.

8. Have a heartfelt lesson on friendship, using the metaphor, "Friendship is like a flower; you have to water it to help it grow."

During the Lesson:

1. Distribute one flower petal to each student.

2. One by one, invite students to come up and add their petal to the flower, thereby 'helping the flower grow.'

3. As they add their petal, encourage each student to share what the trait on their petal means or to give an example of how they can demonstrate that trait.

Teaching Tips for Nurturing Friendship in Preschoolers:

1. Model positive friendship behaviors – use kind words, share materials, and show empathy.

2. Read stories about friendship and discuss the characters' actions and feelings.

3. Engage children in cooperative activities that require working together, such as building a tower or painting a mural.

4. Encourage children to use their words to express their feelings and to solve conflicts.

5. Praise and highlight instances of kind and friendly behavior in the classroom.

6. Facilitate conversations about feelings, helping children to identify and express their emotions in a healthy way.

This Friendship Flower activity is not just a lesson; it’s a living representation of your classroom community. Enjoy watching as your students’ understanding of friendship blossoms along with their very own Friendship Flower!