Friendship Craze:  Making and Keeping Friends

Help Your Child Learn Social/ Friendship Skills by doing the assessment below, then match the activities on the Friendship Builder Activities Page or order (click on purple link) Friendship Craze Books!

Is your child having a hard time meeting and keeping friends? Academic success is linked with social success. Certified School  counselor, National  Certified Counselor, mother of three (and former shy  child) Sara Parker presents  “Friendship Craze” to help build friendships and improve emotional regulation.   Improve your child’s friendship skills by games, role play and activities that incorporate the latest research  to improve social skills.  Get ideas by using the activities on this website under the Activities Tab or have your child attend Mind Up or Friendship Craze classes.  Buy the latest Friendship Craze Book to help guide your child in a fun way to learn social/ lifetime skills.  

There are a number of reasons why our children may feel alone. Some may be shy, others are bossy and intimidating, and yet others beat to their own drum.  ADD, Asperger’s, and social anxiety are increasing in alarming rates yet the emphasis in schools is on standardized  testing.   A lot of times our kids are missing the social skills needed to be  successful. These social skills are instrumental in life.

 
Take a minute to see if your child’s behavior fits under any of these categories, then feel free to look at some of the games and activities I have compiled to help your child learn essential social skills. 

                                                                    Assessment
  1. (The Child Who Struggles with Shyness)
   Does your  child?
• Respond to questions with “I don’t know”, or with a one word  answer
• Want others to answer questions for them.
• Get scared in new  situations
• Feel uncomfortable in new situations

2. (The Child Who Struggles with Social Awkwardness)
     Does your child?
• Irritate other children
• Scare other kids by coming on too strong
• Tend to be oblivious to other’s reactions.
•  Invade other’s space
•  Get picked on because they may do annoying things to get other kids attention.

 3.  (The Victim)
    Does your child?
•  feel frightened and helpless because another child is making his/her life miserable?
• Dread going to school because other kids are mean?
• Get picked on

4.  (The Child Who Struggles with Acting Aggressive)
    Does your child:
•  Intimidate playmates
•  Not seem to care about others feelings
• Get into a lot of fights and  insists it’s the other child’s fault

5. (The Child Who Acts Like a Little Adult)
   Does your child:
• Relates better to adults than to other kids
• Uses words or  speaks more formally that most kids don’t understand
• Feels lonely because he or she doesn’t fit in with other children

6. ( Leader)
    Does your child:
•  Have strong ideas about the way things should be done?
• Offers advice and opinions even when people don’t want to hear them?
• Push their ideas even after other’s have rejected them.
• Feels most comfortable around other kids when they are in charge?
• Often overrides other people’s feelings when pursuing his or her own goals.
• Seem overly concerned with enforcing the rules?

7.  (The Child Who Tends to be Negative)
   Does your child:
• Complain a lot?
• Look for the negative
• Say things like  “It’s never going to work”. 

An excellent book I used to help create this assessment is "The Unwritten Rules of Friendship: Simple Strategies to Help your Child Make Friends" by Natalie Madorsky ELman, PhD and Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD.