“When it hurts to look back and you’re scared to look ahead, you can look beside you and your best friend will be there.” (author unknown)
Although this is an unofficial special day, it is celebrated on June 8th each year. It is a day when we let our “besties” know that we care about them and that we appreciate their friendship.
Best Friends Day is also a day to assess the true value of friendship. What is a friend? What qualities do we look for? Are we good friends to others?
During challenging times, our friends become even more important. We may need to think of creative ways to keep in touch, other than in-person communication.
Select a book that talks about friends and read it aloud to the class.
For some great ideas, check:
25 Children’s Books About Friendship
Popular Children Friendship Books
After reading, ask the following:
As a class, brainstorm words that describe good friends and print them on a piece of chart paper.
Explain that it is the students’ turn to create a class book about friendship. Invite students to take a piece of paper and print the following words and finish the following sentence:
A good friend is _____________________.
The rest of the page is for drawing what they feel is an example of being a good friend.
Remind them that sometimes their mom, dad, brother, sister, or a pet can be a good friend too!
Share the pages. If students are attending in person, collate the pages with a ring or ribbon and place in the school library for others to read.
Consider sending some of their answers home in your next school newsletter!
Ask:
Watch the video “Thank You for being my Friend!” and ask students to watch for something that really makes them think about friendship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TruxdhgNtBY.
After viewing, invite students to share some favourite thoughts about why they might want to thank someone for being a friend.
Note: This video has background music and is full of thoughtful quotes. You may wish to pause after each quote to give time for students of all reading abilities to absorb the ideas. Alternatively, you could read the quotes yourself or ask for volunteers.
Share the following quote from Woodrow Wilson and ask students to explain what they think it means.
"Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together." --Woodrow Wilson
Invite students to draw a large tree with several bare branches on a blank piece of paper. Ask them to brainstorm the qualities they believe hold a friendship together and then add these qualities as leaves on their friendship tree.
In closing, ask:
Watch this video that highlights the song, ‘Count On Me’, sung and co-written by Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, and Ari Levine.
Ask:
Ask students to create a word map on a piece of paper that describes their thoughts about “true friends.” Share and discuss.
Share this link and invite students to discuss whether or not they agree with these quotes about true friendship:
Invite students to come up with their own “true friend” quotes. Share several with the class.
Close by asking: