Preschool Friendship & Kindness Theme

On this page you'll find tons of fun Friendship & Kindness activities for preschoolers! Help children practice being a good friend, showing kindness, sharing, taking turns, helping others, using kind words, and working together.

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Friendship and Kindness Theme Overview

A Friendship & Kindness theme gives preschoolers meaningful opportunities to build positive relationships and practice important social-emotional skills.

Children can explore what it means to be a good friend, recognize kind and unkind choices, practice sharing and taking turns, solve simple social problems, express feelings, and learn ways to help and care for others.
Through stories, games, dramatic play, art, movement, and hands-on activities, preschoolers can strengthen communication, cooperation, empathy, self-regulation, and confidence while learning how their words and actions affect others.

This theme is especially helpful at the beginning of the school year, but it can be revisited anytime children need extra support building friendships, strengthening classroom community, or practicing kindness.

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Sample  Activity Plan

Not sure how to organize your week? Below is a free sample activity plan showing one example of how you might build an engaging week around this theme.

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Featured Activities

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Use the links below to quickly open the featured activities from this sample plan inside the Activity Library.

Featured Plan Activities
Art & Creativity
Group Collage
Dramatic Play
Plan a Tea Party
Building & Small World Play
Teamwork Construction Challenge
Language and Literacy
I Have....Who Has...Game
Sing The Sharing Song by Raffi
Mathematics
Counting Kids Clip Cards
Friendship Group Poll
Science & Discovery
Make Friendship Bread
 Physical Fine Motor
Friendship Paper Chain
Physical Gross Motor
Partner Game
Social-Emotional
Learn to Say Friend in other Languages

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Continue Exploring Activity Ideas

Discover featured activities, classroom ideas, printable resources, and creative ways to bring this theme to life.

The inspiration below is just a small sample of what's possible. Explore the Preschool Activity Library to discover even more activities for this theme

Click on a button below to view a section. Use the yellow arrow to return to the top!

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Collaborative Art Piece

Foster friendships by creating artwork for the learning environment. View Member Instructions 
or Find more fun art processes to explore on the Exploring Process Art blog post. 

This invitation to decorate a branch was shared by Building Blocks Family Child Care.

High 5 Color Mixing

Invite your preschoolers to explore color mixing with a friendly art exploration. Find these printable High 5 Color Mixing sheets in our Friendship & Kindness Activity Pack

*Group Collage

Work together to create a group collage, where everyone can contribute to the piece. 
View Member Instructions

Friendship Painting

Partner children up with a box, a ball, and paint. Have the two children stand together holding and moving the box that has paint and the ball inside. Watch them create the project together!
 View Member Instructions

Pass Along Picture

Have your student work together to create an art piece. Choose the topic such as a flower garden, or outdoor scene. Have your student draw an image, and pass it to a friend. 

Draw a Friendly Face

Pair up children, give each pair a clear acrylic frame, one child holds the frame in front of their face while the other child paints their portrait

Kindness Rocks

Decorate rocks with acrylic paint, write a kind word or phrase on the other side and place around the neighborhood, View Member Instructions

More Creative Ideas

Friendship Wreath from Preschool Playbook

Support Friendships through Play

Creating a space for dramatic play is a great way to support children as they develop friendships. Setting up invitations for dramatic play encourages role playing, problem-solving and communication skills to help children develop the skills needed to form lasting friendships. Read the Create a Space for Dramatic Play blog for ideas for this space. 

*Plan a Tea Party

Have your students create invitations, plan activities, and decorate for a class tea party. 
View Member Instructions

Slumber Party

Set out sleeping bags or blankets, pillows, and a variety of games for the kids to play. They may wish to create a fort to have their sleepover in. Invite stuffed animals as extra participants as desired/needed. Complete the experience with an invitation to create a pretend breakfast in the housekeeping area. 
View Member Instructions

We're All Friends Puppet Show

Have children create puppets of other classmates using paper bags. Then invite children to put on a show about friends. A great opportunity for students to showcase what they know about friendship!

Pretend to Mail Letters to your Friends

Set up the dramatic play area with a spot that children can write and draw each other letters and send them almost like a post office. Each child could have their own mailbox and each child could take turns being the mailman and delivering the notes. A great activity to practice writing but also learning about how the mail system works! View Member Instructions

 Inspiration for your construction
and small word play area!

Add Playhouses, and Pretend Families to your Construction space this week.
Create some DIY blocks featuring the children, their Families, and Homes. Check out my tutorial for DIY Student Blocks for inspiration. 

Learn how to make your own blocks!

Group Building Challenge

Invite children to complete a building challenge together. Try out one of the ideas in our fall team building set.

Say it Hear it Build it

The Preschool Say it Hear it Build it Partner Activity is a fun and engaging activity where preschoolers work in pairs to build structures using building blocks. This activity helps develop teamwork, spatial awareness, and listening skills. Children will enjoy the challenge of following directions and creating their own unique buildings.
View Member Instructions

Building Just Like My Friend 

Set children up with partners and foam blocks. Have children sit facing each other. Each child will build their own structure but mirror the structure of their partner. One child puts down a block. They other child puts down the same block in the same orientation. Then the child who went second chooses the next piece and places it on the structure. Their partner copies them until they have build the structure they want. ​

Construct a Marble Run

Have children work together to construct a marble run and test it out. A great activity for fostering collaboration and team-building.
View Member Instructions

Name Practice

Once children practice writing their own name, they can learn to write the name of a friend! Support this skill with our editable Name Practice Worksheets

Vocabulary Games

Use the word wall cards from our Friendship & Kindness Activity Pack in your games this week to promote literacy.  Here are a few ideas:

• Hide the word wall cards around the room, as children discover the cards read each one together then hang it in your group time area. When all the cards have been collected challenge children to recall where they found each card using words to describe the location. Encourage and model spatial language such as under, above, beside, on top, and beneath.
• Slip the word wall cards into a sensory bin for children to find. 
• Use for sorting! Use these cards along with people counters for children to practice sorting. 

Learn Compound Words

Take two words and make them best friends to create a new word! 
Try this fun way of learning compound words, included in our Friendship & Kindness Activity Pack

Friends Letter Matching

Invite your preschooler to engage in a friendly letter matching game! 
Challenge them to match lowercase to lowercase or uppercase to lowercase, both versions are included in our Friendship & Kindness Activity Pack

Counting Letters in Names

Make a grid for each child, then invite the child to decide which names they want to count up. If needed assist in writing the names on the paper, one letter in each square. Next, work together to count up the number of letters each person has in their name. Write the numeral at the end of the line. 
Extension: Look for similarities in the names: How many names have an e in them? Which names contain the same number of letters? How do the names on one child's paper compare to those on another?

*I Have....Who Has...Game

This game is great for working on team building and communication skills. 
This low prep game  (simply print and cut) is available inside our Friendship & Kindness Activity Pack

Finding Kindness Pre-K Book Companion Activities

Finding Kindness is a great story to read aloud to preschoolers, we make it more engaging with discussion questions and a related craft.
Pair this Finding Kindness book companion activity with the book Finding Kindness by Deborah Underwood and Irene Chan

Available in our shop!

Practice Saying Kind Words 

Offer an opportunity for preschoolers to practice saying kind words. Encouraging conversation and saying a variety of words is great for language development. Introduce some words they may be unfamiliar with such as affectionate, considerate, courteous, kindhearted, and thoughtful. Preschoolers can practice this with a peer, teacher, in small groups, or in a mirror. ​View Member Instructions

Sing the Sharing Song by Raffi

Sing The Sharing Song by Raffi. Learning a fun new song is excellent for language & literacy development. This song also promotes friendship and kindness. ​
View Member Instructions

Make a card for a Friend

Sending a card or a note is a nice way to let a friend know that you are thinking of them. Have your students make a card for a friend. Have you student draw the pictures, and practice writing their friends name. Help them dictate their notes.
View Member Instructions

All About My Friends Book

Set up an invitation for your preschoolers to create a book all about their friends. 
Assemble books by folding 3-5 sheets of white paper in half and then stapling along the folded edge. For the front cover consider printing squares with titles such as "My Family" so children can glue the title on themselves. Next, encourage children to create pictures of their family or friends. On each page ask the child to say something about the person they drew, write down what they said on the page. 

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Some of our favorite books for this theme:

A Splendid Friend, Indeed by Suzanne Bloom
Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel
*A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
The Friendship Surprise by Giorgio Volpe and Paolo Proietti
All Kinds of Kindness by Judy Carey Nevin ​

View the Blog post for more!

Math Task Cards

Grab a friend and some basic math supplies along with the task cards and recording sheet from our Friendship & Kindness Activity Pack for this fun math learning activity. 

Measure your Friends

Graph and Compare Height of all the kids in the group. View Member Instructions

Number ordering with Friends

Work on number ordering by placing these friendship cards in numerical order! Find these in our  Friendship & Kindness Activity Pack

Ten-Frame Friend Puzzles

Each of these puzzles is holding a ten frame that represents a different number. Count up the number on the left and match it up to the correct number. 
Included in our Friendship & Kindness Activity Pack

Friendship Group Poll

Take a group poll so children can learn more about their friends and graph the results!
View Member Instructions

How Many Friends in the Photo

Take a variety of pictures of the children in your group. Include a different number of children in each photo, including one with the entire group (for the solo photo consider a selfie). Print the photos and provide them along with index cards with numbers on them. Challenge children to sort the photos by how many friends are in each photo. 
View Member Instructions

Copy or Extend your Friends Patterns

Set out materials children can use to create patterns (magnet tiles, math counters, unifix cubes, playing cards etc.). Invite children to work in pairs to create, copy, and extend patterns. Child 1 begins a pattern and the other child either copies or extends the pattern. ​

Friendship Matching Game

Print out 2 copies of a photo of each child in the group, paste onto card stock.
Children can use the set as a matching game. 

Make Friendship Bread

Make Friendship Amish Bread & a Starter to share with each child in the group or other friends and family. 
​View the Blog or View Member Instructions

Friendship Partner STEM Activity

Work together as a team to create a mini pumpkin patch in the construction space using our Small World Pumpkin Patch set from the Fall Team Activity Set.

Who Said it?

Record each child saying something of their choice, later during small group time play the recordings one at a time and challenge children to figure out which friend said it!

Sense of Touch

Work on sense of touch with this activity. Have one child pick an object and place in in a paper bag. Other children then try to guess what the object is using only their sense of smell and touch. 
View Member Instructions

Plant a Friendship Tree

Invite children to plant a tree or flowers together. They can work together to take care of the plant and watch it grow. Take a picture every month or year of the friends in front of the plant. 

Friendly Fingerprints

Use a stamp pad and have children stamp their fingerprints on paper. Then have them explore each other's paper by looking through a magnifying glass. Talk about how each person's fingerprint is unique just like them but no matter our differences we can still all be friends! View Member Instructions

Relay Race

Get ready for a fun-filled relay race at preschool! With a spoon and egg duo, kids practice coordination and teamwork as they navigate obstacles together. This engaging activity promotes communication, problem-solving, and gross motor skills development in a playful and interactive way. View Member Instructions

Parachute Play

if you have a parachute in your classroom I encourage you to bring it out. This is an activity that takes collaboration and teamwork.
View Member Instructions

Friendship Bracelets

You can use pipe cleaners or string for your bracelets, use beads, cereal, cut up straws and put the fine motor skills to work by making bracelets. You can have your students give each other bracelets, they will have so much fun creating these for one another. 

Friendship Partner Game

Encourage students to work together as partners or a team to a complete an obstacle course or race. Here are some fun DIY ideas for creating an obstacle course.

Friendship Paper Chain

Work together to make a paper chain. Children can decorate the chains to make it more personalized if they choose. Hang it in the room as decor or use to count down to a fun day. View Member Instructions

Class Puzzles

Create puzzles using photos of children in the class or the class pet. Print on cardstock or laminate and then cut into puzzle pieces. Full page prints are great for this activity. View Member Instructions

Team Scavenger Hunt

Hid items around the room or outside. Pair up students with a visual list and have them work together to find the items. Think about item placement so that students must move their bodies in a variety of ways in order to get the items. ​

*Three Legged Race

This fun classic is a great addition to this theme. Encourage children to work as a team to complete the obstacle. Use a bandanna or other fabric gentle enough for preschoolers to lightly tie together the right leg of one child to the left of another. 
Describe the objective prior to creating teams. Rather than a race consider have the kids work together to walk as far as they can. 
After a few rounds engage in discussion about what they thought was difficult or easy about the activity. 
​*Be sure to pair kids together that are of similar size. 

Friendship Circle

Have children sit in a circle. Throw a ball to one child and have them say something nice about one of their classmates to practice kindness. The child then throws the ball to another child and the process repeats. ​
View Member Instructions

Class Friendship Rainbow

Have children trace their hands on different colored construction paper (colors of the rainbow) and cut them out. Have the class work as a team to assemble a rainbow made of all their hand prints on the wall or a large piece of chart paper. ​View Member Instructions

Good Friends

Have a conversation about how to be a good friend.
This sorting activity included in the PKPF Friendship & Kindness Activity Pack ​is a great follow-up as children explore what it means to be a good friend. 

​Recognize Emotions

Learning to recognize and properly identify emotions is an important part of development for preschoolers and supports them in their interactions with friends and families.
Set up an invitation for your preschoolers to explore and create emotions with play dough. 
Use the mats and playing cube included in the Roll & Create Emotions Dough Mats set. Roll the playing cube and then create the emotion shown. 

Participate in a Kindness Challenge

If you are looking for a fun way to encourage your preschooler to help spread kindness, we invite you to participate in our free Kindness Counts Event! The goal of our event is to teach about kindness, help spread kindness, and recognize kindness in others!

Learn to Say Friend in Other Languages

Learn the word for friend in other languages. If available get a globe (or an interactive online version) to find the location where each language is commonly spoken. Try picking out 2-3 different languages to feature for children to be able to memorize.
View Member Instructions

Pen Pals

Introduce pen pals to your group. You can collaborate with another program somewhere far away or contact a nursing home. Children can draw pictures and dictate letters to send as a class. 
View Member Instructions

Friendship Tree Collage

On a large piece of paper, have the children do their handprints in various colors creating one
large classroom tree. View Member Instructions

We are the same, We are Different

Learning to recognize how people are similar and different from one another is important for promoting inclusion and acceptance. 
Create a graph or simply have a discussion! Talk about what color eyes each friend has, what color hair, what color their shirt is, how long their hair is, how many ears...and so on. Challenge children to lead the conversation by asking them to take turns talking about how they are similar and different than their friends. 

 Learn how to Greet in Many languages with Ella Jenkins.

EDUCATOR RESOURCES : GROUP ACTIVITIES, CIRCLE TIME, & PARENT ENGAGEMENT

Bee a Good Friend

by learning how to spell the names of peers and family members with this set of Editable Name Activities.

*Play Who Has? 

This is a fun game that promotes communication and language development. 
Give each child in the group a card, then the child with the apple starts. They say "I have an apple, who has a butterfly?" then the person with the butterfly goes!
​This game is included in our Friendship & Kindness Activity Pack

Create a Friendship Book

Work together with your students to create a friendship book. Encourage children to contribute ideas about what they think it means to be a good friend. Add photos of children throughout the book with their contributions. 

Table Games

Introduce fun table games that children can play in pairs or small groups such as tic-tac-toe, memory, I spy, and fun simple board games. 
Learn some fun ways to use cards as learning games in my blog post Card Games for Early Learners

The More We Get Together

If you haven't learned this song from Raffi yet now is the perfect time!

Team Building Activities

Work on team building skills with your group of preschoolers with this set of Fall themed Team Building Activities. This set includes descriptions for the activities, learning goals and a variety of printable activities. 

Homeschooling Play Groups

Teaching your preschooler at home can be very rewarding. One of the challenges can be helping your young child to learn what friendship means. Consider joining, or starting, a play group in your community. Regularly attending a play group will support your child's social-emotional development. 
Try introducing some of the ideas on this page to the group. View Member Instructions

Create a Friendship Book

Invite your preschooler to create a friendship book where they can put pictures and tell stories about the friends they meet over time. 

Friends of All Ages

Contact local nursing homes or Senior Centers to see if any allow visitors of non-family members. 
Make a friend or two that you can visit and share a story with. 

Friendship & Kindness Preschool Activities

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Emotions Play Dough and Coloring Mats

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Name Practice Worksheets Editable

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Positive Student Notes

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