Y2 Friendships

[Ahousesomewhere]

Just wondering what others think, as I’m not sure if I’m overthinking this.

DD is 6 and has just started Year 2. In Reception/Year 1 she had two girls she was quite friendly with, but over the summer those friendships seem to have changed and she doesn’t really mention them anymore. I’m not bothered about those particular friendships, but I do feel sad that she hasn’t seemed to find her “people” yet.

She tells me about her day and is definitely playing with other children, but it seems to be different children each day, often joining a pair of girls who are already best friends. So she’s not alone or being excluded, but I wonder if she’s a bit of a third wheel and hasn’t found a close friendship of her own.

Would you leave it to develop naturally or try to help things along a bit?

Goodness me, she's only 6! It's a good thing to encourage her to have lots of friends - forming a close 'best friend' relationship isn't always a good thing - It's often too intense and exclusionary and then when there's falling out, it can leave one child sidelined. Much better to encourage multiple friendships. Invite a few different children over to play/have tea and see how it goes.

Definitely encourage a range of friends at this age. Much healthier for her.

Definitely don’t worry about it too much. My youngest dd is 7 and I have no idea who she plays with at school but she always seems to be surrounded by different friends at drop off so I’m not worried about it. I think it’s normal at that age.

we don’t do play dates either. Plenty of kids on the estate for her to play with

Thanks for the reassuring replies. I agree that having a range of friends is better at this age. I just worry she’s wandering around alone until she’s invited to play with an established friendship group.