Advice about my son's friendships

[mumof2monsters]

My DS is 6 1/2 and the youngest in his class his bday end aug. His friend who has been his best friend since school is almost a year older (all but a week). They have been joined at the hip since school started. Recently DS has come home from school and said this boy did not want to play with him and has joined other boys in the class who won't let him play. He finds this really upsetting and so do I. He another friend who has also been a bit like this with him.
Anyway this boys mum and I had a chat tonight and apparently my DS in reception year (used to kiss and hug this friend and say he wanted to marry him-he was 4 at the time), this boy found this uncomfortable. My DS has not done this for about a year and now understands boy/girl relationships. However this boy has distanced himself from DS and does not want to play with him. I appreciate there is nearly a year in age difference but it is upsetting for my son.
This boy said to his mum that my DS follows him around and he does not want to play with him. There seem to be a group of a few boys not wanting to let him join in.

Advice please not sure what to say to DS and I worry as this has been a good friendship for him for the last few years. i feel sad that he is sad and playing on his own at school. I know i may seem like I am going over the top but I want him to have friends and be liked as he is a lovely boy.
HELP...advice gratefully received.

oh poor ds. no words of wisdom i'm afraid. bumping for you.

Mumof2 - there's another thread running about friendships and confidence of August born boys - perhaps come and join in over there too?

My DS is a bit like yours to some extent. he's very tactile and still quite babyish - into his Playmobil Noah's Ark and Zoo, while all the Sept/ Oct boys are heavily into football etc.

Not sure what to suggest. Certainly try to explain to him that people develop different interests and friendships.

Are there other boys who you can 'cultivate' as ne friends?

I would ask your ds if there are any other boys in the class he would like to invite around after school, if he can't think of any then I would approach his teacher and ask for some suggestions of friendships that it could be worth encouraging. Sadly I think the more your ds pursues his best friend the bigger the issue gets and your ds needs to learn to rely on lots of others for friendship at school.

I know my shy sensitive dd has a best friend school at I felt it was in a danger that she could become too dependent on it from little comments I overheard etc so I've made a point of regularly inviting all of the girls she is friendly with on individual playdates. Her bf will always be more popular than dd that sadly is just life.

Have you made his teachers aware? They wouldn't want him to be playing on his own and would try to help include him with other children I'm sure.

Does he go to after school clubs, where he might make friends with other children?

Thanks everyone. Trouble is he is the youngest in his class and probably the smallest. Physically he has always struggled a little with pe, football etc as he is nearly a year younger than some, but from a classroom point of view he is right up there with the rest.
He does play with other children sometimes but I think he is finding it hard that his bf is distancing himself somewhat.
I am thinking of sending him to an afterschool club and he attends beavers.
I spoke to him tonight and explained that it is good to have lots of friends so there is always someone to play with. Will see how it goes. Thanks everyone for the advice and will check out the august children's thread. Thanks