Friendship is Magic: Share your tips for helping children build lasting friendships with the My Little Pony: The Movie - chance to win £300 NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

To help celebrate the brand new My Little Pony movie, the team behind the film would love to champion the beauty of friendship - and learn about the tips you have for helping children build lasting friendships with their school mates, neighbours and pals from clubs etc.

Do you gently suggest ways of making and keeping friends, encourage play dates to deepen friendships, or have other ways to guide them through the sometimes tricky path of childhood friends?

Here’s the movie synopsis

“A dark force threatens Ponyville, and the Mane 6 - Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity - embark on an unforgettable journey beyond Equestria where they meet new friends and exciting challenges on a quest to use the magic of friendship to save their home.

The film has an all-star voice cast including Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Liev Schreiber, Michael Peña, Sia, Taye Diggs, Uzo Aduba and Zoe Saldana. The movie features original music and songs performed by Sia, Diggs, Saldana, Chenoweth and Blunt."

Rated U

Add your comment to this thread and you will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get a £300 John Lewis voucher.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

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Play dates really helped mine cement friendships

Play dates, attending birthday parties and school events.

Encourage kids to not be scared of different, and to embrace children who may look different, act different or who enjoy different things to your own child.

I regularly have play dates at my house - tend to do it in one hit with a group of girls. My daughters love it! Great to see how they interact with their friends. My children also attend groups outside of school eg Brownies, Rainbows etc where they have made some lovely friends. I encourage them to also make friends with children they do not go to school with

I have found that it only really works over long periods of time if the parents get on, otherwise there is just no impetus. But also be interested in their friends and what they tell you about them, never sneer, and make opportunities for them to do things together outside of school.

the main things I do is encourage play dates and host a birthday party for them each year.
Sometimes my son comes running out of school announcing he has arranged to meet a friend at the play park near by and I always try and go when he has done that, as I am really impressed with him for organising it.

My daughter is 3 but this week we have had to chat about what to do because she upset her friend at preschool and was sad they weren’t “best fwends” any more. We talked about saying sorry and it all seems better again now

Letting their friends pick activities to do sometimes, I teach my daughters to think of their friends happiness as well as their own so they take it in turns to choose an activity. Their friendships are still going strong and they rarely argue.

Ive taught my child from a young age to be friendly be kind and share. In order to build long lasting friendships it doesn help that you get get on with thier friends parents its just easier. Ive encouraged my child to be independent and confident so dc isnt afraid to engage or approach other children. Listen dc knows to take turns its only fair to listen and not to talk constantly or interrupt. Other children will feel comfortable if they are included in things and conversations. My child is happy to talk to and play with loads of different children but the long lasting friendships dc has is with children that share common interests are on the same wave length as dc and dc feels comfotable around as dc has known them for years either from nursery or my friends children and theyve known each other since babies.

I try to build friendships with his friends' parents because it helps the kids friendships to survive long term.

play dates here too.

Be Nice and Kind - if they cant be the same walk away.

I am very lucky that my daughter is very confident and well....loud. She doesn't have problems making friendships. However, I always make sure that we attend friends birthday parties and events nearby so she gets to see her friends outside of school. Anything we can do to get involved :)

We practise social play skills together. Things like taking turns, sharing toys, negotiating, etc

I really try to encourage my dd to always be kind and never leave anyone out. Include everyone.

I try to make sure I talk to DD about friends and take an interest in the social side. I also try to encourage kind play like turn taking and being nice to each other. Play dates are an excellent opportunity for friendships to develop :)

We organise play dates. We have people over.. a lot.

Like others have mentioned, play dates work really well.

DD is a bit quiet and shy so when she is going into a new situation I give her some suggestions about what she could say to someone or some questions to ask.

To be honest, I've not consciously done anything to encourage friendships. My DC do all have good friends but it's their own making. I guess I have encouraged being kind and inclusive and have taken them to parties but just because its fun! :)

My daughter is 3. She has friends at nursery but going to toddler groups has really helped her make friends.

Play dates, parties and meet-ups help cement things, especially in my dd's school where classes are often shuffled and friends may not be in the same space as them during the school day. I also make time for my dd to talk through worries/disagreements that have happened, and try out different ways of responding. Also - I model good friendship with my own mates

Plenty of play dates! Also lots of time with siblings - they are your bffs for life after all!

I’ve role modelled good social skills for my children when they’ve found it tricky. Sometimes kids want to make friends but don’t know how, and appreciate someone suggesting what they could do or say.

I always remind him it's better to have one or two really good friends than to be surrounded by lots of 'friends' that he doesn't actually get on that well with.

I just encourage my DD to to kind to people, I don't try and push her into friendships with certain children and when she comes home upset over something we talk it through and find a solution.
She's made some great friends and is pretty adaptable when her groups change, so hopefully I'm teaching her right!