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

Standard Insight Terms and Conditions Apply

Mine are primary age.

We meet their friends at the playground, have playdates and sometimes all go swimming together.

I ask the DC who they've played with at school at bedtime. Usually any issues will surface then. If there are problems I ask them if they think those involved have been good friends, or if there's room for improvement!

My dear friend died 2 years ago. Her dd has been best friend to my dd for years. Without pushing anything I really wanted the girls to stay friends when they started secondary school a year ago. I do love my friends dd, I have known her since she was three and she is so like her dear Mum, a last link to her for me.
I’m not pushing anything on the girls, they have to make up their own minds, but my dd has carried on going over to my friend’s house once a week for tea, as she has being doing for years, long before my friend passed away. Her friend comes to my house once every week after school for tea. They have sleepovers and play dates and I never stop them being together if it is at all possible. They are as close as ever, despite only meeting up once a week at school for a lunchtime club. My friend’s dd calls me her ‘second mum’ which I am so proud of. DH and I treat her like our own children when she is here and our dd mucks in with her brothers and sisters when she is at her friend’s house.
Maybe the girls will grow apart as they get older. I would never force them to be together but at the moment their friendship brings the the three of us so much joy, I will continue to facilitate it as long as I can.

Dd2 has had speech and language difficulties and suspected pda syndrome so does need more guidance on interacting with children than her big sister.

We've always had playdates and mini parties at times like Halloween (where we might have 4 or 5 girls over for arts and crafts and a few party games). These mini parties put the pressure of dd2 to behave like a friend as she's just playing games alongside her friends. I especially make a point of inviting new girls over. Last month I was pleased to see dd2 approach the class new girl on the first day of term, without me asking.

After all this effort dd2 sadly doesn't get that many invitations back but has 3 good friends who do invite her over.

Talking about compromising but also not forcing friendships. When it comes to school holidays, if they've been together all term I think they need some breathing space, need the chance to miss each other.

My DS5 with ASD has the most beautiful friendship with another child with ASD who is also deaf. I'm so glad they got into the same school together after meeting at nursery!

When my son is recognised by other children who have seen him at after school club, for example, and they say hello, I encourage my son to say hello back! He's clueless but by prompting him, I hope to instil in him the basics of building lasting friendships!

My Children have always had the instinct to respect other children and expect respect back. Which I have always supported, and out of that comes lasting friendships.

I try to teach mine empathy and to realise that how they treat others can have a huge impact on that person. I also try to get to make allowances for children who do things differently and appreciate a different perspective.

I have never pushed for mine to have one special friendship but instead have tried to talk to them about how they can have different friends for different interests - and mostly about exhibiting the right behaviours to make them a good friend to whoever they choose. Encouraging friendships by having play dates is always helpful. Also, being a friend to their siblings - because that is a friendship that I want to last, long after I am gone!

I think encouraging them to keep trying helps,
I always say to my daughter that it can be tricky learning how to be a friend.
I encourage her that everyone has their grumpy or naughty days if someone has upset her or theyve had a falling out.
I encourage her that being kind is the most important thing and that making someone else smile will make her smile too.

Ds has asd we found Pokémon cards a huge 'opener' for him.

He has the ability to recall huge about of information - and quickly was seen as the 'go to' guy in the playground regarding swaps and info.

Also maths he LOVES maths - his teacher used his infectious enthusiasm for maths to help him bond with other kids in his class - he sits with kids that are struggling and very very patienently talks them through it all so that they can love getting the answer too - this is how he has a found a 'girlfriend' she helps him understand social skills and 'how' to play - he teaches her fractions and multiplication

Little steps for him, but he has been invited to a birthday party from a child on his class - and is so so excited.

By making your children part of a big extended circle, we have family gatherings, play dates, meet friends down the park etc

Forgive friends for minor mistakes, have a few friends in different places e.g. school, activity and family friends.
Make a fuss of friends on their birthdays.

Model successful relationships for them on a day to say basis; even if they see arguments between parents it is ok as long as they are shown how to work through the problems and that relationships work 2 ways.

Encourage kindness and empathy. Kindness really does conquer all

Even when I'm tired I always allow/encourage my two children to bring their friends around after school and also to make plans for the weekends. Both of my children have a wide range of friends rather than just one good friend, I prefer this to be honest. I also encourage my children to participate in after-school activities and join clubs as this makes it easier to fit in and make friends with children that have the same interests.

DS is quite lucky and makes friends easily. I encourage him to have empathy when he tells me of issues and try and get him to see things from his friends point of view too. He also has a few friends from outside school, particularly neighbourhood children, which is great. I view it as a bonus if I get on with his friends parents, but I accept that he has to choose his own friendships.

If my daughter makes a mistake and is not being a good friend, we have a conversation about what she did and why it might not be a good idea. She has autism, so she's not always aware of when she does something that her friends might not like. One example was when she repeatedly told a friend that she (the friend) wasn't coming to her birthday party. This is because the friend was moving abroad before the party. My daughter got upset when her friend said she wouldn't play with her if she didn't stop saying that. I had to comfort her and explain that, while the statement was true, it was making her friend sad. I expect to have many such guiding conversations in the future.

I've always found it's important to let them socialise and not be frightened to let them interact with other children even at a very young age, it's how they learn wrong from right and how to appreciate another persons point of view.

Play dates. And keeping in touch with friends they made when toddlers, even if they go to different schools. My DD struggled with friendships when young, but is now part of a strong group who flit in and out of ‘BFF’. I’d recommend d encouraging a number of friendships, don’t put all your eggs into one basket!

my tip is at the beginning of new tentative friendships, to encourage the DC to do activities together - pottery classes / bike rides / wall climbing etc

It means they start the friendship with a common "bond" which can often help

My children are 7 and 10 and my oldest was very shy, it was so hard for him to make friends and broke my heart. I use to take him to mother and baby clubs, summer clubs and party's he now is a changed boy. With a lot of encouragement and after school clubs and hobbies such as boxing and swimming he has some really close friends that he really gets on with. Also now goes to alot of party's and play dates with is a new thing as before he would be to shy. So best friendships are made when you encourage fun activities that they have in common which gives them a boost in confidence.

Playing outside after school means that we get to know the kids who live on our road - I’m keen to encourage ‘playing out’ as much as possible, just like we used to do!

We bought the book "Queen bees and wannabees" for dd, and read it together. It helped her make sense of friendship dynamics.

Encourage play dates.
Attend birthday parties.
Invite whole class to parties.
Make an effort to go on days out with other parents/children.
Make an effort to talk to other parents, this often encourages children to also talk.
Be aware of child's name/parents name to encourage talk.
Explain other children's disabilities or differences and ask children to be mindful of how they feel.

When possible, its best to let kids try to work things out on their own
Younger kids need to be closely supervised. But as kids get older, parents need to back off slightly. Parents who hover over their kids are robbing them of the chance to develop their own social skills. Your kids need to find out who they are.

I just tell my children to be kind and treat people how they would like to be treated.