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

My children are both really confident so I encourage them to use that confidence to be a good friend to everyone, especially those that are perhaps shy and find it harder to make friends. I also have to remind my 7 year old son that you don't have to buy friendships with pokemon cards!

By encouraging them to invite friends around for tea!

Play with everyone, always smile and be kind. It has worked wonders with my daughter. She is a happy girl who has avoided all the usual girl friend issues.

Play dates & after school clubs are great to make and cement new/existing friendships from playgroup/school, as it's also a fun activity to do together rather than just in a class environment, etc. Friends can be made by sharing common interests.

Be happy and friendly to all. No one is the same and little darlings just wanna have fun n friends! Encourage them and you will reap the rewards of fantastic children

chatting through any issues and getting to the bottom of why there are problems helps - often things happen from misunderstandings so i try to use made up stories and scenarios to show the other persons point of view. Suddenly helps my kids realise that sometimes there's no 'right' or 'wrong' and that respecting others views are just as important.

We also have a little motto in our family that is 'it's good to be weird' by that it means we're all different and so we accept each other for our differences.

My boys are both quite shy, so I try to organise repeat play dates with the few children they do feel comfortable with

Try and arrange get togethers with other children. Model good 'friend behaviour'.

Try not to get involved in disputes unless they really need you to. They need to learn to compromise, to deal with things not always going their way and to sort out disagreements themselves. Obviously this is low-level stuff, not major fall-outs or bullying behaviours.

I teach my children to share and be kind. I also teach them that friendship isn’t always easy and you can’t always get your own way, but it’s about taking turns and looking out for each other.

It’s important to be a role model and have healthy friendships yourself that you prioritise and enjoy. And to create new friendships for yourself.
With kids I think it’s helpful to encourage friendships outside of school as well as school friendships.

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To be interested in them and listen to them. To support them when things are difficult for them and share their joy when things are going well. That the amount of effort they put in is commensurate with the reward they will get. To be kind, thoughtful and generous.

Lots of clubs giving a wider circle of friends.

Treat friend as you would want to be treated, when they fall out get her to think through what has happened and if at fault how she would feel on the other side

Above all make sure you are kind

I constantly reinforce the importance of friendship with my kids - encouraging them to be themselves, to be honest and trustworthy and accepting of others. It always worries me that people are judged, bullied and or left out and am thrilled that my two youngest are regularly on the 'Friendship bench' befriending those lost souls. I'm fortunate to have friends that I've had for 40 years and whilst we've strayed over the years ultimately I could lean on any one of them if the chips were down. I also appreciate that friends come and go, those that come into your life for a reason, and perhaps don't stop for long. I think if you pride yourself on being a good friend then you'll more than get by. You can't force friendship - but good friends are worth their weight in gold. Value friendships for all the right reasons - kids and adults alike!

Be a good friend yourself show them through actions what it takes to be a good friend! I have many lifetime friends! I hope whitenessing our interactions teaches dc about friendship! I also hope giving them confidence in who they are and their own self worth, Helps them not to be taken advantage of I hope!

Taking part in shared activities outside of school, such as Rainbows or dance groups, is great to cement friendships. I’m really not a fan of the term ‘play date’, but having a day out or visiting a play centre/climbing centre/swimming pool type activity or the park together is great fun too.

Teaching empathy...eg why do you think they did that? Has helped my kids negotiate friendships and become thoughtful sensitive friends.

Compromise. It's hard when you're a child but it's the key to all lasting relationships.

Having play dates , going to mother and toddler groups , having a good circle of friends with kids

I have pointed out that lots of followers does not mean lots of friends, real friends are those who are always there for you when you need them most.

I think role modelling is important here and help when necessary when a friendship hits a sticking point. Huge learning curve.

This is really relevant for me as my 5yo DD is just starting to encounter issues with friendship groups at school. As a result, I've read through a lot of the responses here.

I think for my DD, the key will be role modelling and discussing empathy and sharing. Also understanding that just because someone doesn't want to play with her one day, it doesn't mean that they're not her friend. Having one or two outside school activities also helps.

With my eldest DD, she has a couple of friends she's known from birth, and I try to explain those friendships will be there even if her 'best' friends want to develop other friendships. I encourage her to do the same and have as widest a circle of friends as possible. I do try and arrange playdates (with her original best friends, and new friends) and also give her new social opportunities (e.g. gymnastics club, swimming and Brownies).

Be nice, be kind, take turns, share, listen as well as talk. If you're not happy about something say so and if it carries on walk away, but also look for what's good about people. I think it's really important to keep up with out of school friends so they're not totally dependent on the school socially and also because those kind of friends can be the ones you turn to throughout your life.