Body & wellness activity
Friendship Feelings Map
Draw your friend circle. Talk about what feels good with friends and what hurts.
Materials and setup
- paper, markers
- notebook (Early Elem+)
- phone/computer with parent (Upper Elem digital section)
Parent note
This lesson pairs emotional health with practical safety skills. Upper Elem digital-friendship section is critical — review privacy settings together. Use the 'red flags' content with empathy — kids may realize a friendship is unhealthy and need support processing that, not a lecture. If a child describes grooming behavior (adult strangers, secret-keeping, gifts, meeting requests), stop the activity and involve proper authorities (pediatrician, school counselor, or CyberTipline 1-800-843-5678 in the US).
How this changes by age
Pre-K (ages 3–4)
Draw your friend circle. Talk about what feels good with friends and what hurts.
Steps
- Draw a big circle. Put yourself in the middle.
- Draw 3–5 friends around you — family, neighbors, preschool buddies, pets count too.
- For each friend, draw a tiny heart if they make you feel GOOD and a tiny rain cloud if they sometimes hurt your feelings.
- Talk about each one: what does this friend DO that feels good? What can you do when someone hurts your feelings?
- Role-play: parent pretends to take your toy. Practice saying 'Stop, I don't like that' in a big, clear voice.
Learning objectives
- Identify members of their social circle
- Recognize feelings associated with specific people
- Practice one assertive phrase with body and voice
Kindergarten (ages 5–6)
Learn the 4 Friendship Rules: kind, honest, takes turns, repairs when you mess up. Practice all four this week.
Steps
- Meet the 4 rules with simple posters: KIND (use gentle words), HONEST (tell the truth even when hard), TURNS (share toys, share talking), REPAIR (say sorry, ask what you can do to fix it).
- For each rule, share a time you did it and a time you forgot.
- Set a weekly goal: 'I will practice REPAIR this week. When I mess up, I will say sorry without a reminder.'
- Parent notices and high-fives each practice moment during the week.
- Friday review: count your high-fives. What's easiest? What's hardest?
Learning objectives
- Name and describe the 4 Friendship Rules
- Recall personal examples of practicing each rule
- Set and follow one weekly friendship goal
Early elementary (ages 6–8)
Map your friendship circles — close, friends, acquaintances, strangers — and learn what information is safe to share with each.
Steps
- Draw 4 concentric circles. Label: INNER (family, best friends — know everything), FRIENDS (close buddies — know a lot), ACQUAINTANCES (classmates, neighbors — know some), STRANGERS (people you don't know — know nothing).
- Fill each circle with real people.
- Make a Safe-to-Share list per circle: inner = body stuff, worries, secrets; friends = likes, dislikes, some worries; acquaintances = favorite games, school stuff; strangers = only first name, never address or where you'll be.
- Learn 3 friendship repair scripts: 'I'm sorry I ___. I'll try to ___ next time.' / 'I feel ___ when you ___. Can we ___?' / 'I need some space but I'm not mad.'
- Role-play 3 scenarios: a friend took something without asking; a friend excluded you; you accidentally hurt a friend's feelings.
- Keep a one-week Friendship Journal: one kind thing you did, one kind thing done to you, one hard moment and how you handled it.
Learning objectives
- Distinguish 4 levels of social closeness
- Apply safety rules for what information to share with whom
- Use 3 repair scripts in role-play and real moments
- Track and reflect on a week of friendship data
Upper elementary (ages 8–10)
Build a nuanced friendship model: healthy vs. unhealthy patterns, peer pressure tactics, boundary-setting scripts, and digital friendship safety.
Steps
- Study 5 healthy friendship markers: (1) mutual respect, (2) honesty, (3) reliability, (4) room for difference, (5) energy gain (you feel better after, not drained).
- Study 5 red flags: (1) one-sided effort, (2) frequent put-downs 'as jokes', (3) pressure to do things that feel wrong, (4) secrets you're forced to keep from parents, (5) you feel tense around them.
- Rate 3 of your real friendships on both lists (privately, in a notebook).
- Learn 4 peer-pressure tactics: 'everybody's doing it', 'if you were really my friend…', 'just this once', dare/challenge escalation. For each, practice a firm, friendly counter line.
- Build a Boundary Script Library: 10 real-life scripts for saying no, asking for space, setting phone/screen limits with friends, leaving a situation that feels off.
- Digital friendship safety: review your online contacts. Which are inner/friends/acquaintances/strangers? Do your privacy settings match? Learn the rule: meet in real life before sharing photos or location.
- Write a 1-page 'Personal Friendship Code' — your own principles for how you want to friend and be friended.
- Extension: interview 2 trusted adults (parent, coach, teacher) about a friendship that went wrong. What did they learn? Write up the wisdom.
Learning objectives
- Analyze friendships against 5+5 health/red-flag criteria
- Recognize and counter 4 peer-pressure tactics
- Build and practice a 10-script boundary library
- Apply social-circle logic to digital relationships
- Articulate a personal friendship code in writing
Safety and evidence note
Read the full activity before beginning. An adult should supervise tools, heat, food, outdoor work, movement, and experiments as appropriate. Completion records that the activity was done; the child’s explanation, work sample, photo, or demonstration is stronger evidence of learning than a completion check alone.
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