Video

New Friendships

Children need the support of the adults in their lives to help ease them back into familiar routines.

Seeing friends after a long while apart is exciting–but it also may feel awkward. In this video, Abby Cadabby and her friend, Drew, are a little bit nervous about playing together again.

Before watching:  Remind your child that they’ve been looking forward to playing with friends again for a long time. But like anything else that hasn’t been done for a long time, it may take some practice before friends can be in sync again.

While you watch: Point out some of the emotions that Abby and her friend are feeling. First they are happy, but a little shy. Then they are nervous, when they each want to do a different activity. How do they feel when they figure out how to work things out?

After watching: Talk about the difference between playing independently, as has happened quite a lot over the past year, and playing with others. Discuss the skills that are needed to get along with friends: turn-taking, compromising, communicating. Remind your child: Like Abby and Drew, you may feel awkward at first, but before long you’ll remember how much you’ve missed this, and you’ll be a pro!