{"id":107915,"date":"2024-08-09T05:00:48","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T09:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.readbrightly.com\/?p=107915"},"modified":"2024-08-12T11:57:51","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T15:57:51","slug":"jennie-allen-tips-on-making-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.readbrightly.com\/jennie-allen-tips-on-making-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Help Your Kids Make New Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A few years ago, my family and I moved two hundred miles to a new town. It was like our lives had turned upside down! My four kids were nervous, as was I. They all needed friends, tutors, mentors \u2014 people to call their own. I did, too.<\/p>\n<p>In that season, my husband, kids, and I all experienced the ache of loneliness in our own ways. We all wished so hard to be known, seen, and accepted, but at first, we didn\u2019t feel like we were. We felt alone.<\/p>\n<p>One of the best ways to relieve loneliness &#8211; for ourselves and our kids &#8211; is to make a friend. But people ask me all the time how to do that and how to help their kids do it, too. Here are my tried-and-true tips for kids \u2014 what I call the \u201cMaking Friends Toolbox:\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Talk about it.<\/strong> Sit down together and brainstorm. Search together for ways to get involved, volunteer, meet kids, and expand your friend group. Support your kids\u2019 ideas and help them along the way.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Join a club or class.<\/strong> Encourage your child to start a new habit that involves others. This could be a sports team, a service club, an art class, a theater club, a choir or orchestra, or any group activity related to their interests. They\u2019ll automatically have things to talk about with people! You can help them by looking up who else is doing something they enjoy in your area.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Go first.<\/strong> We\u2019re all just waiting for people to come to us. Sometimes this happens, but a lot of times we must go first and be the kind of friends we want to have. If your kid wants better friends or feels left out, encourage them to go first and break the ice. If your kid isn\u2019t sure where to start, here are a few practical steps to try. (Remind them that going first can be awkward, and that\u2019s okay!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">\n<li><strong><i>Pick someone.<\/i><\/strong> Ask your kid to think of someone they\u2019d like to know better. Someone who seems friendly, open, and willing to talk. Someone interesting. Or even someone new or who doesn\u2019t know as many people.<\/li>\n<li><strong><i>Find an opportunity.<\/i><\/strong> Help your kids figure out how and when to see them. Will it be in class, at sports practice, or at a club they\u2019ve joined? Your kid can look out for them there.<\/li>\n<li><strong><i>Strike up a conversation.<\/i><\/strong> Encourage your child to start with something they notice about them, encourage them, or compliment them. Maybe they\u2019ve noticed something they do that\u2019s special &#8211; your child should say so! Try, \u201cNice job in practice today! How\u2019d you get so good?\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong><i>Ask questions.<\/i><\/strong> Kids can encourage people to relax and open up by asking fun questions. Ideas could be, \u201cIf you could be an animal, what animal would you be?\u201d or \u201cIf you could have a superpower, what would it be?\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Invite them.<\/strong> Challenge your child to ask someone to sit with them at lunch, play catch, hit the basketball court together, or join them for something they already have planned.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Making new friends is a trial-and-error process for adults and kids alike. But as our kids try and try again, they\u2019ll grow. Encourage them not to quit, initiate, go first, and never be afraid to talk to you about their loneliness. They can find their people!<\/p>\n<p><i>Adapted from<\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/waterbrookmultnomah.com\/books\/723855\/you-are-not-alone-by-jennie-allen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">You Are Not Alone<\/a>. <i>Copyright \u00a9 2024 by Jennie Allen. Published by WaterBrook, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.<\/i><\/p>\n<p> yes no Get the Book:   9780593445440  <i>You Are Not Alone<\/i>  by Jennie Allen    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Author Jennie Allen shares her tried-and-true tips that kids can use to make new friends, combat loneliness, and gain confidence. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":108843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[72,116],"coauthors":[1384],"class_list":["post-107915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips-advice","tag-friendship","tag-parenting","ages_stages-tween"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Jennie Allen on How To Help Your Kids Make New Friends | Brightly<\/title>\n<meta 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