Making friends can be tough depending on the age of your child. Kids that move with their families might have difficulty building another social circle. Younger kids are far more accepting but middle schoolers can be brutal when a new kid comes to school. You can encourage great friendships as a parent but should not get too involved as you want your child to develop in a social way. The following are ideas to help your child build a strong bond with their friends.
Create A Good Relationship With The Parents Of Their Friends
Creating a good relationship with the parents of their friends is something that cannot be stressed enough. You want to be able to reach out to the parent to ask about something and vice versa. The beauty of this is that you can watch their kid at your home when they want a date night. Having friends and parents you can trust is a huge deal as it can help reduce the work that needs to be done alone. Take time to try to develop this relationship but remember not all parents will be friendly or want any type of relationship. Other parents might try to take advantage of generosity so watch out for this as well as you are not a permanent babysitter.
Take All Of Them To Do Something Fun
Taking a group of friends to do something fun is something that will be appreciated by all parents. This can even be reciprocated over the course of time. Taking them to an airsoft field can be a great idea especially if the children are into certain video games like Fortnite.
Taking kids out to eat is another option but make sure you clear dietary restrictions/allergies with the parent first. Some children can be quite picky but do not picky eaters impact the decision of where to eat for the rest of the group.
Sports events can be a blast if your child loves a particular sport. This can be affordable as well as going to high school games might even be free. College sporting events might be free as well depending on the sport as some sports like swimming try to do anything to get people in the stands. Taking the kids to a game they want to go to can be a great way for them to bond in a safe place.
Be Accommodating When They Are At Your House
Most people remember a parent of a friend that was incredibly unfriendly. This could be yelling at someone in front of them and generally being unwelcoming. People love to go to the homes of friends that have parents that are friendly and don’t make them uncomfortable. This can include putting a family pet in a certain location due to a friend being afraid of dogs. Offering a seat at the dinner table after getting permission from their parents is another thing that can be done. This does not mean that your home should turn into the neighborhood hangout but your child should never be uncomfortable bringing friends to the house.
