Learning to make and keep friends is an important task for children no matter what their age. If you have concerns about your child’s ability to make friends, his/her teacher should be able to identify children your child seeks out in the classroom or playground.

Responding positively to invitations for play dates or sleepovers and extending such invitations will let you know if your child is viewed positively by her peers. Having children in your home will help you assess whether or not the “friend” is someone you want your son to befriend.

A good resource on friendship by age and stage is
http://www.slimgoodbody.com/Files/Teacher_Resources/ParentArticleShy.pdf.

A helpful site for school-age shy children is www.shykids.com. This site is written to be read and used by children. The authors offer some possible steps for making friends:

1. Smile—smiling invites a response from others.
2. Offer the other person a complement.
3. Ask what they like—music, sports, etc—it shows interest.
4. When someone asks you to answer, be sure to have an answer.
5. When someone gives you a complement say thank you, even if you are embarrassed by the complement.
6. Be a friend. Kids who show an interest in other kids and who are kind and friendly make good friends. Remember, everyone wants to be around people who like to do similar things and people who are nice to them.