Friendship: A Friend Can Be . . .

Mem Fox's "Henwick's Egg" is about a little bandicoot who finds an egg that doesn't seem to belong to anyone. He takes it home and cares for it and soon the egg becomes his friend. Why did Henwick think the egg was his friend? Because the egg listened to Henwick's stories and when he shared his troubles. Soon Henwick figures out that the egg is actually a stone but he doesn't care, he loves it and it's his friend.

What Can Be A Friend and What Can't Be A Friend

The purpose of this activity was not to have our ideas be right or wrong but to think about our thinking.  The children looked at a variety of pictures; a baby, a teacher, a dog, a slide, a teddy bear, a tree, and I asked . . .

"Can this be your friend?"

"Why do you think this?"

It was interesting as the children identified their own criteria of what makes a something a friend.

"A dog can't be your friend because it can't smile, a teddy bear can be 

your friend because it's smiling" - Billy

"A tree can be your friend because it gives us apples." Michael

"A teddy bear can't be a friend because it can't talk" - Ryleigh

"A baby can be your friend because you can snuggle them" - Sofia

"A dog can be your friend because you can play ball with it" - Bela

"A slide can be a friend because I like it" - Chloe

Friends Criteria

they smile at me

they give me things

they talk with me

they snuggle me

they play with me

they like me