This cooking activity will help teach about friendship as well as dexterity and creativity. You will need access to an oven for this activity. Prepare with singing name games to familiarize the children with everyone's name. Offer each child a paper initial of a classmate they have secretly chosen from a paper bag. Prepare a simple bread dough recipe with the children, then divide the dough equally among them. Have the children twist the dough into the initial of the classmate's name. Bake the initials according to bread recipe instructions and cool completely. Every child will give the initial they made to their new friend and receive one as well.
Picture books such as "Bread Bread Around the World" by Ann Morris can be used to enhance this activity. Use the ideas in the book to create bread of different cultures of the children in the classroom. Invite parents to demonstrate and explain about the heritage of their bread-making process as another activity in friendship and community.
Singing and movement games promote friendship and cooperation through natural activity such as hand-holding, taking turns and singing a classmate's name. According to Preschool Education, Musical Shares is a favorite with preschoolers. The children learn the concept of sharing in a non-competitive setting and everyone is a winner. Musical chairs is a game that while music plays, children walk around a circle of chairs, which has one less chair than the number of participants. A child must find a seat when the music has stopped before all the seats are taken or the child is out of the game. Each round another chair is removed until there is only one chair left and two children left competing for the last available chair. With Musical Shares, when a child is left without a chair, that child must find another friend to share a seat. The game continues until everyone is sharing a chair with a friend. Friendship tag is an adaptation of the game of tag. Whoever is "It" tags a friend wearing the same color shoes or dress or similar clothing item.
Begin a class project inspired by reading a book related to friendship that can follow with a hands-on activity. "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein illustrates a friendship between a boy and a tree that evolves into adulthood. Explaining that trees and friendships can last forever, children can color an oversized outline of a tree on a large mural-sized butcher block paper. The tree mural can be placed on the floor or pinned to a wall while the kids color it. Offer the children individual paper leaves to color and decorate with glitter, yarn and sequins. As the leaves go up on or around the tree, children can volunteer describing friendship qualities written underneath their leaf. The class can also name its tree with a friend-inspired name such as "The Happy Tree."
A mural can also be created with finger-paint handprints inspired by songs that can easily adapt to a friendship theme. "He's Got All of My Friends in His Hands" or "Here We Are Together" can complement a handprints mural. Overlap the handprints to illustrate holding hands or to make hearts. Using different colors to create the prints may symbolize diversity and a multicultural idea of the classroom reflecting the world.