Activity Title: Getting Help for a Friend | ||
Suggested Grade/Age Range: Grades 1 -3 (ages 6-9) | ||
Activity Objective: The goal of this activity is to help children recognize the importance of getting help from an adult when they notice their friend is in distress or when their friend tells them so | ||
Materials Required: none | ||
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes Review over lesson plan and key discussion points Task Time: 30 minutes
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Activity Description: Opening Discussion: 1. Tell the class that sometimes when friends are in trouble or have worries, we need to go to a trusted adult to help them. Together, you’re going to look at a few scenarios and discuss about how to get help for the friend who is in trouble. Emphasize the importance of getting help from an adult rather than from a peer Activity: 2. For each scenario, have children share which adults they can approach to get help for their friend. Why did they choose that adult? What can they do if that adult cannot help them? (Tell someone else and keep doing so until they get the help they need). Here are the scenarios: You see your friend lying on the school playground crying. They seem to be hurt. You see a kid bullying your friend after school. Your friend tells you that an older cousin has hit them and it really hurt. Your friend tells you to not tell anyone. Your friend discovers that they can’t find the money their mom gave them for pizza lunch. Wrap-up Discussion: 3. After exploring all of the scenarios, emphasize again the importance of getting help from an adult when one has a worry or when one notices a friend has a worry or is in trouble. It is important to get help from an adult because kids will not always be able to help in the ways that are needed in serious situations | ||
Activity Extensions: Have children write/draw in their journals or Writer’s Notebooks some scenarios where they may need to get help for a friend and have them identify at least two adults they can go to | ||
Additional Comments: You may want to give children the opportunity to offer some other scenarios they can think of and also give them an opportunity to voice any concerns around barriers of getting help Children are sometimes told that situations they are not directly involved in are ‘none of their business’, the message that ‘it is everyone’s business if someone needs help’ needs to be emphasized. Children need to know that they need to keep telling different adults until they get the help they need for themselves or for others | ||
Additional Resources: You may also choose to review the Getting Help Literature Review before implementing this activity. It can be found here. |