The grade is full-fledged, and now it’s time to go back to routine and after a long, glorious summer, it’s time to have some structure in our lives. Back at school, you may be busy with extracurricular activities, soccer games, and other school stuff. Life is so busy that it’s easy for both children and parents to lose connections with their friends. Certainly, your child meets friends every day, and you may wave to one of their mothers at the carpool line, but does it really keep the connection? Below are some tips to help you and your child stay connected with friends during the school year.
Connecting with friends at school is extremely important to your child’s well-being. Interacting with friends can help with social support and emotional well-being. The same can be said for adults. No matter how young you are, a strong bond with your friends is important to everyone.
Ideas for kids
Making time for friends – It is important that your child makes time for friends in homework and other activities. They can hang out together for an hour after school, have a 15-minute video call, or go to a football game together on Friday nights. As long as your child is making time for a friend and vice versa, it doesn’t matter what they’re doing, how big or small.
Use Technology – As we all know, technology can become a blessing and curse in our world. Use apps and other platforms for your children to stay connected with friends through the community with the same interests. For example, they can play games together online or join a community of children and teenagers that revolve around interests such as STEM, reading, cooking and more.
Several apps for teenagers include Instagram, Tiktok, Snapchat, Hoop, Yubo and Houseparty. Before you can make your child participate, check out these apps yourself to make sure they are right and right for your child’s maturity level.
Sending a simple text can make a difference just by sending a simple text. It’s easy for kids to get caught up in their lives and what they do to them being children. If you know they haven’t seen friends for a while, remind them to send a simple “hello” or “How are you?” To maintain connection.
Plan joint activities
To help your child connect with friends outside of school, you can plan all kinds of collaborative activities for your child.
Movie Night – Get kids friends for movie night. Pizza, snacks and drinks are served. In advance, select some approved movies and add them to your playlist.
Picnic In-Big Your kids friends will go on a picnic in the park. They supply sandwiches, chips, drinks and everyone brings plates and desserts.
Let your kids friends go out for an escape room, VR lounge or a night out at a movie. You can also invite them in the afternoon at a children’s museum (depending on age), parks, or playgrounds.
A day in the library – this is a great idea for the little one. Something is happening all the time in the library. Invite two or three of your child’s friends to story time and see other things that appeal to a younger age.
Ideas for adults
Why do adults need to connect with friends?
Adults have far more plates than children, making connections with friends even more important. When you get into a pinch, you can count on people who enjoy wandering around with most people. Sometimes you just want to tell other adults about things that only they can understand.
How to stay connected with friends as an adult
Quickly set up weekly check-in wakes. Before you know it, it was a Friday and the week was gone. Talk to your friends, set a specific date and check in. People have different schedules so it doesn’t have to be the same day for everyone, but they try to identify a specific day to connect with each of their friends.
I’ll drive in front of a carpool meet with my friend in the school parking lot, then I’ll drive in front of a carpool meet, an hour before school leaves, my friend leaves in the school parking lot, and drive in until the kids leave school and the carpool line begins. This allows for “you” time to keep up with the kids before they leave school.
Meet for Coffee – If possible, meet up with friends (or friends) for coffee after dropping off their kids at school. Or schedule a coffee meetup over the weekend.
Go for lunch – If you’re married, leave your child with your spouse or important others and meet up with friends for lunch. Single parent? Hire a babysitter for a few hours or leave your child with your family.
Send a message/meme. Weekends, send simple messages and memes to your friends to help them stay connected.
Create online groups and, if necessary, create online groups where friends can virtually meet up in the week. Maybe someone has big news to share with you, maybe someone needs to talk about, but you don’t want to wait until they can meet in person. This is also a great idea if you live in a part of a country where you have harsh and long winters and it’s difficult to leave. Overall, try to meet in person as much as possible. But creating a backup plan is always great.
Watch games with friends in the restaurant, watch games or party at your home.
Please have your holidays together. I go shopping with friends for Christmas, exchange cookies, and have a wrapping party together.
You can also gather on Saturdays and bring a Christmas movie watch party with you. You can make a pot of soup with the rolls and have your friends share something with you. Another option is to watch the classic Christmas movie on the big screen. Small local theatres also feature Christmas movies such as White Christmas and Holiday Inn.
The school year is just beginning, but planning to keep in touch is never a pain. Choose your favorite method and create a list of people you want to stay connected. Next, you can talk to your friends and set a specific time to connect with each person. Don’t forget, add it to your phone calendar with reminders. If you can share a digital calendar with your friends, that will work too. Also, talk to your child about who they want to continue connecting with and make a plan for them. Overall, don’t forget to be flexible. Sometimes life happens, plans are cancelled, and it’s fine. You can always try again.
Staying connected in a busy life is more important than ever. Using the above tips, you and your child will be in a happier and more connected grade.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Goodboy Picture Company
Carrie Laurance is a freelance author and author. She has featured her works on Crosswalk, Everie Ave, Huffington Post and Penny’s Hoarding. She is also the author of three children’s books, three clean romance books, one romance novel, three poetry books, one non-fiction book. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys cooking and baking, reading, and her husband, sweet pussy, cupcakes. For more information about Carrie and her writing, please visit www.carrielowrance.com.
