Making New Friends

Overview

This plan supports early social development by helping a 2-year-old tamaiti (child) in a preschool setting to participate in peer play without using physical aggression, such as pushing. The focus is to nurture prosocial behaviours like sharing, turn-taking, and initiating play with words or gestures. This is grounded in the New Zealand early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki, particularly under the strand Contribution | Mana Tangata, goal: "Children experience an environment where they are encouraged to learn with and alongside others.”

Curriculum Area: Social Sciences
Curriculum Framework: Te Whāriki – Level: Preschool (Ages 0–6)
Strand: Contribution | Mana Tangata
Subgoals:

• Children develop strategies and skills for initiating and maintaining relationships.
• Children are encouraged to recognise the feelings of others and respond appropriately.

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Big Idea

Friendship is fun and kind.

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Learning Outcome

By the end of this 5-minute focused session, the tamaiti will begin to:

• Recognise appropriate ways to join in play (e.g. using words or gestures).
• Practise turn-taking and basic sharing behaviours guided by an adult.
• Replay simple social interactions with a toy character, developing empathy and understanding.

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Resources Needed

• Small gathering mat or defined safe space
• Two soft toy puppets or dolls
• Simple play prop (e.g., large blocks or a toy vehicle that can be passed around)
• Calm background music (optional)
• Visual cue cards with simple images – “Stop”, “Hug”, “Hello”, “Wait”
• Bowl of safe, multi-sensory calm-down items (e.g., feathers, squeeze balls for self-regulation reinforcement)

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5-Minute Lesson Breakdown

⏱️ Minute 0:00–0:30 – Warm Welcome & Connection

• Programme a gentle tone and posture.
• Kaiako (teacher) gently welcomes the tamaiti to the mat: “Kia ora, it’s so good to see you.”
• Establish a sense of safety by holding the tamaiti’s soft toy or letting them choose one.

Field of Development: Emotional security, belonging.

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⏱️ Minute 0:30–2:00 – Puppet Role Play: “Kōrero with Friends”

• Using two puppets, act out a very short, slow story:
  • Puppet A is playing with blocks.
  • Puppet B walks up, smiles, and says "Can I play?"
  • Puppet A says yes and offers a block.
  • Emphasise kind tone, open body language, smiling.

🌟 Key phrases for tamaiti to learn:

• “Can I play?”
• “Your turn!”
• “My turn now.”

🎭 Ask the tamaiti to help the puppet say the friendly words. Pause and wait for any sound or gesture—they don’t need to say the full phrase!

Field of Development: Prosocial understanding, emotional identification.

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⏱️ Minute 2:00–3:00 – Guided Social Rehearsal

• Role-play again, this time with the tamaiti holding one puppet while the kaiako holds the other.
• Encourage the tamaiti to use any of the visual cards if verbal words are a struggle.
• If the tamaiti pushes or shows frustration, pause and identify the emotion together. Encourage using the “Stop” card or a calming sensory item.
• Praise any attempt to join the play positively: “Ka pai! You asked to play, that’s kind!”

Field of Development: Empathy, self-regulation, communication.

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⏱️ Minute 3:00–4:30 – Real-Object Play Invitation

• Introduce a physical toy (e.g. a small car) and take turns gently sliding it back and forth.
• Use simple language: “Your turn”, “My turn”, “Roll it to me.”
• Acknowledge their effort, even if partial: “You waited! That helps us be friends!”

Field of Development: Movement coordination, social rhythm practice.

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⏱️ Minute 4:30–5:00 – Reflect & Reconnect

• Use soft tone finishing cue like: “Now our short play is over – you were a kind friend today.”
• Offer a feather or small calming item as a "friendship token".
• Use gentle touch (if welcomed) and eye contact to close the session.

Field of Development: Closure, memory anchoring.

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Extensions / Ideas for Whānau

Share a photo story with whānau showing the puppet role play and note the script you practised. Encourage them to model the same words in home play. Provide the visual cue cards for use at home. Repetition and consistency are key at this age.

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Assessment (Anecdotal)

• Did the tamaiti show signs of recognising when and how to wait?
• What gestures or verbal prompts did they respond to?
• Any moments of eye contact, smiling, copying words, or pausing before pushing?

Document using narrative learning stories in line with Te Whāriki's goals of holistic observation within everyday contexts.

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Summary

This micro-session helps build the foundation of social interactions by enlarging the tamaiti’s social toolbox with alternatives to pushing. Through modelling, play, and sensory awareness, we gently guide them into more collaborative, joyful play experiences—manaakitanga in action for our youngest learners in Aotearoa.