Playing outside with the neighbor kids. Karlie and Brina working together to push their friend up the driveway!

Our neighborhood is pretty small and currently we are the only family on the street that is not retired.  I am thankful for our neighbors and we have grown to really enjoy them over the past few years.  A year ago another family lived on the street with kids about the same age as the girls and they would come over a couple times a week to play.  They only moved a few miles away and since their grandparents still live in our neighborhood they come over every couple weeks or so to play.

If it is a nice day the kids have a blast outside running, swinging, riding bikes, and playing together.  I am thankful for the opportunity to spend a few minutes with our neighbor and the kids love being able to play with their friends.  The picture above was taken a few weeks ago when their friends come to play.  The kids took turns riding the “go cart” as the girls call it down the driveway and pushing each other back up the driveway.  As I was watching the kids play together I was reminded of the importance of having friends over to play.  There are many valuable learning benefits to having friends over to play, here’s just a few:

• Taking Turns – it teaches the kids the importance of taking turns so everyone has the opportunity to enjoy playing.
• Sharing – a toy may have been given to your child, however, when friends are over your child will learn how to share those toys and have fun.
• Teamwork – when siblings or friends work together it is pretty amazing what they can do.  Even though this “go cart” is pretty heavy for one kid to push up the driveway when they work together they can get it up the driveway more quickly thus giving the kids more turns to ride the go cart.
• Friendship – having guests over allows your kids to learn valuable characteristics in a friendship.
• Conflict Resolution – When you have a group of kids for an extended period of time something is bound to happen (someone’s not taking turns, a child is losing a game, a toy gets broken, someone skins a knee, etc..)   Sometimes you need to step in and play referee during the event and other times it is best to speak with your child after the activities once the friends have gone home.  Life doesn’t always go perfectly which allows great teaching moments for children.

Next time your children have friends over don’t worry about the mess, instead focus on making that time a learning opportunity for your children.  When everything goes well thank them for playing nicely, using their manners, and being a true friend while their guests were over.  If something happens (not taking turns, sharing, showing characteristics of a true friendship) take the opportunity to talk about what happened and how to do better next time.

These activities with our children provide great reminders for us as parents as well.  Are we being a good friend / hostess to guests who come into our homes?  When our children see how we interact with our friends we are giving them an example of what manners and friendship characteristics are acceptable.  Our actions speak volumes to our children so make sure your are practicing the principles you want to your child to learn.