Many schools across the country are making efforts to emphasize friendship and kindness on Valentine’s Day instead of romantic love. We have tips and ideas for hosting a Friendship Week at your school.
Historically, Valentine’s Day cards weren’t only meant for those one romantically loves, but also celebrated affection for one’s friends and relatives. What a great theme for school-aged kids! Celebrating Friendship Week is much more inclusive and helps kids express all kinds of warm feelings to friends, teachers and parents.
We’ve got 3 easy ways to celebrate Friendship Week in the classroom.
1. Write Notes of Kindness
Showing love and kindness is what Friendship Week is all about. Put all the students’ names in a jar and take turns pulling out names. Ask everyone to write down a few kind things about the person they drew then share them. These can then be displayed on the wall for a fun Friendship Week decoration. This easy activity can also be integrated with language arts lessons in writing complete sentences or using colorful adjectives depending on the age of your students.
2. Have a Door Decorating Contest
Invite each class at school or in a grade to decorate their door for Friendship Week. You can decide on a theme like famous book quotes about love or just set them loose and watch the creativity flow. When doors are finished, take a tour of each door and then let students cast their vote for their favorites.
We have some great door decorating ideas on our Pinterest page!
3. Read Friendship-Themed Books
We’ll use any excuse to infuse some reading time into the day. Here are a few of our favorite books on friendship depending on the level of your students.
On the Night of the Shooting Star by Amy Hest (Pre-K to Kindergarten)
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson (K-3rd)
Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan (3rd-7th)
Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram (middle and high school)
BONUS!
Here’s a ready-made week of fun ideas to celebrate Friendship Week and teach some lessons in friendship along the way.
