Bear Essentials helping children cope with parental cancer Missouri Baptist Medical Center, St Louis, Missouri, 63131
Activities For Children
Friendship
Suggested Items
  • Four or more zipper-lock plastic bags
  • Yarn or a shoelace
  • Assorted beads
  • Elastic thread
Information for Parents
Information for Children
Activity
Resources

Parents:
Friends are important to everyone. When there is an illness in a family, children can feel "different" from their friends. Talk with your children about their friends. What do they have in common? What are some differences?

Children
Friends are an important part of our lives. It is great to have friends to have fun with, to talk to and to listen to. In what ways are you like your friends, in what ways are you different?

Activity: Keep Your Friends with You All the Time
Gather four or more zipper-lock plastic bags. Place them one on top of the other, with the zipper on the right side. Punch or cut three holes about half-an-inch from the left side, spaced about two inches apart. Thread string, yarn or a shoelace through the holes and tie the loose ends together. Now you have a friendship book. Put special things inside each page to remind you of your friends. You can include things like school pictures, notes, trading cards -- any special treasures that remind you of your friends. If you would like to make a more permanent book, make the last page thick cardboard -- that way your book is less flimsy.

Activity: Let's Make a Friendship Bracelet
Have you ever made a friendship bracelet? It's easy. String beads together on elastic thread, tie the ends together and there you have it! Make bead bracelets to give to your friends. Be sure to write your initials on the beads so your friends remember who made their bracelet.
friendship bracelet

Resources
Book Suggestion: Frog and Toad All Year