Friendships

This chapter investigates friendships and children’s wellbeing in the early years of schooling. Having a friend, and being a friend, is closely connected to children’s health and wellbeing in the early years. Friendship safeguards children from social isolation and is associated with academic attainment and social success. In early childhood, children often make friends through play and other shared activities. Through young children’s direct accounts and visual representations about friendships, we explore characteristics of friendship and the strategies that children use to make friends and manage disputes as they negotiate their social and emotional relationships through play and shared spaces. Three aspects of friendships are evident in the children’s accounts: friendship is enduring, friendship is a mutual relationship, and friendship involves an emotional investment. This chapter provides educators with an understanding of the important role of friendships in young children’s everyday lives, and happiness and wellbeing in the early years