Friendship Building Activity: Roll a Friend

Roll a Friend is a fun friendship building activity that helps children get to know each other by discovering their interests, preferences and things they have in common. It provides an easy and enjoyable way to start conversations and can be particularly useful when children are getting to know someone new.

Children work in pairs and write their names at the top of their columns. They take turns rolling a dice and answer the question linked to the number they roll, writing their answer in their column. The questions cover topics such as favourite colours, animals, sports, games, food and hobbies. They continue taking turns until all the spaces are complete.

Once the table is finished, children can compare their answers and look for things they have in common. This creates natural opportunities to start conversations, discover shared interests and find things they might enjoy doing together.

Benefits of this friendship building activity include:

• Provides a fun way for children to get to know each other
• Encourages children to share their interests and preferences
• Helps children discover shared interests and experiences
• Provides natural conversation starters
• Supports communication and listening skills
• Encourages children to notice similarities and differences
• Can help children find common ground when beginning a new friendship
• Takes some of the pressure out of starting a conversation

Roll a Friend is ideal for ELSA sessions, nurture groups, new classes, transition activities or any situation where children are getting to know each other. It can be a simple starting point for conversations about shared interests and the different things that make each child unique.

Download: Roll a friend