Since today is National Best Friends Day, I thought I’d share a few links and printables to mark the occasion.
One of the biggest benefits to having a big family is having built-in friends. That’s not to say there’s never friction between siblings at our house, but we try to defuse it quickly when it arises.
The rule here has always been, “If you can’t get along with your family, you can’t spend time with your friends.” That has helped a lot. For other tips on building friendships between brothers and sisters, check out this post: 8 Ways to Cultivate Friendship between Siblings
Of course, friendship means different things to different people. To help your children think through what’s most important to them in their friends, try this activity:
If your kids are too young for that, let them color this picture while you talk about friendship aloud:
Discuss what things they should consider when choosing friends (Psalm 1:1 gives some good guidelines, as do many, many verses in the book of Proverbs).
Here is a word study you can do on related passages — look up the verses and read them together, then summarize each in your own words using the space provided:
While you’re at it, be sure to talk about ways each of you can be a better friend to those God brings across your path. This would be a great time to read and discuss the story of the good Samaritan.
Of course, I wouldn’t want Mom to feel left out, so here’s a special, friendship-themed coloring page for her, too:
That one is adapted from a post I wrote over at my marriage blog, Loving Life at Home. If you haven’t already read it, you can follow this link to do so: Fostering Friendship with Your Spouse
If you like these printables, you’ll find lots of similar pages and activities in my devotional journals. At over 200 pages a piece, they are packed with writing prompts, coloring pages, word studies, and lots and lots of Bible verses. Here’s what readers are saying about them.
And that’s all I have for you for now. I hope you have a lovely “National Best Friends Day.” I want you to know, I consider my readers my friends and really appreciate your taking time to visit my blog. THANK YOU for doing that! If there is anything I can do to be a better friend to you, please let me know in the comment section below. 🙂
Torri says
June 17, 2016 at 8:25 amI homeschooled my girls until my youngest went into 7th grade. I wouldn’t trade the special relationship that they have for anything. Homeschooling was an enormous blessing for our family. Jennifer, you are a huge blessing for homeschoolers by sharing so much wisdom and experience. Thank you, and God bless you along with all of your sweet family.
Jennifer Flanders says
June 17, 2016 at 9:10 amThanks, Torri! They grow up fast, don’t they? Those close relationships are one of the sweetest and longest lasting benefits of homeschooling, I think.