LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION TOOLKIT FOR ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN INDIA• 13
ACTIVITY FOUR
My Best Friend- Discuss with the children the fact that all of us have friends and some friends are closer than
others. Ask the group if they have friends and what they are like. Try to help the group
understand that friends have different qualities of which some are good and some are not
so good. - Ask the children to close their eyes and think of friends who have helped them and they like to
be with. What are these friends like? List the qualities of these “good friends.” Repeat the
process with friends who are not so good. Make two charts, one should have a happy face and
a + sign and the other for a not so good friend should have a troubled face and a - sign.
Good Friend + Not So Good Friend–
Shares food with me Scolds me
Waits for me Will not be my friend if I do not smoke/drink/lie/other
Helps with homework Makes me do things I do not always like to do
Plays with me Scares me, beats me or threatens
Like to talk to me Lies to me
Enjoys my jokes Blames me for his/her mistakes
Tells me a secret Ignores me if another friend is there
Smiles Asks me for money
Lends me a pencil Talks about me when I am not there
Shares a chocolate Laughs at me - Divide the group into two teams. Give cards to each member of the group. Each child should get
at least one card on which one quality will be written. They must not show their card to anyone.
Both teams get the same statements but on different colored cards. Tell the children they are
going to vote for a good friend and a not-so-good friend. Have a voting booth with two boxes. One
of the boxes will have a + sign and the other a – sign on it. Each child goes to the voting booth
alone, makes the choice and puts it in the box. To make this game exciting, have two sets of
boxes and let each group race to finish the voting. If the child cannot read, the facilitator who is
standing in the booth can read it out to that child in the privacy of the booth. - Open the boxes, and ask a representative from each team to place the cards on the chart with a
- and a – sign.
- Score the teams and announce the winning team or teams.
- Discuss with the group that we know now who are good and not-so-good friends; ask them what
should be done if someone has a bad friend. Discuss how they can get out of a relationship (by
seeing them less and less and finding new friends). Also mention that sometimes a good friend
may suggest something that may get them in trouble. Discuss with the group what should be
done in such circumstances (say no, delay, etc). Also mention that you will talk about negotiating
and managing disagreements in another session.