Friendship Chain and Kindergarten Connections

I really like getting our littlest of students to realize they are part of something bigger than themselves. I like when it clicks for them that it isn’t all about them as an individual and that what they do can affect the great majority. They have the power to connect with and either help or hurt their fellow classmates.

That’s a big concept for a five-year-old to understand! Letting them know that they are part of a team and have responsibilities they must uphold as a responsible team member is really rewarding to me.

To help the students understand that they are all connected and that what they do affects and connects to others in the class, we made a friendship chain throughout all of kindergarten. We started by reading the book “Spaghetti in a Hotdog Bun.”

We did quite a few activities surrounding this book and built on the idea that we are all unique and have special likes and dislikes, but we also have many things that connect us. The kids absolutely loved this book. The thought of putting spaghetti inside a hotdog bun was so hilarious to their little imaginations.

At the end of the lesson, we created the friendship chain, aka the connection chain. After everyone had a chance to color their friendship link, I had each student come up one at a time and blow the class’s minds as I connected all of the links.

I stapled the links together because it was quick and easy. At the end of the lesson, I hung the chain high in their classroom for the rest of our time together.

At the end, I took the friendship chain with me, and at the end of my kinder rotation, I attached all the chains together and hung the full chain at the front of the kinder wing. The teachers told me the kiddos were so excited to see their creation and to see how their class fit within their grade level and mixed seamlessly with all the other classes.

It was seriously so much fun.