Suggested Grade/Age Range: Grades 7-8

Activity Objective: The purpose of this activity is to have youth discuss important aspects of friendship with peers they may not normally interact with.

Materials Required:

• Bell or something that can make a sound (e.g., phone alarm)
• Three Appointments worksheet 

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Find a bell or have phone alarm ready

Photocopy Three Appointments worksheet (one for each individual)

Write down the following questions on the board for whole class discussion at the end

• How does friendship boost self-esteem? How can it lower self-esteem?
• What are some important qualities in a friendship?
• What are some healthy boundaries to set in a friendship?

Assign individuals into three sets of partners for each “appointment) (optional)

 Task Time: 40 minutes

Activity Description:

 1.       Tell the class that they will be doing an activity whereby they will speak to three different individuals about the important aspects of friendship

• If the individuals are choosing their own partners, emphasize for them to choose ones they are not already friends with and have not really talked to during the school year
• Allow individuals to walk around and “make appointments” with three other individuals and decide on who their first, second, and third appointments are. Allow for some groups of three if appointments overlap

2.       Explain that during each “appointment” that they have, individuals will have about 10 minutes to discuss the question on the Three Appointments worksheet and write down their partner’s answers. When they hear the bell, they are to move on to the next partner and discuss the next set of questions and so on

3.       After completing all three “appointments”, reconvene as a whole class and have individuals share some of their partners’ answers to each set of questions. Write down answers on the board under the headings:

• How does friendship boost self-esteem? How can it lower self-esteem?
• What are some important qualities in a friendship?
• What are some healthy boundaries to set in a friendship?

4.       Review over the ideas on the board and emphasize that a good friend is someone who is respectful, accepting, and honest and that there are boundaries in a healthy friendship

5.       Remind the class that we all have the need to belong. Healthy friendships and relationships are crucial to our well-being. We also need to pay attention to when friendships feel unhealthy and are lowering our self-esteem

Activity Extensions:

• Create small groups and assign them to one of the questions on the Three Appointments worksheet and have them create scenarios/examples about each questions and act them out
• Have individuals choose one of the questions and write a journal entry around it

Additional Comments:

Depending on the class dynamic, you may want to assign partners or groups of 3 right at the beginning for all three “appointments”/discussion periods