Friendship Paper Chain: A Creative Craft for Exploring the Qualities of a Good Friend

A hands-on activity that teaches children what makes friendships strong, supportive, and kind.

Encourage children to reflect on and celebrate positive friendship qualities through a bright, interactive craft they can proudly display!

Friendship is one of the most important foundations of a child’s emotional development. Healthy friendships help children feel connected, valued, understood, and supported. But these skills are not always instinctive. Children often need gentle guidance to understand what makes a good friend and how they can be a good friend to others.

The Friendship Paper Chain is a joyful, creative resource designed to help children explore the qualities of healthy friendships through hands-on crafting. With each link in the chain representing a positive friendship quality, children build a visual reminder of what kind and caring relationships look like. This display becomes a powerful anchor in classrooms, homes, and therapy rooms, reinforcing daily the message that friendships grow through empathy, kindness, and mutual care.

This resource blends emotional learning with creativity, making it ideal for social-emotional lessons, PSHE, counselling sessions, group work, and family activities.

About This Resource

The Friendship Paper Chain is a printable, craft-based resource that guides children through identifying, celebrating, and practising the qualities that make strong friendships. Each stick-figure template acts as a symbolic “friend” in the chain, and children are invited to colour, decorate, and write a positive friendship trait onto each one.

This activity supports children in understanding friendship through a meaningful creative task that anchors qualities in visual form. Children take ownership of their learning by choosing which traits matter most to them, writing them onto the figures, and assembling the chain themselves.

From honesty and loyalty to patience, joy, respect, and compassion, the Friendship Paper Chain encourages children to recognise the wide range of qualities that build healthy, lasting relationships.

It is suitable for ages 4–14 and can be used individually, in group settings, or as a whole-class collaborative display.

Features

• Printable stick-figure templates designed for colouring, decorating, writing on and glueing.
• Child-friendly instructions for easy assembly.
• Supports PSHE, emotional literacy, and wellbeing curriculum areas.
• Perfect for classroom displays, therapy walls, or home enrichment activities.
• Encourages thoughtfulness, creativity, and teamwork.

Benefits

1. Encourages positive relationship skills

Children learn what makes a friend trustworthy, kind, and supportive. This empowers them to seek out and build healthier peer relationships.

2. Promotes self-reflection

Children consider their own qualities as a friend, strengthening self-awareness and emotional responsibility.

3. Enhances emotional literacy

Through identifying friendship qualities, children expand their vocabulary of emotional and relational concepts.

4. Supports social problem-solving

Understanding friendship qualities helps children navigate conflict, misunderstandings, and peer pressure more successfully.

5. Creates a meaningful visual anchor

The completed chain acts as a constant reminder of the importance of kindness, cooperation, and positive behaviour.

6. Strengthens group cohesion

When used in classrooms or youth groups, the collaborative nature of assembling the paper chain reinforces teamwork and belonging.

7. Trauma-informed and inclusive

Children who have experienced relational difficulties or inconsistent friendships benefit from clear guidance about what safe, supportive connections look like.

How to Use

1. Colour and Decorate

Begin by colouring and decorating the stick figures on the paper chain template. Children can express themselves freely using pencils, crayons, markers, stickers, or patterns.

2. Write Friendship Qualities

On each figure, write a positive friendship quality such as kindness, honesty, patience, understanding, sharing, listening, courage, or loyalty.
Encourage children to:
● think about qualities they value
● consider qualities they demonstrate
● recognise traits that make relationships strong

3. Reflect on Your Friendships

Invite children to reflect on friendships in their life.
Questions may include:
“What do you enjoy about your friends?”
“What makes someone feel safe to be around?”
“What kind things do you look for in a friend?”

This step deepens emotional understanding and builds insight.

4. Cut and Assemble

Cut out the figures along the outlines. This is a great opportunity for practising fine motor skills.

5. Glue Together

Glue the hands of the stick figures together to form a connected chain. The symbolism of unity and friendship becomes visually clear.

6. Display and Celebrate

Hang the chain somewhere meaningful: a classroom wall, a wellbeing display, a child’s room, or a therapy space. It becomes a daily reminder of what friendship truly means.

Friendship skills are learned through modelling, guidance, and practice. This resource supports deeper social and emotional learning by helping children reflect on relational values such as kindness, empathy, honesty, respect, and cooperation.

It teaches children that:
● friendships thrive through mutual care.
● boundaries and good choices matter.
● they have agency in creating healthier relationships.
● they can be intentional about who they let into their emotional world.

The Friendship Paper Chain also supports restorative conversations. When children experience conflict, the chain can be revisited as a teaching tool:
“What qualities were missing here?”
“What can we do to repair the friendship?”
“How can we show kindness going forward?”

This makes the resource both preventative and responsive.

It also supports children who have felt left out, isolated, or rejected. By identifying friendship qualities, they expand their understanding of what to look for in safe, positive relationships and learn that friendship should feel uplifting rather than stressful.

Teach children the qualities of strong, supportive friendships with this bright and engaging paper chain activity. Download now to build emotional literacy, connection, and kindness through creativity.