What age do kids make "good" friends?

What age do you think kids make "good" friends? Do you think close preschool or K friends are extremely important and what are the odds of these friendships lasting?

Re: What age do kids make "good" friends?

I'm still BFF with my kindergarten BFF and I'm 30!

Re: What age do kids make "good" friends?

I think that friendships are improtant very early on even though it is tough to predict who stays in touch.

Re: What age do kids make "good" friends?

I think a lot of who 'stays' and who goes when they are young depends on the parents and the environment. I mean.. my best friends have been the same all my life. My parents were very close to their parents, we lived nearby and we spent all of our time together. But we are all really different.. had we not had the benefit of close families I don't think we would have ever become friends. Does that make sense?

Right now we live in a pretty small town. Robbie is in 6th grade and has known the same kids most of his life.. little league, school functions, playdates.. they are only NOW starting to realize that they are all fundamentally very different with diverging interests. I notice that there are kids he has become closer to this year.. and kids he has kind of moved away from within their little group. I think this kind of ebb and flow will continue to happen throughout middle school while they are discovering themselves and seeking out people who are similar to them. I think by 9th/10th grade they will have kind of cemented relationships that are built more on common emotional ground as opposed to easy access, vicinity and parental intervention.

I think ALL friendships are valuable and critically important from the beginning though. The ability to socialize and connect with other people is vital to helping them grow into people who are able to see beyond 'self'.

Message edited 1/15/2013 8:23:04 AM.

Re: What age do kids make "good" friends?

My DS is in 1st grade and his only "good" friends are my friends kids. But my DS barely has the same kids in class from one year to the next, we live in a really large district. He had not a single kid from his 3s class in his 4s class. Then he had one friend from the 4s in his kindergarten class. And this year there was only one kid from kindergarten in his class and its not even a boy he's friendly with. He still sees the other kids he was friends with at recess, but that's 20 minutes out of a day.

Re: What age do kids make "good" friends?

I have 4 "good" friends. One I made in 2nd grade, one in 3rd grade, one in 9th grade and one I can't remember because we kinda always knew each other but didn't really get close until closer to adult age. So I say it doesn't matter. I try to have my daughter play with some kids from school but its just so hard these days. I am glad I have friends that have children her age.

Re: What age do kids make "good" friends?

Out of my 5 close friends, the BFF i met when I was around 16-17 when we both worked together. The others i met at various ages throught life.

i do agree with the previous poster that all friendships are important in growing.

My DD is now 12 and for most of her life her friendships were based on our close friends kids. Those are the kids she hung out with all the time. now that she's getting older and making friends of her own, she still tries to get together with them, but they have soo many different interests that it doesn't always work out.

Re: What age do kids make "good" friends?

DS met one of his best friends when he was 3 - he is 7 now. Back then, we planned playdates with this friend and others, but most of them have moved to another countries (I live in Manhattan, in an area with families from many different countries). Others are girls, and DS doesn't like to play with girls now. They go to the same school but they have never been in the same class; however, we try to go to the park together, iceskating, and other activities. I have become good friends with the mom. He has met other kids and become very closed with maybe 4 or 5, and all of them share the same interests in football and hockey

I met one of my best friends in kindergarten, another on 5th grade and a couple more when I was an adult and working.

Re: What age do kids make "good" friends?

I have one friend who I have been super close with since 2nd grade, we are still super close to this day (we are in our mid-thirties now). The rest of my close friends, are all from the 4th-6th grade period.

Then there are two friends who I grew up next door too, and to this day we are still very close. We go back to kindergarten.

Re: What age do kids make "good" friends?

Hmmmm it's hard to answer this question if you mean with respect to the later years in life since my kids are only 2.5 and 5 but, I will say I think it is VERY important even at this age and EVEN if they don't remain friends the rest of their lives. For ex., DS has two very best boy friends that he met when he was 3. They went to preschool and pre-k together. When it was time to transition to K at a new big school one of the boys was going to and they went to the school and same class together. It was an AMAZING help - my shy DS adjusted right away because he had is "security blanket" his safe place so to speak - he came right out of his shell and was his usual self right from the getgo - even the teacher said - shy? not your son! SO, my point is, I think having good friends is very important - I've seen it give my kids a sense of confidence and security - IMO it's better to have one or two BEST friends that are a constant and always a "safe place" then 15 acquaintances KWIM? Not sure if this is what you were looking for in terms of an answer but, I hope this helps!

Re: What age do kids make "good" friends?

I have been BFF's and I have known each other since 1st Grade.

What age do kids make

Met my BFF in Nursery School (thats what they called back in those days lol). 37 years later we are still close and our moms are still BFFs.

What age do kids make

I believe it turle depends on the parents involvement during the younger years...if the parents get along and hang out the kids usually will stay friends when they grow up...otherwise its middle school age when they can go places on there own.

What age do kids make

Children make great friends in pre-k and kindergarten. Sometimes they tend to separate into different groups come 5th grade when the clicks start, however if you make sure that you remain close with your children's best friend's parents, your children will remain close and won't separate.