🌱 Pause. Exploring friendship difficulties through a BOUNCE® lens
As a BOUNCE® practitioner, you’re not here to teach children how to behave socially —
you’re here to understand what’s making friendship hard right now.
Friendship difficulties are rarely about being unkind or unwilling.
They’re often about what’s happening in the child’s body 🧠, emotions 💛, and sense of safety 🤝 around other people.
Before choosing an activity, pause and ask:
- Body 🧘 – Is social interaction over-stimulating or exhausting?
- Openness 🔓 – Does the child feel safe with peers, or are they protecting themselves?
- Understanding sensory differences 👂👀 – Are noise, touch, pace, or unpredictability getting in the way?
- Navigating emotions 💭 – Are feelings like jealousy, worry, anger, or shame present but unspoken?
- Connection 🤝 – Does the child know how to connect, or just want to?
- Esteem 🌟 – Is fear of rejection, failure, or “getting it wrong” driving withdrawal or control?
Your role is not to force friendships —
it’s to support the conditions where connection can grow safely.
Start with curiosity 🌿
Then choose the intervention that meets the child where they are right now.
🖨️ Looking for Printables
Choose these when the child needs help understanding themselves and others, without pressure.
📘 Looking for Interventions
Choose this when you want a structured 6-week block of sessions to explore friendship and social understanding over time.
🧱 Looking for a Creative Hands-on Activity
Choose this when social situations feel emotionally loaded and talking feels too hard.
- Comic Strip Conversations to explore friendships, misunderstandings, and perspectives visually
💡 Did you Know?
These, along with every course, resources, activity and idea are all free to Annual Professional Members and Team Members of the Learning Portal?
