Friendship Skills and Friendship Skills with the Moomins

Good friendship skills include, for example, the ability to express oneself in a constructive way, taking others into consideration, and holding on to one's own boundaries.

The Finnish Red Cross learning material Friendship Skills with the Moomins and the Friendship Skills Programme strengthen children's and young people's interaction and social skills, increase self-knowledge, and help alleviate young people's loneliness.

With the help of the tasks and challenges in the Friendship Skills materials, a teacher can easily incorporate the practising of these skills into their own teaching. In addition to classroom use, the Friendship Skills programme can be completed independently, together with a Red Cross friend, or in a group. Completing the programme is recommended for all young friend pairs involved in friend activities – either alone or together. The materials are available in Finnish, Swedish, and English in the Red Cross Learning Material Service.

Friendship skills are skills that can be practised

Good friendship skills are not automatically within us; instead, everyone needs practice and encouragement in at least some area.

Friendship Skills with the Moomins, aimed at early childhood education and pre-primary and early primary education, as well as the Friendship Skills Programme, aimed at lower secondary school pupils and older, include the following themes:

• Getting to know a new person
• Self-knowledge
• Self-compassion
• Friendship skills
• Loneliness
• Facing setbacks

In addition to text, the materials contain videos, exercises, and challenges. A teacher or group leader can use them as a whole or pick out sections suitable for their own group.

Anyone can order printed posters free of charge from the Red Cross online shop. In addition, Red Cross districts and branches can make use of the materials produced and printed to support volunteer activities. These can be ordered from the Red Cross online shop with branch credentials.

More information

Central office: Katriina Kuusela, 040 546 6458, katriina.kuusela@redcross.fi

The Friendship Skills materials are produced by the Red Cross, and their content has been produced in collaboration between the Finnish Red Cross and MIELI Mental Health Finland, as part of the Red Cross's Friendship Skills for Young People project supported by Veikkaus proceeds. The Friendship Skills with the Moomins material has also been made possible by LähiTapiola and Moomin Characters.