FUN Friends 4-6yrs

Lifepaths is excited to bring Fun Friends to New Zealand. 

FUN FRIENDS is the latest programme developed by Dr. Paula Barrett for the treatment and prevention of childhood anxiety in 4-6 year olds. It has been developed from the highly successful FRIENDS for Life programme with a focus on this younger age.  

The importance of a research based resilience programme cannot be underestimated, with research showing as many as 20% of preschool children in the general population exhibit moderate to clinical levels of emotional and behavioural disturbance. Fortunately, the rapid development of preschool children allows for effective treatment aimed at both prevention and intervention. Children will have great fun and join in lots of activities promoting the development of social and emotional skills.

FUN FRIENDS teaches children essential resilience skills including:

• How to relax and self soothe
• How to regulate emotions
• How to understand emotions in yourself and other people
• How to be kind and empathic
• Social and emotional skills
• How to make friends and share
• How to be brave and try new things
• How to build a strong sense of self and self esteem
• How to deal with conflict
• Positive coping strategies
• Easy to learn strategies on how to change negative "red thoughts" into positive "green thoughts"

These resilience skills are taught in a way that children in this age group can easily grasp and adopt. The objectives of the programme have been shown to be well-matched and complementary to educational goals and curriculum in schools and pre-schools for this age group.

Fun Friends helps kids feel balanced, happy, and well adjusted. Research shows that children who are socially and emotionally well adjusted do better at school, have increased confidence, form good relationships, take on and persist with challenging tasks and are more able to communicate effectively. Fun Friends helps your kids be all they can be!

If you want to be amongst the first to use FUN FRIENDS in New Zealand contact us regarding training dates.

PDF copy of this information available here.

Support for the FUN FRIENDS Programme and the effectiveness of Intervention Programme's for young children.

James Heckman - A Novel Laureate in Economic Sciences - believes that early social and emotional experiences of very young children affect their future growth and potential. Heckman (2000) explains that the preschool years in particular, are vitally important for skill formation. According to Heckman:

"Early childhood interventions of high quality have lasting effects on learning and motivation. As a society, we cannot afford to postpone investing in children until they become adults, nor can we wait until they reach school age- a time when it may be too late to intervene. Since learning is a dynamic process, it is most effective when it begins at a young age and continues into adulthood." (Heckman, 2000)