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Friendship Island

Explore kindness, teamwork, and what makes a good friend.

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You’ll need

  • Craft materials (for example, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, stickers)
  • A4 paper
  • Coloured pens or pencils
  • Pens or pencils
  • Scissors
Guidance for volunteers (Healthy Relationships research)
PDF – 61.7KB
Download Guidance for volunteers (Healthy Relationships research)

Before you begin

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.

Healthy Relationships research

This activity is part of our Healthy Relationships research. Please read the attached guidance for volunteers before running the activity.

Make sure you've got consent from the parents or carers of all young people taking part, using the Participant Information Sheet and Consent Form you’ve been given.

For each scenario, you'll need a note of the groups answers - whether they put it on their island, in the water, or both. When you've completed the activity, please share your feedback and your group’s responses using this form.

Submit your feedback and group's responses

Planning and setting up this activity

  • Some parts of this activity may trigger emotions or personal experiences for young people. It’s important to be aware that discussions about friendships and relationships can sometimes bring up feelings of sadness, frustration, or discomfort. That’s why it’s important to create a supportive space where everyone feels comfortable and to keep an eye on how each young person is coping. If you have a concern about a young person, always follow the Safeguarding Code of Conduct (Yellow Card) and report it to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
  • If people are taking their Friendship Islands home, or if the islands might be hard to interpret after the activity, you may want to make a note of your group’s answers for each scenario.

Running this activity

  1. Gather everyone together and ask them what they think makes a good friend. This could be things about that person or the things that they do. 
  2. Let them know that for this activity, they’ll be making their own Friendship Islands - a place where all their good friend qualities come together. 
  3. Give each young person a piece of paper and ask them to start creating their own island. They can make it any size, shape or colour they like, using the materials provided. They should make sure that their island is surrounded by water. 
  4. Explain that you’ll be reading some friendship scenarios. After each one, they should decide if the behaviour is good and belongs on their island, or not so good and belongs in the water. They can write a word or draw a picture to represent the scenario. 
  5. Encourage discussion after each scenario to help the young people think. You could ask: 
    • How would that make someone feel?  
    •  What could we do instead?  
    •  Have you ever seen someone be a good friend like that?
  6. When everyone is ready, read each friendship scenario aloud: 
    1. You tell your friend you don’t like their drawing because you think they can do better. 
    2. A friend shares their snack with someone who forgot theirs. 
    3. Someone teases another young person for wearing glasses. 
    4. You help a new person join your game. 
    5. A friend says you can’t play unless you bring them a toy. 
    6. You cheer up a friend who’s feeling sad. 
    7. Someone breaks a promise and won’t say sorry. 
    8. A friend listens to your ideas when you’re planning something. 
    9. Your friend keeps copying everything you do. 
  7. Make sure everyone feels safe to share their thoughts, and remind them that it’s okay to have different opinions. Remember to keep everything simple and upbeat. There are no wrong answers, just good thinking and sharing. 
  8. When all the scenarios and discussions are complete, ask if anyone would like to present their island to the group. 
  9. Finish by reflecting on what makes a good friend, how we can show kindness in our group, and what to do if someone might not be being a good friend.  

Reflection

The Friendship Islands activity helped you explore what makes a good friend and understand the difference between positive and negative behaviours. By creating your own islands and deciding which behaviours belong on the island or in the water, you practised empathy and thought about how actions affect others. 

Think about the activity and your choices. What did you find easy? What was hard? Did anything surprise you about how others thought about the scenarios? Do you think this activity will help you become a better friend, and if so, how?

Talking about the scenarios helps you respect different opinions, and the hands-on part lets you be creative by drawing, writing, or using symbols to show your ideas. By reflecting on what makes a good friend, you can think about how to show kindness, include others, and support your friends in everyday life. 

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

Scissors

Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.

Glue and solvents

Always supervise young people appropriately when they’re using glue and solvent products. Make sure there’s plenty of ventilation. Be aware of any medical conditions that could be affected by glue or solvent use and make adjustments as needed.

  • To make this activity easier, you could work as a group and discuss each example together before moving pieces, so that no one feels put on the spot. You could also provide pre-made shapes or cards for the young people to place on their islands, so they can focus on discussing the scenarios rather than drawing or writing.
  • To make this activity harder, you could ask young people to create their own friendship scenarios. They can come up with situations that support friendships and decide whether to place them on the island or in the water. 
  • You could provide printed copies of the scenarios for each group. Use coloured paper, large print, or high-contrast text for those with visual impairments.
  • Allow young people to work in pairs or small groups if they prefer, giving support for those who may feel anxious or need more guidance.
  • You could use tactile materials, such as raised shapes or textured paper, for those with visual impairments or who benefit from hands-on learning.
  • Give a variety of options for responding. Young people can write, draw, or use symbols to represent behaviours on their island.
  • Be flexible with group discussion by allowing young people to contribute verbally, non-verbally, or by pointing to materials on their island.
  • Remember that people may understand or experience friendship differently. Avoid making assumptions and emphasise that there are no wrong answers. 

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.