Journey to Friendsville

Journey to Friendsville is a fun and inventive board game to help children improve their social skills – especially when time is limited. Board games are a very effective way to teach social skills, but many counsellors do not have the time to play a traditional board game with their clients. Journey to Friendsville is designed with the busy counsellor in mind. Children learn social skills and how to develop rewarding friendships in 15-minute increments as they journey on the game board towards the town of Friendsville. There are five skills in total, and one skill is the focus of each 15-minute session. Children can play multiple times to learn all five skills. As they play the game, children move through towns that represent the skills taught in the game, such as Fairhaven and Conversation City.

On the way, players earn tokens with pictures of ‘friends’ on them. The ‘friends’ are placed in Friendsville in the centre of the board to await the arrival of the players.

The five skills are:

– Using humour appropriately in social situations
– Conversing with others (expressing yourself and listening skills)
– Dealing with conflicts Joining and participating in groups
– Showing respect and fairness

Learning Objectives

Players will:

– Learn to approach other children and make new friends
– Learn to deal with others fairly
– Learn to resolve conflicts in a win-win and understand the importance of compromise
– Learn how to express themselves in an assertive, but non-aggressive, manner
– Learn important listening skills Learn how to contribute to groups and get along with other group members
– Learn how to use humour appropriately with peers

The game also includes a reproducible Skills Record (to keep track of which players have practised which skills) and a facilitator booklet with complete lesson plans and questions for discussion.

Playing time: 15-minute sessions (up to five sessions)

Players: 2-4 players (more with team play)

Grades: 1- 5

Ages: 6-12