Iowa PBS Wander & Wonder

Wander & Wonder With Friends & Neighbors

Being a good friend and a good neighbor takes practice. How can you talk and engage with your children about friendship? Get inspired with our list of resources.

Learn

  • Families come in all shapes and sizes! PBS KIDS programming offers many examples to help you talk to your kids about all the beautiful ways people can form a family.
  • Here are seven simple tricks that turn a family nature walk into an enjoyable adventure for everyone.  
  • Books can help start so many conversations with your kids! Check out this list of books you can read with your child to learn about friendship or this great list of books that highlight the importance of diversity in communities. 
  • Mister Rogers always said that no matter the problem, there will always be people trying to solve it. Here are a few ways you can help your child thank the helpers in your community. 
  • Looking for ideas on how to work with your child’s school to create a more inclusive community? Here are some tips from PBS KIDS for Parents.
  • Your neighbors likely come from other cultures, religions and traditions. Find out more about the wonderful people who make up Iowa in this video from CultureALL.  
  • In these tips from Donkey Hodie, you can increase your child’s confidence and capability to handle the ups and downs of friendships by providing them with tools to handle disagreements when they arise.  

Play

  • How does your child feel when they win? How do they feel when they lose? Help your child learn about being a good sport and friend by talking about the feelings behind winning and losing.  
  • Celebrate friendship by creating friendship bracelets! Follow along with these instructions from Wander & Wonder.  
  • Bartering helps strengthen relationships among different communities and can make you a good neighbor! Learn all about barter and trade with this activity from Molly of Denali. 
  • Say thanks in your own way, to a friend or a neighbor! Get inspired with this list from PBS KIDS for Parents.
  • There are so many ways to be a good neighbor. Have your children practice and play in this game from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood!  
  • Learn all about the meaning of friendship in this Wander & Wonder activity featuring Yertle the Turtle.  

Explore

  • Whether you’re interested in family travel, weekend road trips or Iowa’s hidden gems, Iowa has so many options! Here are some ideas from our friends at Travel Iowa.  
  • Talk with your children to decide what your family likes to do while traveling and create a travel collage!