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My GD is quite shy, so its a question of patience, encouraging her to play alongside other children, and talking to her about friends and cousins. She has begun saying her best friend is Emily from nursery, so Mum may arrange to meet up with Emily's mum outside of nursery to encourage the friendship. GD does however love playing ( rather too enthusiastically at times) with her brother!

As others have said taking them to social events like play groups, soft play, nursery and youth clubs, age appropriate, are good for them to mix with potential friends of their age. Encourage contact but do not push them into anything as this will come naturally in time when they feel comfortable.
If they are having difficulties mixing go to places with a mix of adults and children as socializing with them will boost their confidence and make them feel more secure. They will run off on their own all in good time.

y grandchildren have play dates and sleepovers with their friends. Their friends are made from nursery school, and carries on into primary school. It also helps if the children's parents make friends with each other and help each other out, if needed.

The best tip is not to isolate them and get them used to the company of other children.

My GD made a friend at nursery and they are good friends at school now. Their mothers encourage the friendship with out of school meet ups. I take her younger sister to play with my friend's granddaughter when it's my childminding day, they are very friendly together it's lovely to watch.

Answer when spoken to and share their toys.

Smile,say hello and share

Lead by example, be sociable yourself and encourage children to be interested in others from an early age. Do everything you can to build up their confidence. Some children just make friends naturally while others need a bit of help. Inviting friends round to play can encourage friendships within the safe environment of home, good preparation for the big world of school

I think that children need to be open to various social situations at a young age so they learn how to be social themselves. I encouraged my daughter to take them to messy play as babies, a fun music session and toddlers and go along when needed to. I now have a very social nursery age Grandson who loves going to the park and play areas and can mix with all ages.

Just make sure they know everyday that they are loved and supported, and their confidence will come from this. Show them by example how to be kind to others and their friendships will blossom. And if all else fails and they are not finding it easy to fit in, just fall back on the words of that great philosopher Winne the Pooh - "Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you know".

I think nursery from an early age helps enormously as they learn that mixing and playing with others is the norm. Also if you see them ganging back with other children, go and talk to those children yourself, they will soon come over and join in.

I would say that discussing the benefits of having friends is a good start - talk about how much more fun it is to do things together, to share experiences, to learn together and to help each other when needed. Find places where it is easier for children to mix and socialise and encourage them to include other children in their games. If your grandchild is very confident maybe they could befriend a child that is shy or needs extra help so that both children benefit from the relationship and learn life skills in fun ways. Reading books about friendships is also a way to show your grandchildren all the different ways friendships can be formed, how groups of friends can play great games together, hold competitions, compete in team sports/games etc. Use lots of praise where appropriate and encourage healthy friendships.

The more interaction the better, so take them to parks and soft play areas when they are toddling and then help out ferrying them to activity groups as they get older. You can't make them make friends, only encourage the right skills to develop.

Take them to places where there are lots of children i.e playgrounds, beaches, play centres

Have come round for tea days/evenings these work well, I found mixing with other parents and children a gift as everyone starts chatting and the children play

toddler groups and just smiling at others parents/grandparents and chatting to them - it helps if the adults communicate and encourages the children to do so.

Luckily she is a very sociable little girl so I don't have to do much to encourage her to make friends.

DGS likes to take his time. He finds it easier to form friendships at the park rather than be introduced.

I break the ice by introducing or if we haven't met then I talk about the new person and remind them of the similarities they have and work on that.

Make them self confident in all the little ways without over praising them. Give them lots of different experiences so they are not over awed by doing different things. Let them make choices whenever appropriate, what they wear from a choice supplied, what they eat when they go out for a treat, which path you take on a walk etc.

I don't think you can teach 'making friends' but a self-confident child will find it easy.

Sorry, not read the thread so may have repeated what others have said.

encourage them gently to talk to other children about what they are doing/playing with ie toy, book. offer help ie push on swings and share sweets.

Being a friendly person yourself helps to show children that it's okay to communicate with people who aren't family members. Talking to other grandparents who might regularly frequent the same park, library or play space with their grandchildren gives your grandchild the opportunity to meet the other children on a regular basis and make friends. (It's also a good opportunity to make new friends yourself - an added bonus. ?).

I loved reading the Alfie books to my son. The adventures of him and his little sister Annie Rose were delightful without being overly saccharine. I must look them out for my grandson who is just learning to read.

you have to give them opportunities to play with other children through toddler groups and such like.

Hold a garden party for the kids from school - they then mix

To mix socially with other children from a young age, so they can learn to interact with each other.

Take them places where there will be others there age and encourage them to play with another child who is on his or her own.
And making friends with other grannies helps - then we can have play dates