Lesson Plan

Fruit Salad Recipe

Students will learn and practice key social skills—listening, sharing, kindness, and empathy—by treating each skill as a “fruit,” combining them through collaborative activities and personal reflection to build healthy friendships.

Second graders often need concrete, engaging ways to understand and use social skills. This fun, metaphor-based session helps them recognize important friendship-building behaviors and practice them in a safe, supportive environment.

Audience

Time

Approach

Materials

Prep

Prepare Materials & Space

5 minutes

Step 1

Introduction

5 minutes

Step 2

Fruit Metaphor Explanation

7 minutes

Step 3

Mix & Match Game

10 minutes

Step 4

My Friendship Recipe Worksheet

8 minutes

Step 5

Tasting & Talk Cool-Down

5 minutes

Slide Deck

Skill Fruits: Friendship Fruit Salad

Welcome, everyone! Today, we’re going to explore our “Skill Fruits” that help friendships grow. Point to each bright fruit as you introduce them.

Listening Lime

Hold up the Listening Lime image. Say: “When we listen, we give our full attention, face the speaker, and show we care.” Invite two volunteers to model listening.

Sharing Strawberry

Show the Sharing Strawberry. Explain that sharing means giving and taking turns. Ask: “What’s something you like to share with friends?”

Kindness Kiwi

Display the Kindness Kiwi. Tell students that kindness is doing something nice without expecting anything back. Invite examples: holding a door, complimenting a friend.

Empathy Peach

Bring up the Empathy Peach. Explain empathy as understanding someone’s feelings. Read a quick story and ask: “How would you feel if that happened?”

Recap: Mix Your Fruits

Recap each skill-fruit. Challenge students: “Tomorrow, choose one fruit to practice with a classmate and share how it went!”

Lesson Plan

Fruit Salad Recipe

Audience

Time

Approach

Materials

Prep

Prepare Materials & Space

Step 1

Introduction

Step 2

Fruit Metaphor Explanation

Step 3

Mix & Match Game

Step 4

My Friendship Recipe Worksheet

Step 5

Tasting & Talk Cool-Down

Slide Deck

Skill Fruits: Friendship Fruit Salad

Listening Lime

Sharing Strawberry

Kindness Kiwi

Empathy Peach

Recap: Mix Your Fruits

Activity

Worksheet

Cool Down

Friendship Fruit Salad

Emma Gillespie