Good Afternoon Lovelies,

With only one week left of the school holidays, many of you will be preparing your kids, sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews for school. Whether it be them making the big return for a new year or starting for the first time, it can be really scary to go into a new school year for lots of reasons.

However, if you know someone starting school for the first time, many of you will be very worried about how they take to it. Something Disney Junior’s Vampirina has unveiled in a new survey, which saw parents and guardians admitting that they feel anxious about the four and five-year-olds they look after starting school.

From settling in, making friends and going to the toilet, the research found that over half of adults (60 per cent) admit they lost friends as they got older, and just over one in three (36 per cent) confessed they wish it was still as easy to make friends as an adult than as it was a child.

Something which has inspired Disney Junior to work with psychologist Linda Blair to make a written and video guide called, How to Make Friends and Influence… Five-year-olds, to help both sides make friends. Tackling confidence issues, interests, emotions and how to start conversations, the guide is a really useful tool for all.


Speaking about the new video, Linda Blair, parenting expert and psychologist, commented:

“To make friends children must be able to consider life from other people’s points of view so they can appreciate and react to what others want to do and enjoy. Although young children show they’re capable of appreciating other viewpoints, they don’t normally apply this skill until they’re about five years old. This is why it’s important to start introducing them to this skill at a young age. Once they can understand empathy it will feel like second nature to them to behave in those adaptive ways. Together with Disney Junior, we have developed tips on how you can empower your child and help them develop empathy to increase their ability to make friends.

It’s natural for the whole family to feel nervous on your child’s first day at school—and remember, other parents will be feeling nervous as well. You can help create a welcoming atmosphere by offering a genuine compliment to another parent about their child’s behaviour and/or appearance.”

Whilst, David Levine, General Manager, Disney Channels UK & Ireland said, “Disney Junior’s Vampirina is a show about making new friends so we’re delighted to lend our characters to help both children and parents settle into school in what is an exciting, but often anxious time, for all involved. It’s fantastic that TV shows such as Vampirina can spark conversations around everyday problems that ordinarily may be difficult for parents and children, and in turn offer support by showing solutions.”

In a brand-new guide to help children make friends, the Disney Junior team have taken inspiration from Vampirina, a show about a young vampire called Vee who moves town with her family and has to make new friends to create a helpful video guide for all. Take a look at it below…