Parents see the benefit of Zippy’s Friends

Parents have told us they really notice a difference in their children when they take part in Zippy’s Friends and Apple’s Friends. These stories from our international partners show what a positive impact our programmes can have for families:

“After each session, my son would come home really excited, talking about the programme. One day, he told me he had learned we need to do something to calm down – that is the first step. The second step is understanding the problem, then, thinking of solutions and, finally, choosing the best one. He has mentioned these four different steps several times. He can now accept rules more easily and can better express his feelings. Zippy’s Friends was very important and extremely valuable for my son’s life. I hope it can keep running in more and more schools, because it has really helped my son and many other children.” - Parent, Brazil

“Apple Friend’s has helped my son a lot. Now he much more openly communicates and makes friends easily. He started to go to school willingly. The program taught him to adapt to life and other children in the classroom. Now it is easier for him to accept and understand the diversity of other children. He became more flexible and learned to solve or even to avoid conflicts.” - Parent, Lithuania                 

“Zippy's Friends is so good a curriculum. It taught my son how to cope with difficulties and deal with his emotions. What he has learned from Zippy's Friends also has affected us. One night, a friend of my husband visited us. He was very depressed about something and had drunk a lot. The next day, my son said to him: "Uncle, don't drink next time. If you feel sad, you can listen to music, walk in the park, or discuss with your friends." We are so surprised, because my husband and I never taught him those strategies. On asking the kindergarten teacher of my son, I knew I should attribute that to Zippy's Friends.” - Mother, Shanghai