At what age do children typically begin to develop friendships?

Children typically begin to develop friendships during the ages of 3 to 5 years. This stage coincides with the preschool years when children start engaging in more complex social interactions. At this age, children begin to demonstrate preferences for certain peers and show a desire to play with specific friends rather than with anyone available. They start to understand concepts of sharing, cooperation, and taking turns, which are foundational elements for building friendships.

During this period, social play becomes more meaningful, and children often engage in parallel play that can evolve into associative play, where they interact with peers while still maintaining some degree of individual play focus. The friendships formed at this age are often based on mutual interests in play activities rather than the deeper emotional bonds typically seen in later childhood.

This is distinct from the younger age group of 1 to 2 years, where social interactions are more focused on parallel play and are not characterized by the reciprocal relationships that define true friendships. As children progress to the ages of 6 to 8 years and then 9 to 12 years, their friendships become increasingly complex and involve emotional intimacy and shared experiences, but the initial development of friendship fundamentally begins in the preschool years.