Tonight with your 5 to 8 year old
The prompt
“Was there ever a time you stood up for a friend during an argument?”
What to listen for
If they can recall this clearly, notice how they describe it, with pride, or with some leftover nerves about it. Either way, standing up for someone else during conflict is a genuinely brave, values-driven act for a young kid, and it deserves to be named clearly as courage, not just "being nice."
If they describe feeling scared but doing it anyway, that's actually the richest version of the story, courage isn't the absence of fear, and this is a great moment to say that plainly.
If they say "I don't know," ask what they'd do if they saw a friend being blamed unfairly during an argument right now, and use that hypothetical instead.
What this tells you
Whether they can recall standing up for a friend shows how strongly their sense of loyalty and courage is currently developing.