Health: Birth to 5

Is your child the social butterfly who invites every other child at the park to play a game of chase or dig in the sand? Or, maybe your child is shy and has a harder time interacting with peers. When children play together, they watch each other, imitate behaviors and practice their social skills. According to the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, “Research has shown that children who can interact successfully with their peers, even during preschool, are more popular, have stronger friendships and are included more often in classroom activities than children who lack these skills.”

What can you do to help your young children gain the social skills they need?

Child-to-child interaction
Create times when your toddler or preschooler can interact with her peers. This can be as simple as going to a park where other children are playing or setting up a time for children to play one-on-one. The more social interactions your child has, the more they get to practice, and the better chance they have to be accepted by their peers.

Activities that promote cooperation
There are many activities that children can do alone, but for social growth, children need to play and work together. Think of toys or activities that will promote cooperation and sharing (rolling or kicking a ball back and forth, making a snack together and sharing the ingredients and utensils, or taking turns doing a puzzle) and set up those opportunities to practice social skills.

Prompting and recognition
One of the best ways to help your child develop social skills is to “prompt” the appropriate behavior, and then acknowledge when children are interacting positively. For example, suggest to your child, “Why don’t you ask Charlie if he wants to dig with you?” or, “Say hello to Jack.” If your child needs more help, you can role-play. “Pretend I am Sophie, and ask me if I will share my Play-Doh with you.” As children begin to use social skills to listen, communicate and respond, recognize their effort. “I heard you tell Gracie your idea for what to play next. You did a good job telling her what you wanted and listening to her ideas, too!”

While social interaction comes naturally to some kids, others need to learn and practice the important skills of being friendly and attentive, and using acceptable ways to interact with peers. As they share, solve problems and work cooperatively, they’re gaining important skills for the classroom and the rest of life.


This article was supplied by the Children and Families Commission of Orange County. For more activities that build social skills, visit their website at: occhildrenandfamilies.com. Click on “Parent Resources” and then “Kid Builders.”

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Resources:

The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning has information on promoting the social and emotional development of young children:
vanderbilt.edu/csefel.