7 Ways To Develop Your Child’s Social Skills
Our children have gone through a very interesting two year period where they’ve mainly been without friends and social interaction outside of their family – so, how are their social skills doing? Kids may have felt socially isolated or maybe they haven’t developed their social skills as much as we’d like as parents. Can we as parents teach our children social skills? Yes, because we’re the people they socialise with the most! Pay attention to your child when they’re in social situations to determine whether they’re doing fine or if they need some guidance in this department.
Do they look you in the eye when having a conversation? Are they easily distracted or are they excited to be in a conversation with you? Do they get nervous when talking with their friends? These are clues we watch for as parents when it comes to our children’s social skills. Here are some ways to help you child develop their social skills and to feel more confident in new situations.
• Encourage your child to maintain eye contact. Eye contact helps others feel comfortable around you. It also enables you to convey your personality and shows the person they’re talking to that they are interested. This is a top priority in social skills. It might seem like a simple thing but it can make an enormous difference if a child feels insecure in a new situation.
• Teach your child to ask some questions. Lots of kids might feel nervous about what to say or do around people but by sharing some questions that could start or hold a conversation, they’ll start to feel more confident in their social skills. You can demonstrate this in a really fun way as a positive parent by acting as if you’re interviewing your child about something that interests them. Then swap roles. You’ll notice your child’s confidence skyrocket.
• Find out their interests. Children have different things that interest them. Involve yourself in their interests or invite a friend or two of theirs to join in the fun. They’ll feel comfortable and confident in this space and you’ll see their social skills starting to develop.
• Understand your child’s limits. Everyone socializes in different ways – we definitely understand that as parents! And… our children are the same. An introvert may feel more comfortable with one or two friends doing something they all enjoy, while an extrovert prefers different activities with a potentially different sized group.
• Avoid trying to force your “right” way of doing things onto your child. Allow them to choose how they interact with their peers, maybe they don’t feel comfortable chatting one-on-one but they love a fun game of tennis where they get to socialise whilst doing an activity instead. Social skills develop in all shapes and forms.
• Teach them the value of listening. Effective listening is one of the most critical aspects of social interaction. Whether your child wants to engage in a group discussion or strike up a conversation with a friend, they must be mindful of how to listens. We could take a note or two from this as adults when it comes to social skills. We don’t actively listen much and its really important to do this.
• Play turn-based games. A turn-based game is one in which each player makes their move in turn rather than concurrently. A game like that can help children gain valuable social skills by teaching them how to wait and be patient.
Social skills are really important for our children and with the lack of interaction they’ve had recently, it’s our job as parents to improve on these skills. It’s never too early to start teaching your child social skills. It might be a challenge initially, but with patience and perseverance, your child will thank you for it. Social interaction is an important life lesson for your child.
