AD| Helping Your Child with their Social Skills

A strong set of social skills is a priceless asset, bolstering a person’s personal and professional relationships. For both adults and children, the art of making friends comes more naturally to some. Although a little shyness is completely normal, if you’re worrying that your child struggles in social scenarios, there are things you can do to help them grasp the art of making friends. An independent school in Harpenden has shared their advice for parents who wish to give their child’s social skills a boost.

Practice Empathy

The ability to empathise with other people cultivates lasting friendships and reinforces social connections. For younger children, try role play games where you act out different emotions and get them to identify them and respond appropriately. For instance, if you are displaying sadness get them to identify that emotion and encourage them to respond by giving you a hug or asking what is wrong. For older children perhaps discuss events they are likely to encounter such as witnessing someone falling and hurting themselves. Have your child reflect upon how they would feel if it were them in that situation or how they might react.

Practice Makes Perfect

As with any skill, practice is the key to success. The more you expose your child to social scenarios and introduce them to other children the more at ease they will feel in these situations. Arrange playdates with children of a similar age, the earlier you begin to do this the more you child will benefit as they will grow accustomed to socialising with non-family members. For more shy children, playdates hosted in your family home may be the best place to start as your child will feel more relaxed in the home environment.

Get Them Involved

Follow your child’s interests and find a group activity or team sport that you know they’ll love.

Spending time doing something that they enjoy and feel confident doing will immediately shed the worry surrounding social interactions. Plus, having a common interest is a great icebreaker and will instantly put your child at ease with the others participating. Again, for more shy children who may be reluctant to attend an organised group, why not arrange a structured playdate and have the children carry out an activity such as art or baking. This will relieve any social anxiety by giving them a shared goal to focus on.