Early Years
Developing your child’s social skills Some children may find socialising more difficult than others. If your little one struggles or seems reluctant to be with other people, they may need some support to learn social skills. Here are some things you can do to help. Practise talking Chat about what you are doing, seeing or feeling to help build your child’s vocabulary and exposure to conversations. Role play, games and storytelling are all good for developing language. Model good manners, such as saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ This will encourage children to act this way with their peers. Listen and take turns Children learn both verbal and non-verbal skills from the people around them. Try showing them what good listening looks like through your own behaviour and using games like Simon Says. Find ways to make taking turns fun. Choose an object and tell your family they need to be holding it when they talk. Pass it between you. If your child is a little older, take it in turns to make up funny sounds as if you are having an alien conversation. Show the importance of body language Use eye contact and body language with your child. Experiment by asking them to talk about something while you use poor body language. This could be crossed arms, looking away, fidgeting or frowning. Ask them how your actions made them feel. Then show them attentive body language. Take it in turns. Teach them about personal space Consider teaching your child about personal space. Ask them to put their hands on their hips and stick their elbows out to understand their personal space. Introduce the idea of boundaries by asking first if you can come into their space for a hug. Develop their emotional skills When you help your child understand, express and cope with emotions, it helps them recognise the emotions of others and develops empathy. Teach them to problemsolve, guiding them with questions such as ‘What could you
do?’ or ‘What could you say?’ Try to avoid answering for them. You can also talk to your child about friendships and what it is to be a good friend. If you can, arrange and support opportunities for socialising. Develop your child’s listening and concentration skills by engaging them with short, simple instructions and fun ‘listen and play’ games: Musical statues The old party favourite; dance or jump around to music and when it stops, freeze! Simple and fun, especially when other children play along. March and sleep Grab a noisy object and a quieter object; a simple wooden spoon as drumstick and rattly cereal box will do. When you use the noisy object, get your child to march around the room. When they hear the quieter one, they lie on the floor and pretend to sleep. Swap roles so your child can make the noises, test your skills and learn about taking turns. What did you hear? Hide a selection of noisy objects under a blanket and make a sound with one of them. Your child has to guess which one made the sound. Gradually increase the number of objects to up the challenge. Try making sounds from several toys or objects at once. With thanks to Action for Children, < actionforchildren. org.uk for this article. For further support on child development, visit its Parent Talk website at: < parents.actionforchildren.org.uk
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