BY- MONICA
Parent wants their kid to grow into a happy and a well-adjusted adult but it’s a tough job to teach them social skills. Reports and studies have shown that babies are born social but interpersonal skills are something they learn while growing up. Socialising is an art that one masters every single day of growing up and parents are the emotion coaches of this journey.
A kid’s social skills and interaction with the world around them forms a major part of their success and happiness. In fact, this is even more important than their academic results. Not only does it help build a strong self-esteem but also helps them rehearse social situations and role-playing ahead of time.
Here are some guiding tips on how to make your kids more socially active.
It’s very important for kids to communicate – verbally or non-verbally. Your child needs to know that they are free to talk, question, ask and communicate their needs, ideas and beliefs. As parents, talk to them every day. Remember to use words like ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’, etc. while interacting with them. This communication in the house will help your child express, interact, and respond to social stimulus outside the house.
Invite friends home
One of the few places where children tend to open up and interact are kid’s parties. Meeting and greeting kid’s and adults from all walks of life is a great way to induce social skills in your kids. Well, a kid’s party is not the only way out. Inviting their or your friends’ over – without a purpose – is a good way to encourage friendships (and the idea of friendship) among kids. Being in their comfort zone will bring out the best of social skills in your kids.
Empathise
It’s a fact that empathy plays a huge role in building successful interpersonal skills and relationships. Kids receiving empathy from adults tend to develop empathy for others at the earliest. Empathising and being warm go hand in hand. It’s critical for parents to talk to their kids about their feelings without trivialising them.
Teach emotions
Teach your kid to express emotions and tell them its okay to be emotional. Let them imitate emotions of various kinds – joy, anger, excitement, nervousness, sadness, danger, weirdness etc. Make a game out of it and ask them to identify different smileys and emotions. This activity will not only help them express better and differentiate between emotions but will also not let them get confused while socially interacting with kids and adults.
Do not hover
Children need close supervision. But there is a thin line between supervising and hovering over. With kids growing older, parents need to back off a bit. Hovering over kids 24*7 robs them of the chance to develop social skills on their own. You need to know when to enter and when to exit.
In the end, it’s important to understand that not every kid is born with the same skills. While some kids are naturally more socially adept, others are not. A parent plays an important role in a child’s interpersonal development. Take a more active approach to build social skills in your kid. Be a model of social grace and help them build relationships.
Author Bio: Monica a self-driven person and loves to spend her leisure time reading interesting books that come her way. She is passionate about writing and collecting new books. She believes in hard work and it is her persistence that keeps her doing better. She is a perfectionist and doesn’t let go off things that don’t appear perfect to her. She loves traveling whenever she needs time off of her busy schedule. Her favorite holiday destination is Hawaii.
