Building Social Skills when School is out
School is out! As a parent, you may be wondering how can I continue to build my child’s social skills now that they are out of school? School is an excellent way for children to gain exposure and work on their social skills, but just because school is out does not mean that social skill building has to stop. The truth is your child can build social skills just about anywhere, including your home. Get creative! Let your child help you create activities and games that they will find enjoyable. Your child can build social skills in a variety of ways. Here are a few ideas on how to build your child’s social skills as a family-
Playing Board Games
Board games are a great tool for teaching your child social skills. Whether it is waiting for their turn, managing frustration, or cooperating with their family members; they are building their skills! Be sure to not focus the game on winning or losing, make it a fun experience for everyone.
Read Books
Reading books allows your child to use their voice. Following the story of a character is a great way to create exposure to different environments while also allowing your child to make connections with the character. Encourage your child to read many different books and to ask questions about the characters and their environments. There are a lot of great social-emotional development and social skills books if you search by the topic!
Practice Thinking Out Loud
As a parent, try to think out loud during the day when doing simple tasks. This helps your child understand how you manage your emotions and encourages them to think out loud too. Thinking out loud can prompt meaningful communication with your child. It also can help your child understand that not everyone feels the same way they may feel about something.
Drawing or Acting out different Emotions
Each emotion looks different; help your child learn this through drawing or acting out these different emotions. Start with Happy, Sad, Excited, Angry, and add more emotions as you go along. You can turn this into a game of charades if you’d like! Focus on your child’s understanding of each emotion to help them build their social skills.
Tasks and Jobs for your child to Complete
During your child’s school day, it is likely that they have many different tasks and jobs their teacher asks them to complete with their peers. Maintain this sense of structure for your child by assigning them simple jobs or tasks around the house with you. For example, you could cook dinner together, fold laundry, or clean up their room together. Keeps the conversation going with your child during these tasks and jobs. The summer is a great time to discover your child’s areas of needed growth. This is the time to teach them new skills that will help them as an adult.
It is important to remember building social skills is a process, have patience with your child. These skills take practice; encourage your child to engage in activities that help them practice, practice, practice their social skills.
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