Helping Your Child Develop their Social Skills

Helping Your Child Develop their Social Skills

Helping your child develop their social skills is an important element of parenting, because it ensures they are comfortable interacting with their peers and teachers at school, as well as their colleagues when they grow up. Social skills are also important for building strong friendships. However, verbal communication is only part of it; children also need to learn about body language and facial expressions. So, I have teamed up with a secondary school in Somerset to share some advice on how you can help your child.

“This post is a partnered post and may contain affiliate links. These thoughts and opinions are in line with my own personal beliefs.”

Teach Some Conversation Starters

Often, the scariest part of a conversation is getting it started. With this in mind, it might benefit your child if you share some ideas of things they can say to begin a conversation with a new person. Remember, questions and compliments work well. Here are some examples:

• Hello, what’s your name? My name is…
• Did you have a nice evening/weekend? What did you get up to?
• I love your top, where did you get it from?
• Do you have any plans after school?

Talk About Emotions

Help your child understand emotions and how they manifest in body language and facial expressions, so that your child becomes better at reading people. For instance, if someone is crying, they are probably sad and could use a tissue or a shoulder to cry on. If a person is frowning, they could be angry or confused. Point out different emotions on people on the TV so that it becomes easier for your child.

Encourage Socialisation 

Your child’s social skills will never develop if you don’t give them chance to practise. With that said, try and arrange plenty of playdates with different children to give your child the opportunity to socialise and learn about sharing and taking turns. You should also introduce them to your own friends so that they get used to talking to people of different ages and genders, not just kids their own age.