As you know, humans are social animals. They live with other humans. They interact with them. Thus, they should recognize the way or the techniques to do so. As a parent, you should know everything about it and ensure your children’s personal and social development.
Children’s social development means moulding their actions and behaviours when they interact with people. Through this article, you will learn what children’s social development and social development activities for children.
Also Read: How to Motivate Your Children to Learn New Things? 3 Important Life Skills for Your Kids.
What is Children’s Social Development
When you visit a park and see kids sneezing without keeping their hands on your mouth, throwing garbage everywhere, or shouting at everyone, what is your first reaction? You think that maybe they are not aware of their social skills.
Similarly, when you see a kid sneezing while keeping a handkerchief on their mouth or collecting garbage and throwing it in the dustbin, or talking to everyone politely, what do you think? You think that they are socially developed. They know how to interact with people.
In simple words, social development is a technique to teach kids how to interact with other living beings. Every kid learns through their surroundings. If people in your house are social, kids will grow among people and become social. If not, your kid might need special attention.
Why is Children’s Personal and Social Development Vital?
As humans, you convey a message, a thought, an emotion, or an idea continuously to others. Even if you are verbally silent, you are communicating something through your body posture. Thus, stay careful while doing so.
Social skills include a wide variety of things like the way you sit, walk, eat, talk, sleep, run, drink or laugh. It feels annoying when someone creates the munching sound while eating or the snorting sound while laughing. To avoid these embarrassing moments, you should instil social skills in the kids learning process.
Here is a list of reasons to include social development activities for children:
It Develops Communication Skills
Imagine that you are on a committee to select the head girl for school and have two candidates, one with excellent communication skills and the other with not so good communication skills. Who would you prefer? Of course, the one with good skills. So, you might now know the significance of communication skills.
If kids possess social skills, they will easily interact with a lot of people. As their interaction increases, their communication skills will develop. They might start speaking different languages or grow a command over a local language. It will help them in the future. They will understand when to react and how to react in different situations. It will also give them a lead in the interviews.
Built Self Esteem
If there is a dance competition and there are two candidates. The one with good singing but low confidence and the other with average dancing skills but possess self-confidence. Which candidate has a better chance to win? Yes, the latter one. Maybe the former is a better dancer. But with low self-esteem, he might not give his best. On the other hand, the latter will take over the stage with confidence.
If your kid meets people, they will soon grow confident. Initially, they might face challenges but they will overcome them. Also, if they possess social skills, they will know that their behaviour is well. All these things will boost their self-esteem.
It Boosts Learning
If there is a workshop going on and there is a group of students. Among them, few students possess good social skills. They are asking questions, speaking nicely, and communicating well. On the other hand, some students are shy. Which group do you think will learn more in the workshop? Yes, the first one.
If your kid possesses good social skills, he/she will easily make a good peer group. They all can share ideas. They will visit each other’s houses and learn about different cultures. In groups, they can go to a camp. They will learn a lot of things. It will also help them to explore the world more.
These are some of the reasons to focus on children’s personal and social development. You can do so through a list of social development activities for children. Even if you do not want them to go outside, online children learning will grow their social skills. Through the subsequent section, you will know some of these activities.
Also Read: Is School Enough for Kid’s Holistic Development? Check out the Better Learning Ways Here
Social Development Activities for Children
There are some simple yet fun activities to include in kids learning. It will ensure social development among kids. Some of these activities are:
Make an Eye Contact
The activity is as simple as it sounds. The process includes:
- Arrange two tables horizontally facing each other.
- Sit on one chair and ask your kid to sit on the other one. Make eye contact as long as possible.
Most people play this game in their childhood without understanding its benefits. When you make eye contact with someone, you should look confident and attractive. It will improve your interaction. This game built up that skill.
If your kid looks angry instead of approaching while making eye contact, ask them to soften their face. You can also add a sticker of an eye anywhere on your forehead and ask them to look at it. Since it will look fun, your kids will look at it with a happy and fun face. With these activities, they will become excellent eye-catchers.
Online Children Learning
Sometimes, your kids cannot go outside. Like in present times, everyone is locked in their house. Your kids are neither going to schools nor parks or playgrounds. In such situations, their human interaction is almost zero. So, what can you do? How can you ensure social development? The solution is online children learning.
There are many online platforms like The Real School Of Montessori. They provide various courses like robotics, communication, etc. It will help your kids to interact with other kids of the same interest and age groups. They can also take boot camps. It will help them to enjoy their vacations while learning and interacting with a wide range of people.
Play an Emotion Charades
You might have played a charades game in which you guess a movie title or a song. It is a similar game but with a twist. The steps are simple. They are:
- Make chits with a list of emotions like loving, sad, happy, jealous, angry, overwhelming, excited, etc.
- Then let your kid pick up a chit and see the emotion written on it. Then act accordingly.
- You will try to guess.
You can exchange places. In this way, they will learn about various emotions. They will receive that different actions show different emotions.
Also Read: What are Fine Motor Skills in Child Development? Examples of Motor Skill Activities for Kids
Conclusion
In early times, people used to live in joint families. Kids get to interact with people all the time. It helped them with their social skills. But now, people live in a nuclear family. Thus, outer support is necessary to ensure children’s personal and social development. Their way of living will help them in any field they pursue in the future. It will make their life better.
