Tips To Build Social Skills In Your Young Child

Building social skills in your young child is very important and this can easily be done when young as they are just like a blackboard that you can write with any chalk. Children are innocent and we as parents need to teach and guide them regarding social skills especially good manners so they become good people in future.

Few tips regarding building of social skills in young children: 

 
You could start early by giving your young child of 2 or 3 years small chores to do; it could be as small as asking him/her to put back the toys after he/she played with them or clear the mess after play. These small chores will teach the child how to obey and follow instructions that could go a long way to build self-esteem and confidence in the child. He/she also learns that it is good to help out others.

Reward your child with positive praises when he/she does something good that needs appreciation; avoid negative comments and try to encourage the child to do positive things even when the child does something wrong. Praising the child with words like “good” or “brilliant” makes the child feel appreciated and acknowledged. When a child fails in something it is the moral responsibility of parents to just encourage them that they can do better next time.

Encourage good habits in your children; encourage them to say thank you when someone gives them something or does something for them and to say “sorry” or “I am sorry” when they have done or said something wrong. We as parents need to be a role model in teaching these good manners to our children; we need to practice them so they imitate those same manners. When we establish a connection between an apology and the reason they are apologizing we are able to build empathy in them that is vital for good communication and interaction. It is best to say, "Do you see how sad you made your friend feel?" instead of just "Say sorry."

Try to maintain open communication with your children by encouraging them to talk to you and talking to them yourself. Encourage them to talk freely to you about everything and to confide their feelings to you. Create a strong feeling in them that you respect their words, so they will express themselves freely and also come out with their frustrations. This will aid you when you need to understand your children even as adults.

Lastly your child needs to learn how to mix with peer group; encourage your child to play with other children. Mixing up with others will soon help your child to overcome the anxiety and nervousness of mixing with people. Allow your child to mix in small groups before they switch on to larger ones. Playing with other children will also help your child to learn to share things among friends and how good it is to share one’s things with others.

These are but some of the tips to build social skills in your young child.