Since school got cut short for everyone, a lot of parents are worried about their children’s development. It’s not as much of a concern for those in high school and beyond, but for the younger generation, missing out on school means missing out on key developmental moments. Though that’s a reasonable concern, there are ways to improve your children’s social skills and help them develop. Check out a few of our favorite ways and keep your children on a decent track!
Make Outdoor Time a Priority
If you ask any younger child about their favorite time of day during school, they’ll probably say recess. Children love to spend time outside, especially if it’s not forced and they get to roam and play. Sure, a lot of kids like video games, but the more parents encourage outdoor time the sooner kids will choose outside over games. They might not feel comfortable at first; however, that’s where you help them come up with different games and activities. Show them the world that’s waiting right outside.
As a parent, it’s important to understand the reasons why kids need outdoor time. It helps them develop physically, but it’s also essential to enhancing their social skills. Even though they can’t be at the playground with all of their friends, they’re still learning how to play, and that’s a big piece of solid social skills.
Foster Emotional Intelligence
Even adults can strive to be more emotionally intelligent, but when you work with kids on this at an early age, they’ll get it fast. Working with emotional intelligence is one of our favorite ways to improve children’s social skills. It’s almost like learning a language—kids pick those up quicker, too. Emotions are a language, and if you can help your child understand how to process their own emotions and understand others, then that’s a massive step in the right social direction.
Empathy goes a very long way, but that means helping kids understand where different emotions may stem from. Is their anger truly anger, or is it sadness? Questions like that can help your kids understand how their emotions work, ultimately helping them understand how other’s emotions work.
Encourage Error
This last one is going to sound strange, but it’s important for kids to understand. Perfectionism is something a lot of people struggle with—yes, struggle. They struggle because it puts a load on their shoulders to never make mistakes. However, mistakes and errors are essential parts of life. The sooner we can help kids understand that while teaching them problem-solving skills and even acceptance, the more we can help their mental health and social skills. They’ll learn how to apologize to their friends when they say something wrong. They’ll also cling less to perfectionism in everything and more to friendships and freedom in mistakes. Errors are okay—the sooner they know that, the better.
