One of the areas that is essential to train in children and that is often not taken into account enough is the social area. It is necessary to teach children good social skills from an early age, which over time will help them to establish more positive interpersonal relationships and learn to know how to carry and even enjoy living with others people. Among the areas that we have to develop and empower in the child are the empathy and assertiveness which are fundamental questions for its development.
There are many ways that we can help children improve their social skills and even one of them is important and that in Sometimes we forget it is through example since the vast majority of their learning is developed through observation and imitation of behaviors. In this Psychology-Online article, we are going to let you know how to improve social skills in children giving you a series of tools so that you can undoubtedly achieve it.
In order to improve social skills in children you can also help yourself with some
Positive phrases
This exercise is used to promote empathy and the practice of values such as respect and personal recognition. To carry it out, the children are asked to form a circle and pass a plastic ball to each other. The music is turned on and the ball is passed, taking into account that as soon as it stops, whoever has stay with the ball at that moment must choose a partner and make a compliment or phrase positive.
Empty nest
This type of exercise is used so that the child learns to solve team problems in a peaceful and fun way and at the same time favor the relationship with her peers. To carry it out, children are asked in pairs to hold hands and with outstretched arms, make a space where a partner can enter in the middle. Trios are first made where everyone has a partner in the middle of the "nest" and then they are asked to change nests or to form different pairs to form a new nest.
Team drawings
Teams of 4 or 5 children are formed and each team is given sheets of paper and a pencil. Rows are formed and in front about 2 meters from each row the paper is placed. The teacher indicates a topic about which they should draw a picture, such as a family or a house, so the children run to do the drawing. first drawing, later when the teacher yells at them: "now", they should leave it there and run to give the pencil to the next classmate and so on successively. In the end, among all the teams, choose the drawing that you liked the most, regardless of whether it was your team's.
Musical hugs
This is an exercise widely used in the classroom to promote a more and better interaction between children. To carry out this exercise, it is only necessary to have a speaker where you can hear music and an adequate space that is clear enough for children to interact without any trouble. The steps to follow are those:
- Children are placed in a not very small space where they can dance to the rhythm of the music.
- It is explained to them that the objective of the game is for them to start dancing as soon as the music plays and when it goes off they have to quickly hug the first partner they find nearby. Making it clear that no partner should be left without being hugged.
- Before the music begins, it is indicated how many people have to be hugged, starting first with 2, then 3, until finally a group hug is formed. The music starts and stops at any time waiting for all the children to hug each other and so on.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
