What’s the best way of teaching social skills to children? As a responsible adult your little one thrives on the one to one interaction with you, so your role in helping them develop proper social skills from an early age is second to none. But, spare a thought on the impact that toys have on your child’s social personality.
Choosing the right types of toys can excel the social development of your child and really build their confidence as they grow. Want to know what the right types of toys are? Check out this selection below.
Building Blocks and Construction Toys
Don’t be fooled into thinking that building blocks and construction toys are just for developing your child’s intellectual and motor skills; they actually work pretty well for developing social skills in children. How so? Well they encourage your kids to share their toys with others as well engage in conversations about what to build and how to build it.
Get your kids to build things with other people and point out how much faster they created that awesome tower or building with the help of another person. This way, your child will learn why it’s so cool to share as well as the importance of teamwork.
Board Games
Board games are great from teaching social skills to children because there is no option to play solo. They have to play with at least one other person, maybe even up to four or more depending on the game.
By actively encouraging your children to play board games with their friends or family members, they’ll learn to interact with others, even if they are competing against them. They’ll learn how to wait their turn, play fair and lose graciously. They may even learn how to express empathy as they commiserate the losers.
Pretend Toys
Any toy that offers an element of pretend play, is just awesome for teaching social skills to children. Dolls and pretend play accessories such as kitchen sets, medical dress up kits and so on are great toys that get children role playing reality with others.
Unlike board games, pretend play can be a solo activity for your child, but for the most part kids will realize it’s way more fun to get others involved in their world as they play. Children will not only learn to share their toys, but they’ll learn to co-operate with others and express their ideas verbally.
Sports-based Toys
As with board games, sporty toys usually have to be played with at least another person. Getting your child some plastic rackets and a tennis ball to play a game with a neighbor or sibling is an excellent way to get them moving and socializing at the same time. Of course, you can choose from a variety of other sports toys that also promote teamwork, such as basketball, soccer and hockey play sets.
Teaching social skills to children is extremely important for now and the future. You want your children to be able to handle themselves confidently when they grow up. Learning the right skills from an early age will certainly set them on the right path.
