Your kiddo needs someone to set an example and show him/her what good social skills looks like. To make your kiddo more socially adept, practise the following things and actively engage in improving their behavior. Here’s some tips on how to improve social skills in toddlers. Your children are never too young to learn social skills. And if they don’t, their behavior can soon develop into negative patterns and actions that are not conducive to their development. There’s a common misconception that social skills emerge naturally in children, as you place them in social settings. While that is true to a certain extent, early childhood interaction emerges with conversations between parents and their loved ones and forms the basis for their interaction with peers in the future.
Importance Of Social Skills In Toddlers
While it’s too soon for toddlers to understand advanced mannerisms, it’s never too late to instill a basic sense of social skills in your toddlers. As kids grow up fast at this stage, soon they’re going to need a handy set of social skills to learn and perform around others their age. It’s important as a parent to embody certain social behaviours that you would like to see in your child.
Model Social Behaviors
Children learn by observation, so it’s key that as a parent, you model positive social behaviors for your child. This includes practicing empathy and active listening. Show them what good listening looks like through your own behavior. Let your child see you using good manners, saying “please” and “thank you”. It is possible that your child will soon begin imitating your actions, which makes it so important to set a positive example. Children look towards their parents to be role-models, and watching positive social behaviors is crucial to their success in the future. One way to understand the importance of social skills in toddlers is to watch how they learn and observe, and pick up cues from the people in their surroundings.
Teach them Sharing and Taking turns
Model appropriate social behaviors by displaying actions such as sharing, and taking turns. It’s crucial that your kid learns to share toys, and it’s even more important that you praise them when they do it. This positive reinforcement will encourage them to repeat such actions when they’re interacting with their peers in preschool. Set your kids up for success in the future by regularly practicing these actions. These small steps make it easier to learn how to improve social skills in toddlers.
Teach them Basics of Communication
One of the best ways to practice positive social skills is to teach them the basics of communication. When you’re learning how to improve social skills in toddlers, eye contact is one of the best ways to practice communication. Not only is it a bonding experience between the parent and the child, practicing eye contact helps establish a connection with the other person. Sometimes our eyes can say more than words can express. While verbal interaction can feel overwhelming, making eye contact can be the first steps towards establishing a positive space for communication.
Arrange Playdates and Group Activities
Give your toddler a chance to engage and converse with other tiny tots their own age! Arrange playdates at the park with other kids and watch your child flourish as he/she interacts with other kids. Give your toddler an opportunity to engage with peers their age in a fun, structured environment. Whether it’s joining a sports team, or attending a hobby class, your child will surely learn about how to be social and communicate with their peers.
Role-Play
Role play helps children learn more about the world around them. Practise talking through puppets, and storytelling. Roleplay is how they learn to navigate the world around them. Between the age of 18 to 24 months, kids start learning pretend play skills. They might enjoy pretending to be a doctor, or a carpenter who fixes things. This gives them a grasp over the reality that exists outside of their little world. These are some of the best activities to learn social skills. Understanding how to improve social skills in toddlers is one of the ways to practice positive parenting with your toddler. Take time to get down on the floor and play with your child, and you’ll understand the importance of social skills in your toddler.
Enroll them into a Mom&I Program
A Mom&I program can be a starting point for your child’s learning development.This program offers a fun and exciting environment for your child to learn and grow into individuals. Not only that, the opportunity to interact with other toddlers gives your little one a chance to shape and hone their social skills. It’ll teach the importance of social skills in toddlers. A structured environment such as ours encourages cooperative play with other toddlers and helps them in teamwork.
The brainchild of our Director of Mother’s Pride, Ms.Sheena Gupta, at Mom & I, we help mothers engage with their children and watch them develop social skills through interactive play and group activities, fostering a deeper connection between mother and child.
The brainchild of our Director of Mother’s Pride, Ms. Sheena Singh Gupta, at Mom & I, we help mothers engage with their children and watch them develop social skills through interactive play and group activities, fostering a deeper connection between mother and child.
