The first years of your little one's life are like a whirlwind for development: they learn how to walk and talk, and their inquisitiveness sends them exploring the world around them with wide-open eyes. However, there is usually less praise for an emerging yet very-needed skill during this period: social development. These skills are crucial for making friends, controlling feelings, and communicating effectively, paving the way for a happy and fulfilling life, both now and later on.
So, how can you help develop these critical social skills in your child? Here are a few tips and pointers including baby classes on nurturing your little one into a confident, socially outgoing butterfly:
Laying the Foundation: Communication is Key
From the day your baby is born before he can even speak, you can start laying the foundation for good communication. Talk to him often, describing what you're doing throughout the day. For example, when changing their diapers, you might say, "Now we are putting on your clean diaper. Does it feel nice and comfy?" This helps them understand the world and the social cues connected with daily routines.
Singing to them and reading stories that showcase social interactions are excellent ways of introducing them to different scenarios. You might point to characters in a book, asking, "How do you think the little doggy feels?" or "What will the little girl say next?" These exercises stimulate children's imagination about emotions and reactions in various situations.
Another crucial aspect of communication is teaching greetings and simple phrases. Start with "hello" and "goodbye" to familiar faces. As they grow, introduce "please" and "thank you", fostering good manners.
Playtime: A Social Learning Lab
Playtime is not all about fun and enjoyment; it is a very important social learning ground for toddlers. Here are some pointers on how to give playtime its due in rearing a well-rounded child.
Parallel Play Power:Â
Toddlers are much on the verge of parallel play, meaning they will often play with other children who are playing with the same type of toy at the same time but don't necessarily play with them. This is perfectly normal. Encourage this type of play by providing age-appropriate toys for your toddler and other children who might be around.
Conjunctive Play for Growth:Â
Introduce tasks of conjunctive play a bit later when your toddler grows up. The great ideas are to encourage interaction, turn-taking, and pushing a toy car or building blocks together.
Pretend Play: A Social Dress Rehearsal:Â
Through imaginative play, children can pretend to take part in a variety of scenarios that help them learn to share and work through issues. Model this type of pretend play with your toddler; role-play scenarios like 'sharing the toys,' 'taking turns as doctor and patient,' or even 'working out the conflicts.
Weaving Social Interaction into Daily Life
The playdates of limited value would be confined to some social skills. Those were put in front of your child in regular activities every day and brought lots of opportunities for him to learn social skills. These are included in everyday social learning:
Social Outings as Errands:Â
Use the chance of routine errands to make social outings. Take your toddler along while running some errands in the park, library, or grocery store. Encourage your child to say hello to people and guide your child on making simple greetings and comments about the things around them.
Arrange play dates with children who are of the same age:Â
Give them toys that are most suitable for their age and encourage the interaction of the two parties and sharing. Supervise their playing time, issuing guidelines if need be. However, allow your toddler space to navigate social situations on her own as well; this fosters independence.
Exploring Classes for Toddlers
Enrolling in a class with your toddler would be an excellent opportunity for her to spend time in an environment with some kind of structure around others and help her further develop her budding social skills.
Age Appropriate:
Find classes for toddlers that tout their own special curriculum for the littles, reflective of a toddler's stage.
Consider social interaction:
Try to choose groups in which there is social interaction and cooperative playtime. Examples include a music class story time session, or gym classes at a place which offers special activities for toddlers.
Conquering Common Challenges: Sharing and Emotional Regulation
As your little one becomes more social, you may hit a few snags. Here are solutions to two common problems:
Sharing: Step by Step:
Sharing is quite an abstract concept to be explained to a toddler. Don't expect him or her to share his favourite toy at the first behest of another child; rather, explain the idea of taking turns. Use a timer for short periods (exponentially increase the time) and allow each child in turn to play with the toy of their choice. Provide distractions where the problem is one of possession and celebrate times of sharing and cooperation with many loud noises and gestures of excessive enthusiasm.
The Art of Emotions:
A toddler is an emotional being; sometimes emotion controls the feeling, and therefore, it remains a trick for one to master. Help them show empathy and encourage regulation by talking freely about emotions and validating the same. Label the emotions by saying, for example: "I see you are frustrated because you cannot get that toy."
Use picture books and stories to explain various feelings and how characters express them. Last but not least, model appropriate ways of expressing emotions. Give them other alternatives to express their frustration, such as asking them to use the words or to take a deep breath, explaining rationally that this is not the behaviour that is acceptable of a small child.