Social and Emotional Skills - 2

10 guidelines that parents may follow for healthy social and emotional development of a child :

1) The earlier emotional education begins, the better.

2) Be a role model.

3) Look for small learning moments that occur in your child's daily life.

4) Get toys and books that encourage a child's emotional development.

5) Understand the reasons behind a child's emotional reaction, and react accordingly.

6) Observe situations from a child's viewpoint.

7) Keep the home environment pleasant, caring and loving.

8) Talk to your child about your culture and the society that you live.

9) Understand and support your child when she is upset and has negative emotions.

10) Explain the importance of sharing.

Activities to help develop social and emotional skills :

1) Sports

Team sports can be a brilliant option. It teaches children to work together to achieve common goals and practice sportsmanship.

2) Hobbies

Help your child socialize with other children who share common interests. This will keep her entertained, and also help her learn from other children. Hobbies like reading and writing or playing a musical instruments can become a reason to meet other like minded children.

3) Art and Craft activities

Art and craft activities help children boost their self-confidence as well as provides them with an channel for expressing their emotions. It promotes creativity and imagination, giving children the confidence to solve problems independently.

4) Board Games

Whether your children are playing with friends or family members, board games provide a great way for them to strengthen their social skills and have fun! While playing board games, make sure that children understand it's rules. Provide your children with any extra stationery that they might need, e.g., paper and pencil to keep score and then leave them alone to have fun! Your children will learn valuable lessons about taking turns, winning, losing and being a good sport.

5) Pretend Play

Teach social skills by playing role-play games of social situations eg. meeting a new people, offering tea / coffee etc. Teach your children the art of getting others to talk about themselves. Help them see that by doing this, they can learn about their friends and share common interests.

Take care and have a nice weekend.