As per me, a simple way to develop social competence and a foundation to build positive relationships – kids can learn it all.
A positive social environment is necessary for our children to grow in life, and that requires practice and learning from first-hand experiences.
Teamwork and developing new perspectives can be easily developed by indulging our kids in social skill activities.
Let me take you through the social skills activities now.
Interesting Social Skills Activities for Your Kids
Social skill activities will have a direct impact on kids’ socio-economic development and interpersonal skills. The early years of our kids require nurturing and love. A healthy childhood will help them throughout their lives.
In the following blog post, I will walk you through a list of fun and entertaining social skill activities👇.
Board Games
Board games 🎲 are a fun activity that requires teamwork, adjustment, and cooperation.
They provide a rich opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends. It has personally helped my kids in establishing a friend group.
Volunteering
Community volunteering 😇 will help kids develop a good network within society. Interaction with multiple groups of people will develop their confidence. They will come across multiple opportunities.
Volunteering will let them experience a fun and happy environment. I have done a lot of volunteering with my own son to teach him better.
Scavenger Hunts
Solving puzzles and riddles can be a good mental activity for your kids. Multiple groups can be involved to solve riddles.
This will help develop their cooperation skills and provide a great opportunity for interaction.
Word of Caution:
Organizing these hunts can be a difficult task with kids around. Make sure to deal with them patiently and politely. Give them motivation while they are on these hunts.
Role Play
I believe that demonstration and visuals can inculcate social skills in our kids. As a parent, it is important to provide guidance and support during the role play 🎭.
Role play can be divided into multiple sessions to teach them right.
Staring Contest
Making eye 👀 contact is an important social skill. Kids learning it at a young age should be treated first and foremost.
You can encourage conversations around them and make sure that these conversations are about them.
Treasure Hunt
Treasure hunts 🔎 are a fun activity for your kids that also requires critical and creative thinking. It will teach your kids how to solve problems on their own.
They will work in teams and also learn teamwork at the same time.
PRO TIP:
You can write the clues on small pieces of paper and scatter them around the house or paste them around the walls. This will give your kids easy hints to make the game easy and interesting.
Storytelling
Storytelling 🗣️ is an interactive activity that will help your kids boost their confidence and interpersonal skills. It will also be a lesson to learn communication skills and experience public speaking.
I recommend you give them the opportunity to narrate stories.
PRO TIP:
I often recite tales of my own childhood so that my son can get a realistic view of the stories. It fills him with excitement and adventure.
FUN FACT:
Dressing up your kids as characters and using colorful props🧣 can make the storytelling more interesting, entertaining, and fun. Physical actions should also be encouraged in the story narration.
Building Blocks
Legos and building block sets are easily available in the market for kids. You can give them new problems and challenges to test their patience and problem-solving skills. This activity can promote creativity and cooperation among your kids.
I often buy them for my daughter from the nearby local market.
Guess the Emotion
Acting out emotions 😃 and learning about different emotions can develop emotional intelligence in kids.
Teams can be made amongst different groups of kids under adult supervision.
PRO TIP:
You can cut out small emojis using colored paper to make the game more interesting and fun for your kids.
Taking Turns Games
This game can be started with preschoolers. I often used this game with my own son to involve him with other kids.
A toy 🧸 can be kept to pass it down among the other kids. It helps in developing good manners.
Keynote:
I urge you to support your kids during the game and even after the game ends. Even if they fail, be there to tell them that it is okay to fail and that they have your constant support.
Group Play
To add the fun quotient to the lives of my own son, I allowed him to play with other kids in huge groups 👭🏽👬🏽.
This fun activity taught him cooperation and also developed his communication skills. He is no longer shy and hesitant to speak their minds.
Debating
Healthy discussions among kids and teenagers should be given first priority.
Mock debates 🏆 are often organized at my own home. This activity has led them to interact with each other without fear.
Roll the Ball
Roll ball ⚽️ games can be played among toddlers, and this will help them in building their social skills.
Every kid will wait for their own turn to come, and this will teach them patience and cooperation.
Mimicking Games
It’s a game as interesting as it sounds. The social skills that I taught my own son were taught by mimicking them in front of him.
A wide variety of expressions 😃 must be used in the enactment. Your kids will become good at understanding facial expressions and what they often convey.
Topic Game
Topic games inculcate the skill of sticking to one topic and carefully following directions.
This activity got my son to use his creativity to fit different words under one category.
Step into Conversation
This card game is often played with autistic kids. It is a game that is quite structured with various social skill activities. This game will teach your kids how to carry out meaningful conversations 💬 with others.
This game taught my own son the social skill of self-control.
Name Game
This is a game to sharpen your kids’ memorization 🧠 skills. It will teach them to pay positive attention to the people around them.
A foundation to develop meaningful bonds and friendships. It starts with tossing a ball when someone calls out their name specifically.
Rhythm Games
I often played this game with my son to help him recognize patterns and follow directions without getting confused.
The rhythms of music 🎶 have helped them in developing social skills.
Play Pretend
A scenario is created for kids where they pretend to act 🎭 like someone else and play amongst themselves.
This scenario helps them understand the different roles and responsibilities that come along with playing these roles.
It has taught my son to respect different emotions and adapt themselves to different situations.
Decision-Making Games
I believe that kids must be taught how to make a decision 🤔 according to different situations. This game comes with multiple strategies and forms.
Activities like matching and sorting are involved to teach kids cooperation and perseverance.
Community Gardening
Community gardening is a fun and productive activity that your kids can do and watch plants and flowers grow with their care and nurturing.
Duties and responsibilities must not be neglected. I taught my son the skill of gardening so that he could understand the value of nurturing a living thing. It is also a fun hobby for my son. 🏡
Team Sports
Organizing recreational activities around your kids will inculcate the value of team spirit.
Team sports 🏏 are a fun activity that can be organized in your backyard among family and friends.
Conclusion
A child’s social skills can often be improved during the early years of life. Social skill activities are fun, entertaining, and informative.
Multiple programs have been developed where you can easily enroll your kids, or you can just read this blog to find out different activities for your kids. Good behavior and an influential personality will help them grow as a person.
All the above-listed activities are well-tried and tested with my son. Interaction and playing are important parts of your children’s childhood, so let them cherish them.
Please let me know in the comments if you have anything more to share or if you have any doubts for me to answer! 😁
I’m a former teacher (and mother of Two Childs) with a background in child development. Here to help you with play-based learning activities for kids. ( Check my Next startup Cledemy.Com)