How Parents Can Help Kids Improve Social Skills

Let’s face it. Not every child is born a social butterfly. There are many kids who are very shy not only in front of adults but also their peers. For whatever reason, they may not feel comfortable being outwardly talkative or outgoing. This doesn’t mean that they don’t have things they want to share. It just means they need some help in becoming more social. As a parent, there are things you can do to help them improve their social skills.

Help Them Make Eye Contact. One way to improve social skills is to help your kids make eye contact with whoever they are talking to. This can build the confidence they need to improve their social skills.

Teach Appropriate Responses. Kids say please and thank-you because they were taught to do so. It’s your job to teach them the appropriate responses to not only teach them to be polite but to also interact and be social with others.

Teach Empathy. When kids begin to understand other people’s feelings, they can learn to relate to them better and become more social. Ask them how they would feel in certain scenarios. Then, ask them how other people would feel to help teach them how to interact with others. By understanding other people’s feelings, they can improve their social skills. A big part of interacting with others is to understand how people are feeling.

Help Them Follow Their Interests. One of the best ways to help kids improve their social skills is to help them follow their interests. Once they show an interest in a particular sport, musical instrument or activity, help them follow it. This can be in the form of extracurricular activities. While their interests may get some nurturing within the school day, they will likely need more time if they really want them to flourish. As they take part in these activities, they will begin talking and interacting with other kids who have the same interests which will help improve their social skills.

If your child is interested in STEM subjects such as coding, robotics, and even Minecraft, MakerKids offers programs to help them grow their interest and improve their social skills at the same time. We offer afterschool programs for children in grades 1-8. Each program is age- appropriate as kids learn the different topics being taught and how to interact with other kids who share the same interests. They learn how to work with each other and share ideas as they build friendships. If you’re interested in learning more about MakerKids, check us out online or call us at 1-844-MAKERKIDS.