Games that Promote Social Development in Kids
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Watch your children grow into individuals with terrific social skills with the help of fun indoor and outdoor games. Besides promoting interpersonal skills, social skills help improve vocabulary, physical and social development in children. These games can be played at home and at school as well.
Children get influenced easily, as in what they’re exposed to affects the way they think and behave. Inculcating good social skills from a young age can help them learn to deal with various people and situations. It can even help them perform better academically. Enlisted are a few games, with the help of which you can get your little one overcome the general shyness and social anxiety, and turn into a social butterfly who is comfortable in her own skin and ready to take on the world.
Games that bring about Social Development in Children
1. Board Games
Most board games require the participation of two or more people. This encourages communication and instills competitiveness. There are many board games to choose from, but snakes and ladders and Ludo are a couple of top picks. They’re fairly easy to play yet are a little challenging for kids, while being a lot of fun. You can introduce slightly older children to games like Chinese checkers, word games, and monopoly. Besides helping improve social development in middle childhood, they enhance vocabulary and build logic skills too, which will come in handy as they grow older.
2. Tag
Who among us hasn’t played tag as a kid? The thrill of chasing and being chased is enough to get any child excited. Since tag requires a group of people to play, children soon learn to communicate their thoughts and intentions to each other. It also teaches them the importance of teamwork when running away from the ‘catcher’. What’s terrific about tag is that it can be played anywhere, even indoors. Just make sure there aren’t any obstacles that could hurt them. All that running provides the perfect outlet for excess energy that most children have in spades!
3. Role-playing
Having children play the part of different characters can boost social development. Make it a fun experience by getting hats, masks and clothes to get them in the mood. Create a list of characters and who should play them. Include as much dialogue as possible so that the children are made to interact with each other. One child could be the grocer, another a customer, and so on. You can even give groups of two or three children small tasks to do. For instance, one group could take care of painting the masks while another group could create a couple of props. This is a good way to help develop communication skills in them.
Children are eager to learn and with the right stimulation they can grow into all-round individuals. Use the games given above to get your children to develop their social skills. Come up with more fun ideas that will encourage them to interact and communicate with each other and do share a few with us.
