Tools You can Use to Help Your Child Make Friends

One area that many parents worry about regarding their preschool-aged child is how well the child will make friends. This is important for the child’s immediate experience, but also it is important because it will impact how that child makes friends for the rest of their life. Some kids struggle though and here is some advice on how to help your child in pre-k in Franklin, TN, make friends and develop the social skills needed to make friends throughout life.

Home Coaching

There are a few reasons why a child might struggle with making friends. Even if they do not, making sure they have the basic social skills to talk to people and potentially engage in a friendship is important. One way of helping a child learn those skills is to give them some home coaching. Home coaching through role-playing is one very effective way of ensuring your child learns how to approach people, break the ice and maintain a conversation, even with strangers.

Some kids really struggle to meet new people and make friends. For those, home coaching can work as well. If your child is in that situation, one approach is to develop “social scripts” that highlight everyday conversations and appropriate interactions. Social scripts are especially important if your child struggles with basic social skills, such as establishing eye contact, interpreting non-verbal cues and recognizing and appreciating sarcasm.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Athletes practice particular actions or skills until they are almost automatic. This is so when they need those skills or actions in a game, their response is fluid and immediate, without thinking about them. The same principle applies to practicing to meet new people, interact with known people and/or make friends.

One way of practicing is having supervised playdates. In these, a teacher or parent monitors the interactions of the children involved and takes notes of any peculiar behavior or interactions.   

A supervised playdate also lets a teacher or parent see first hand what a child might be experiencing if they are complaining about how the other children or a child treats them. The adult supervising the playdate can not only document their observations, they can begin to implement strategies to address the issue or issues.

Supervised Playdates as Learning Moments

Another benefit to a supervised playdate is that they are a great way to help children develop the social skills they need. They provide an opportunity to go over with your child what it means to be a good host, how they will interact with other children, what games they want to play and why. It also provides a great way to assess if the child can interpret cues from others and evaluate whether the others are having a good time.

It is very important that your child learn basic social skills and make friends in preschool. As your child learns these skills in pre-k in Franklin, TN, these tools can help them get started!