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5 Important Types Of Social Skills For Kids

What Are Social Skills

Social skills are learned socially acceptable behavior, allowing children to interact with others positively and avoid negative responses​1​.

Social skills are a combination of verbal and nonverbal behaviors appropriate for initiating and responding to a situation. They allow an individual to communicate with others while avoiding negative responses effectively​2​.

Social skills generally emerge in early childhood. They encompass empathy, communication, generosity, team work, helpfulness, conflict resolution, and problem solving.

four kids hug

Why are social skills for kids important

Social skills are among the critical skills in life needed in child development. They are vital in forming healthy relationships and functioning within society​3​.

Research shows that prosocial skills are positively linked to children’s peer acceptance, school adaptation, and academic achievement. They also contribute to a child’s intellectual, behavioral, selfand social-emotional development​4​.

Children who are cooperative, helpful, empathic, friendly, sharing, and emotionally healthy are more likely to make friends​5,6​.

Having friends to count on when you need them is essential. Healthy friendships are correlated with less delinquency during adolescence​7​. Some childhood friendships can last for a lifetime.

Having difficulties with social skills can come from a variety of reasons, like not knowing how to act in social situations, not having enough opportunities to practice, not getting enough feedback, not being able to understand the cues others are sending, or not getting enough positive reinforcement for doing the right thing. Problematic behavior can make it harder for a child to learn and show prosocial behavior.

Kids who struggle to make friends or interact with peers are more likely to have emotional and social problems and poor academic performance.

Lack of social skills contributes to psychological stress, maladjustment problems, social isolation, and reduced self-esteem, which can greatly affect the quality of life in terms of mental and physical health​8​.

In adulthood, social skills deficit is associated with low social competence, involving crime, social anxiety, depression, and unemployment​9​.

5 Types of social skills for kids

Psychologists have identified five types of social skills that can facilitate interactions with others​10​

Cooperation

Cooperation includes helping others, sharing toys, following rules, etc. It enables children to work together in a team, take turns, and problem-solve to achieve a common goal.

Teamwork is the cornerstone of cooperation, teaching children the value of working with others and understanding that their efforts are more powerful when combined.

Taking turns is also an important part of cooperating, as it allows children to practice being patient and showing respect while ensuring everyone can participate.

Good conversation skills, like using the right tone of voice, making eye contact, showing appropriate facial expression, and using proper body language, helps to get others to work with you.

Cooperation skills can help kids build relationships and interact more effectively with those around them.

Assertion

Assertion involves the ability to ask for information, respond to peer pressure, and be confident to express one’s opinions and feelings in an appropriate way.

For example, young children may have difficulty asserting themselves if others in the playground pick on them. Being able to stand up for themselves without resorting to physical aggression while being respectful and having self control is important in social interaction.

Responsibility

Responsibility is taking care of others or their properties. It is a social skill that requires one to think about their actions and the consequences to make good judgments.

Moral and critical thinking are both necessary to do that. Moral thinking helps a child distinguish between right and wrong ideas. Critical thinking skills allow them to analyze situations from different perspectives before making decisions that can affect others or the community.

Empathy

Empathy is a key social skill for children to develop to better interact with those around them. It is the ability to understand, share the feelings of another person, and show concern for others. It requires active listening skills, a positive attitude, and healthy communication.

Emotional skills

Not being able to control one’s emotions makes it hard to be cooperative, assertive, or empathic. Emotion regulation skills are essential to handling interpersonal conflicts, teasing, and corrective feedback without losing emotional stability.

How to teach children social skills

Social skills are acquired through learning processes, including observation, modeling, imitation, testing, and receiving feedback​11​.

Parents, being the primary role models, play essential roles in a child’s socialization experiences.

Children begin learning social skills at home through interactions with their parents, through the quality of their relationship, as well as through parental modeling​12​.

When your child struggles to make friends, it can be heartbreaking.

Here are what parents can do to help children develop their social skills.

Warm and responsive parenting style

Studies have indicated a link between parenting quality and children’s social development.

Children with consistently warm and responsive parents in early childhood are more likely to learn appropriate norms of behavior​13​.

Responsive parents model showing kindness and empathy for others. Thus, these children tend to be more cooperative and empathic​14​.

This parenting style is also associated with better emotional control in children. Children have better self-control and can stay calm when handling difficult social situations.

Inductive discipline

Inductive parenting is using reasoning to teach children manners and prosocial behavior. Children internalize social rules and moral values. They develop critical thinking skills and learn to tell right from wrong​15​.

Children with more critical thinking skills are more capable of assertively resisting peer pressure and setting personal boundaries against inappropriate behaviors​16​.

Coaching

Set aside regular discussion time to coach children by giving them instructions on skills.

Teaching children general principles of social interaction will help them to behave acceptably in a variety of social situations​17​.

Coaching requires going over hypothetical or past scenarios and teaching children new ways of handling them differently for positive outcomes. Use role-play to practice and refine responses.

This may be a less effective tool for children younger than seven because they may struggle to apply it to other situations​18​. But older children can generalize their own social scripts to their own needs, making them more effective.

Let them play together

Play is a primary activity for kids, especially young children. It is a key factor in promoting learning and social development.

Pretend play, in particular, has been found to enhance children’s social skills​19​. It gives children lots of practice in their communication skills. These group activities also provide opportunities for conversations and reciprocity.

Children in make-believe play create imaginary situations, act out roles, and follow social rules based on their roles.

Most of the roles children play are those of adults (parents, doctors, drivers, chefs, and others) who engage in behaviors that are socially desirable. When children imitate these behaviors in play, they practice turn-taking, planning, self-monitoring, and self-reflecting, all vital to prosocial behavior​20​.

Reinforcement

When children practice their social skills, receiving feedback regarding their success or room for improvement can help them improve.

Parents can use positive feedback as a reinforcement for positive social behavior​21​. Praise your child for sharing a toy with their friend, showing flexibility in games, or performing other prosocial acts. Also show your child plenty of positive attention in correcting antisocial behavior.

References

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    Li J, Hestenes LL, Wang YC. Links Between Preschool Children’s Social Skills and Observed Pretend Play in Outdoor Childcare Environments. Early Childhood Educ J. Published online October 9, 2014:61-68. doi:10.1007/s10643-014-0673-2
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    Bodrova E, Leong DJ. Vygotskian and Post-Vygotskian Views on Children’s Play. American Journal of Play. 2015;7(3):371-388.
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