Many adults are not aware of the very active social lives that their children lead; even children under the age of 5. Right off the bat, you might think that your young child does not yet have a social life. In reality though, even if your child spends the majority of their time right by your side, they interact directly or indirectly with everyone you interact with and more.
Young children under the age of 5 are in a stage of life where they need to be nurtured by their parents, guided and taught about the world around them. They have minimal independence and are generally always supervised by an adult. Even so, it is a stage of their lives when huge amounts of personality development and emotional development take place. This development will affect their young social lives and, surprisingly to most, a lot of the social interaction that they will engage in for the remainder of their lives.
One of the things that always makes me chuckle is when I am in the supermarket or out and about and I see a young mother with her child. The mother is often busy multi tasking, picking up items, calculating prices and soothing her young child all at the same time, while the child is engaging with the people around them. Sometimes the child makes eye contact, some times an adult waves to the child or makes face. Usually the mother is completely unaware that her child is engaging in social interaction. Some babies smile at every passing person, undoubtedly developing the charm that will open many doors for them in later life.
Aside from all of the incidental ways that your child engages in social interaction, it is important to purposely set up opportunities for your child to socialize and interact with other children their age. This gives them healthy opportunities to begin to develop socially. Households with many children can be ideal for providing natural opportunities for children to interact socially however today’s typical household contains just one or two children.
Taking young children to the local park to play while you watch and supervise is a great way to introduce them to playing with other children. Organizing play dates with other children their age is great, as is enrolling them in some type of activity for toddlers at the local library. Look around your community for activities that are safe, social and stimulating for your child and begin to purposefully involve your child in these activities for their social development.
It is very important as a parent to ensure that the activities that you enroll your child in are safe activities. Do not be afraid to ask questions about safety issues if you do have concerns as you are your child’s only advocate. Be sure that the activities that you involve your child in are age appropriate. Anything aimed at children much younger than your child will bore them and anything aimed at children much older will frustrate them.
It is important that all children learn how to socialize and engage with other children as early as possible in their development. The fact is, many of the social skills that they learn as a young child will last them throughout their entire lifespan.
Author Resource:
Susan Roberts is a freelance writer born, raised and educated in the UK, with many years experience working with teens and families. She has worked with a number of companies in the past, and currently works with KS Child Locate http://www.kschildlocate.co.uk/ .
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