How to teach your child to make friends

Life in childhood and adolescence is based on family life and also on friendships. Children need to have friends (even if they are few but of quality), to train as a person and to better develop social skills. Parents should ensure that their children learn to make friends as this will help them to be successful in life.

Strong friendships are also important to children’s self-esteem and their sense of belonging. If you don’t know how to help them, don’t miss out on the following tips.

ENROLL YOUR CHILDREN IN AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

Extracurricular activities are a great opportunity for children to make friends outside of the school classroom. You can help your child discover his strengths and interests and help him choose the right place to learn new social skills. Regardless of what your child likes, chances are there are opportunities to teach social skills in your area and to bond with other people. 

They can be sports activities, intellectual or artistic activities, groups of children to perform multisport … Choose what suits your child’s interests. Make sure to ask him what he would like to accomplish first. If you are not clear about it or it is too small to decide , you can by observing what could give you the most satisfaction

ORGANIZED ACTIVITIES

Organized activities help teach how to make friends. Your child will benefit from teaching social skills inherent in social interaction outside of the school environment . Even the shyest children can be taught social skills through interaction with others through different types of activities. 

MAKE FRIENDS IN A FEW EASY STEPS

Encourage your child to make friends by following a few small steps, even if social skills are not easy for him / her because he is uncomfortable talking to others. Help your child work on these social skills by setting small goals.

Ask your child to smile and greet a new child each day. This is often enough to take the pressure off and start some conversations that contribute to relationships.

TO MAKE FRIENDS YOU HAVE TO PRACTICE

Teach social skills by rehearsing social situations in advance. Role playing is a good option by meeting a new person and interacting. You can take turns greeting and engaging in conversation. Enchant your child with the art of making others talk about themselves.  Help him see that by doing this, he can learn about his peers and find common interests. 

Children can use polite and polite questions to encourage children to speak up and break the ice. Focusing on others will also help your child feel less self-conscious. Likewise, your child will need to learn how to choose good friends to develop healthy relationships.

SCHEDULE FUN TIME

Scheduling fun time is a good way for your child to enhance their social skills and make making friends a priority for them. You can create a circle of friends by encouraging playtime with neighborhood children or children other than those from school.

Invest time in some quality snacks and moments, and you will cultivate the friendships that can remain with your child throughout school, maybe even for life. Friends from the same class at school can provide important social and emotional support, not to mention the occasional help that a good friendship provides at different times in school life.

Your children may have friends and if they have a hard time finding them, then you will be the one in charge of helping them find ways to develop their social skills well.