Children's Social Skills

This site highlights strategies for teaching adolescent and children social Skills.  Social skills activities like greeting someone when you see them, saying goodbye, and responding when someone talks to you, are examples of more basic social skills training. These more concrete social development skills are somewhat easier to demonstrate and therefore teach children social skill activities. They have a fixed precursor, such as when someone talks to you it is appropriate to reply. See more information on Children Social Skills Training.

Communication
Social Skills and
Perspective Taking

Higher level communication social skills require taking into consideration the point of view of another person and responding to it. Here's an example demonstrated by a 9-year old boy: The boy has a birthday party. He doesn't invite a friend who had invited him to his party. The boy has a playdate with the friend a few days after the party and tells him that he got a special toy for his birthday. When asked by the friend if he had a party, the boy replies no. In this situation, a social development skill known as a "white lie" was told to protect the feelings of a friend who was not invited. This involves taking into consideration the feelings of others. While we don't encourage children to lie, we appreciate the nuanced communication social skill demonstrated of trying to spare a friend from getting hurt. Children Social Skills and Play
 

Communication
Social Skills

Verbal and Nonverbal

Communication social skills may consist of direct verbal communication. That is, what people say to relate to one another. A more complex level of interaction involves nonverbal communication social skills. Nonverbal communication is what we say with our faces and bodies without using words. Nonverbal communication is very important in understanding meaning during social interaction.

Social Skills Training

There are a variety of methods for social skills training. Examples include:

Social Skills
Activities Groups

Social skills activities groups for children may be found through organizations in the community or schools. These groups may teach social skills such as how to establish and maintain friendships, understanding the feelings of others, dealing with bullies, etc. Groups that take place at school may require an IEP in order for the child to participate.

Visual  Social Skills Training

Video modeling is a visual method for children social skills training where the skill is demonstrated through video for the purpose of explaining it. What is helpful is to break down the social skills into smaller pieces and demonstrate each part individually. In addition, those with social deficits often like an explanation for why a particular social skill is necessary.

Other Children's Social Skills Resources

There are a number of useful books on teaching children social skills. A few are listed below:

Raise Your Child's Social IQ by Cathi Cohen

This book includes exercises that parents can do with their children to increase their social skills and awareness. Based on Cathi Cohen's social skills training groups, Raise Your Child's Social I.Q. provides the structure for working on social skills at home.

Let's Talk Emotions: Helping Children with Social Cognitive Deficits by Teresa Cardon

This is a collection of social skills activities for children ages 4-18. The focus is on having the child identify and respond to his own feelings and the feelings of others in order to improve the chances of establishing successful social relationships