Using Community Activities To Develop Your Child's Social Skills!

Social skills may be described as "abilities necessary to get along with others and to create and maintain satisfying relationships" (Kennedy-Moore, 2011).  These abilities may include verbal and non-verbal forms of communication such as using appropriate greetings, language, gestures, body posture, manners and other social conventions. 

Expectations of "appropriate" social skills may be influenced by local culture, location, presence of particular people, an event and even gender.  As adults, we may be familiar with visiting a foreign country and not understanding the social conventions expected in certain situations.  We may become frustrated with other adults who do not to follow social conventions which we deem as "expected" or "normal".

We expect children to develop social skills by watching adults model language and behavior, however this may be difficult for some children to learn.  Social skills involve the ability of a child to "see" (pick up social cues), "think" (interpret the behavior of others) and "do" (interact in a positive way) (Kennedy-Moore, 2011).  This level of insight usually develops as a child becomes more mature, however for some children it can be extremely difficult.  Some children will need explicit instruction about how to participate in social situations with both their peers and adults.

Teaching social skills to children is a gradual process that begins as early as a baby can say "ta" in exchange for something which is given to them.  Further social skills are developed through modelling,  providing opportunities for social interaction and teaching children words and behavior.  The National Association of School Psychologists (2002) suggest that learning social skills is made through incidental learning and normal activities, addressing environmental factors and individual factors which may affect your child (NASP Center, 2002)

In this article, I look at community activities to encourage your child's development of social skills.   Depending on your child's individual factors, you may teach these skills by modelling, role-play, use of social stories and/or direct instruction. 

These are some common community activities that you and your child might participate in.  There are many more which  in which I have not covered - Can you think of some of the frequent social community events you participate in (eg. playing in a sport's team, walking around the block, attending church, etc..) .  I have not included social skills in the playground (read this HERE) and read about social skills at school next month with the Functional Skills for Kids Blog Series!   

One place where children and adults can build social skills is with conversation at the dinner table ... whether that be at home or at a restaurant.  ​Sometimes both children and adults struggle with "dinner conversation".  There are some great printables at "Conversation Starters" and "Childhood 101" to help start your conversations.  

I have also developed a FREE PRINTABLE called "Would you choose...".  This is a pack of 29 "simple choices" to help start conversations.  They include would you choose snow or surf, cereal or toast, apple or pear... a quick response may lead to further discussion as you delve into "why" they chose this option.  It also provides an opportunity for adults to share about their experiences and preferences.  Download your copy HERE today! 

This article is part of “Functional Skills for Kids: 12 month series by Paediatric Occupational and Physical Therapists”. You can find lots of great tips and tricks to help your children with their participation in the community in the links below.  Make sure you bookmark this page so you can come back to read all the links!

Developmental Progression of Community Skills  | Your Therapy Source
How to Support Your Child’s Core Strength Development Every Day | Miss Jaime, O.T.
Attention and Behavior Concerns and Independence in the Community | Sugar Aunts
Modifications for Kids with Special Needs in the Community  | Growing Hands-On Kids
Calming Games and Activities for Outings  |  The Inspired Treehouse
Working on following Directions When Out  | Therapy Fun Zone
Using Community Activities to Develop Your Child’s Social Skills  |Your Kids OT

References:
Kennedy-Moore, E. (2011) What are Social Skills? Helping Children Be Comfortable and Competent in Social Situations. Psychology Today. Retrieved on 21/07/2016 at www.psychologytoday.com

National Association of School Psychologists (2002) Social Skills: Promoting Positive Behavior, Academic Success, and School Safety. Retrieved on 21/7/2016 at www.naspcenter.org

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