Being Social – Activities For Kids

In school, children are faced with not only the task of learning, but also with the task of meeting new people.  Elementary school education is the launch pad for introducing children to the social world.  Some children, if more outgoing than others, find that being social is their forte.

Regardless of whether or not your child fares well in social situations, teachers and parents should encourage their children to meet other people.

However, meeting others is only the first step; being able to interact with others can prove to be more difficult. With that said, it is imperative that children are immersed in social activities when they are young.  Taking these early steps will ensure that children can be more comfortable around others as they continue to live their lives.

There are lots of social activities.  Here are some examples:

Sports

This is perhaps the best way of interacting socially.  Sports, especially team sports such as soccer or basketball, engage children to work with others.  Team sports are a concerted team effort, and somewhat forces children to have to be social with each other.  A game cannot be played effectively and well without the communication and interaction between team players.

Breaking the ice

Adults participate in this game in job situations as well.  This is another version of the name game or getting to know you.  On the first day of a class, a teacher can ask her students to go around the room and tell each other one fact about them.  Or they can go around, introduce themselves, and try to remember each other’s names.  After the activity is done, the teacher can ask that all the students sit down and reiterate what they learned about each other.

Name that quality

This is an activity that involves children to recognize others’ best traits.  Teachers can ask their students to sit in a circle.  Starting with one child, have him or her state one good personality trait about the person sitting to their left.  Then have that child say something nice about the next person and so on.

Secret pal

Similar to the holiday game of Secret Santa.  Over the duration of a week, a teacher can have his or her students draw names out of a hat.  The name that is chosen is their secret pal.  For every day of the week, that child will find a different present in their cubby hole.  On the final and last day of the week, the kids will have to guess who their secret pal is.  This really can be challenging for some because they have to really try to pinpoint who their secret pal is based on the presents that they’ve received.

Make them laugh

This activity can be a lot of fun.  Teachers will ask one of their students to stand and freeze like a statue.  The other kids will do everything in their power to try and make the statue kid laugh.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©hortongroup / freeimages.