Everything You Need To Know About Making Friends In Preschool

Is your child starting preschool for the first time and you’re worried they aren’t making enough friends? Is your child not making friends as quickly as their older siblings did? Before we get into the details, let’s put your mind at ease. More than likely there is nothing to worry about and your child’s social skills will develop in due time. Keep reading to learn more about why you don’t have to worry, how you can help your child make friends, and some great places to go if you’re looking to introduce your child to more kids their age!

Should I Be Worried That My Child Doesn’t Have Enough Friends?

The short answer is most likely not! It’s important to remember that all children develop differently and at different speeds. What you consider to be lacking social skills could be attributed to slower development, a more reserved personality, or even expectations that are set too high. When looking at your preschooler it’s important to remember that their social life isn’t going to be as budding as a high schooler’s. You might expect your preschooler to have a large number of friends because they’re young and should become friends with anyone that is kind and fun to be around but that isn’t true! Firstly, young children don’t begin to form friendships in the way we define the word until around three years old. Additionally, preschool-aged children only need one or two good friends at this age. So while you may be worried about your child making friends, it’s important to consider all of these factors before you benign to worry about your child.

What Can Help My Child Make Friends?

If you’re still concerned about your child or want to make sure you’re providing positive support for their budding social skills, there are plenty of ways you can help your child develop the skills they need. 

Teach Social Skills – A good first step to helping your child be more social is to teach them basic social skills. Go through the basics with your child like how to introduce themselves. Practice having them say “Hello my name is Joshua. What’s your name? Do you want to play with me?” Another area to practice is interactive social skills like sharing, taking turns, and using manners like saying please and thank you.

Support Independence – Giving your child the space to grow and explore on their own is very important! Encourage your child to take initiative when it comes to making friends. The first few times may be difficult but as they start to take initiative in introducing themselves to new people and having positive experiences with peers their confidence will continue to grow!

Be A Positive Role Model – Our children are always observing their parents, guardians, and adults they look up to. Utilize this by being a role model of positive social behavior. Make sure your children see you interacting with peers in a cooperative, respectful, and friendly manner. Allow them to witness your acts of kindness, empathy, and strong communication. These behaviors they witness will influence how they perceive and understand friendships. 

Where Can My Preschooler Make Friends?

Preschool – The first and most obvious answer is their preschool! Creative Learning is a great palace for your child to meet other kids their age and start working on their social skills. Preschool is an ideal place to make friends because your child attends on a regulated schedule as do the other children. This allows for your child to be around the same children frequently and ease into friendship-making. Instead of having to frequently reintroduce themselves to new children, they can make their introductions and grow comfortable around the other children.

Libraries – Your local library is an excellent place for your preschooler to make friends. Local libraries often have events for young children throughout the month including storytimes. These events are great places to meet other children and parents in your area. Depending on the library, they may host other activities throughout the month that allow your child to interact with other kids their age and work on their social skills.

Local parks & playgrounds – This is a great way for your child to naturally be around other children of all ages. This can help them learn to interact with children that are older and younger than them while having fun outside. If you have a very shy child, this can be a way for them to dip their toe into being more social. If they express interest in playing with another child you can help encourage them in doing so, but don’t push too hard if they aren’t showing interest! 

 

Kids in the Kitchen

During peak developmental ages, children learn by using all of their senses. Through tasting, touching, smelling, feeling, and hearing, children are able to learn more about the world around them. Cooking is a great activity for children because it engages all of the senses. Cooking with your children can happen at any age. The older your children are the more involved they can be with helping you actually cook and prepare the food. Younger children can have a lot of fun measuring and weighing out ingredients!

There are a lot of different components to cooking such as reading and following directions, weighing, and measuring. This is why cooking is so beneficial for children. Activities such as weighing and measuring are great ways for your young ones to develop their fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. Your older children can use cooking as a way to understand practical applications of math and science. Adding fractions and understanding how heat affects different substances are a few of the things your children can learn at home, in the kitchen!

Learning the basics of cooking is beneficial not just in terms of sensory development, but in terms of basic life skills. Cooking with your children while they are young will help instill basic cooking skills and a love for cooking and food. These will be important qualities to have when they grow up, but are sometimes harder t­o develop as adults. So getting them involved in the kitchen at a young age will give them important building blocks for their future.

Cooking is also a great way to help your children develop confidence and creativity. Allowing a child to be creative in the kitchen and have the whole family enjoy the outcome of their hard work is a great way to help your children develop a sense of confidence and pride in their work. The benefits of getting your children involved in cooking are endless!

If your little ones love getting involved in the kitchen let us know in the comments some of their favorite recipes and what they love to help with! You can view the original article on Nourish Interactive!

How Does Art Benefit Children?

Arts and crafts are a great way for children to have fun practicing their creativity and self-expression, however, there are also a lot of great developmental benefits that art can have on children. North Shore Pediatric Therapy published an article about the top 5 developmental benefits that arts and crafts provide for children. These benefits range from coordination to emotional development. Read below to find out more or click here to view the full article.

1.Bilateral Coordination – Art allows children to practice their bilateral coordination. Projects such as cutting, pasting, painting, and coloring require using both hands together. This is an important skill for your children to start developing at a young age. Tasks such as writing, tying shoes, and typing are all advanced skills that require bilateral coordination.

2. Fine Motor Coordination – Drawing shapes, cutting patterns, and practicing handwriting all enhance fine motor skills. Practicing precise artistic activities help children develop these skills that will be very useful for academics, eating, and dressing.

3. Self-Regulation – Art projects that require waiting for parts to dry such as crafts with paint or glue help children develop patience! Having to wait for a part to dry before continuing a project will help teach your child they can’t have everything the moment they want it.

4. Self-Esteem Booster – Arts and crafts are a great way to help boost your child’s self esteem and confidence. Start with crafts at your child’s skill level. Allow them to build confidence by mastering certain skills, and then allow their creativity to flourish.

5. Bonding Time – Arts and crafts are a great way to bond with your child! Coming up with ideas, shopping for materials, and actually sitting down together and working on a project allows you to spend quality, creative time with your child!

Next time you hesitate to break out the paints and glue, remember all of the positive impacts that arts and crafts can have on your child! If you want to share these developmental benefits with your friends and family click share on the side of the blog post!

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