SOCIAL SKILLS AND AFTER-SCHOOL LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Learning is a never-ending process that continues throughout life. A child starts to learn about his surroundings from the time of birth. Home is the first school and the best learning zone for a child. The society also plays a major role in the development and upbringing of a child. To enhance the child’s personality it’s important to boost their social skills by introducing them to society from an early age.
Children under the age of 5 are more likely to spend more time with their parents and have more opportunities to get into their parent’s social circle. From a very young age, when a child is set up to be a part of society, he starts to develop social skills by interacting with the people around him. Whether it is school, home, a playground, or any other area where he is building up social relations, the child is able to learn a lot of activities and games while socializing.
Usually, after school, children get a lot of time to play and learn by participating in various activities. Being a parent you can take charge and be responsible to make your child eligible to be an active part of society.
Involve them in indoor games to play with you, such as board or card games. You can also invite their friends over and let them play freely with them. This will be very pleasant for them to learn in a diverse atmosphere and will be very helpful to enhance their social skills as well.
Get them into playing various games, such as solving puzzles, and little treasure hunting, story reading or storytelling, and Lego buildings.
Ask them to help you in cooking, and assign them simple tasks to perform in the kitchen, such as stirring something and keeping them involved until you finish.
Turn your child into a good listener, give instructions to them, to do some tasks, such as clean your room, and set up the table for dinner, this will help them to follow the instructions given outside their comfort zone.
Assign them some physical activities after school, and get them registered in a cricket camp, drama club, or karate club, these exercises will be exciting as well as a good way of socializing for them.
Let your child learn some art and craft, provide them with colors and let them picture the canvas with their imagination. Encourage them to learn new techniques, such as origami, doodling, and sketching whatever they feel interested in.
To speak in society with confidence, organize a family speech contest once, and let your child speak in front of an audience. This will not only boost their confidence but also will help them to be a better speaker in society.
Always show your interest and try to be involved in all activities, your presence is a comfort zone for your child, and ensures them that you are available for them whenever they need you. And they will take more interest in all activities when they will see you as a role model.