Tips to Help Your Child Make Good Friends

Parenting

Have Play Dates

The best way to get started is to get her acquainted with her peer groups. One way you could do this is by arranging play dates often and helping her socialize under adult supervision. If she is of school going age, you can get her to meet her friends in class and bond with them .

Teach to Share

Playing in groups or with another child will require you little one to be comfortable with sharing. It is important that you teach her early in life about how it is important to share, and when it is ok to be possessive. Here’s a guide to teach your little one to share.

Help Initiate Conversations

Teach her basic conversational skills and pleasantries that she could use when she meets her peers. Kids love to talk, so make sure you little one knows to listen to her friend, by pausing once in awhile. Listening is a key skill for young kids to learn basic socialization skills.

Instill Good Manners

Good manners go a long way in bonding and making friends. It is important to help her understand that being polite and friendly with others is not negotiable and she has to be more approachable and warm to be a better person. These skills will help your child in many ways even as she grows up.

Encourage playing in groups

Encourage your child’s friends to come home and play with your little one. This will help her bond with friends from school and play with them in a comfortable space. This will also help you keep a watch on the kind of games your little one plays with her friends.

Watch out for the bullies

Keep a watch for bullies in your child’s play group, and also watch if your child is being one. Kids might be quite fickle and switch between groups of friends, so let them choose their friends and resolve conflicts on their own. Do not step in every time you see your child having an argument with someone. Look for signs of bullying and report to the person concerned if your child is being bullied.