Right from birth, babies enjoy the company of others and learn by interacting with others. They try to attract attention in a variety of ways and begin to use their bodies and voices to make contact with those around them. In other words, creating relationships is a natural thing for toddlers.
Here are a few ideas to encourage this natural characteristic:
- Encourage babies to mimic adults and mimic their actions too! Pekaboo is a fabulous game to play for this as are action songs and rhymes.
- Mirror or echo the sounds or words that your child says.
- Talk about family and friends. I like to use a photo album or scrapbook and chat about those we see in the books.
- Maintain eye contact and give them your full attention when you are chatting together.
- Help children to label their emotions by reading books about feelings and talking about them.
- Emphasise the importance of taking turns and the rules of conversations. Teach them not to interrupt and to actually listen to the other person. I like to do this around the dinner table and have question time afterwards as this clearly shows who has been actively listening.
- Encourage your child to play with different children and toys to widen their experiences.
- Take your child into a variety of environments where they will have the opportunity to mix with different children and adults in different ways. For example a local music group, a soft play area, and outdoor park and a art or cooking class. This will also help your child to be more resilient when faced with change as you have been there to help them become accustomed to different situations.
In short, the more chances you provide for your toddler to meet others and to engage in different activities alongside or with them, the more likely to make friends they will be.
You can’t expect them to be socially adept or feel comfortable around others, or indeed know how to make friends if you don’t get out and let them try!
I am a preschool and primary school teacher and mum to 3 children. I have been involved in education since 1997 and have trained in a variety of educational specialist areas. It is with this expertise that I write articles to help parents and educators provide quality learning experiences for the children in their care.
