How to Support Friendships and Social-Emotional Development at Home

The first bond young children form is with their parents.

This connection creates the foundation for good social-emotional skills development.

As children grow, these skills may include expressing their feelings, recognising when someone is upset, and realising that others have different opinions and thoughts than they do.

These fundamental skills are necessary for any child to progress to the next stage of their social-emotional development: making friends!

Teaching our children to be a good friend means learning empathy and kindness.

We all want to be included in the games our friends play! Here are some books about friendship and kindness that help to teach our little ones about friendship.

Because young children are exposed to a range of characters' stories, reading stories together is a great way to educate social-emotional skills.

Strictly NO Elephants

The Rainbow Fish

The Lion and the Mouse

The Rabbit listened

When you read with your child at home or listen to one of these read aloud stories, take breaks and pause to ask questions!

• Focus on using words to identify feelings and situations

• Ask questions like “How do you think they feel right now?”

• Ask questions like “What do you think is going to happen?”

• Ask questions like “Do you think these two characters are friends? How come?”

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Are you looking for more bloggs featuring preschool education, crafts and activities designed to develop reading, writing and math skills?

Preschool Development