Making Friends

Social skills are declining in American children. Researchers believe this is because many children spend more time with technology than engaged in human interactions. In fact, the only activity that
outranks the number of hours spent viewing television is sleep.
Children develop and refine social skills by interacting with family members and friends. Social and
emotional intelligence begins to develop at birth. Children need plenty of face-to-face interactions with others for their intelligence to develop to their optimum levels.


TRY THIS OUT
Eating dinner together is a great time to develop social skills and strengthen connections. While there is normally plenty to talk about at dinner, try making a set of “conversation cards” to stimulate novel conversation. Questions on your cards may include:
• Which animal do you think is the funniest looking? Which animal is
the most beautiful?
• What color would you like to paint your room? Why?
• If you had a tree house, what would you put in it?
• If you could be any age, which age would you choose? Why?