You can support your child’s personal and social skills when you:

Give your child opportunities to play and learn with other children and adults. 

Make sure you have toys that many children can play with at the same time, such as blocks, Legos, and Play-Doh.

Play simple board games like Lotto, Color Bingo, and Chutes and Ladders.  Hungry, Hungry Hippo and Don’t Break the Ice are good games where everyone can work together.

Help foster a sharing attitude in your child.  Use a timer to help with turn-taking.  Put away toys that are too hard to share.  Praise successful efforts when you see sharing behavior.  Let everyone have a turn at being first to choose or first to do something.

Spend time talking about different feelings with your child.  What does it feel like for her when she is happy, sad, excited, angry? 

Encourage empathy.  Help your child understand others’ feelings by talking about how another child might feel in different situations.

Let your child be a “Feelings Detective.”  As you read stories, ask your child to describe what she thinks the characters might be feeling—excited, mad, surprised, sad, etc.

Model pro-social behavior for your child.  Say please and thank you, let your child see you sharing, greet your neighbors, etc.

Establish predictable family routines.

Help your child learn the steps of problem-solving.