Social development includes the ability to recognize, understand self-emotions and others including emotional control to maintain relationships with other people. The development can be built since infancy. Parents should give attention to it before having no chance to do it.
How important social development is for young children?
Social development helps children learn and understand themselves as well as others and can adapt themselves to society appropriately. As mentioned, the development can stat during infancy. The baby raised by good responding of parents indicate as the beginning of social relationship between himself with others which is very vital. For that reason, it then can make the baby become someone who is able to develop this skill to more complexity start playing with friends, having groups, learning to express and compliance norm or rule of the society he lives in based on different period and age.
Social development of children in each age range
-
- 2-3 months old: During this age the baby will smile and know how to respond by a voice including communicating through touching such as grabbing things or put toys in their mouth.
-
- The end of their first year: The baby start to show more interesting in others, be able to follow what a caregiver is looking at and know when someone calls their name and can turn to that person as soon as the person calls him.
-
- 1 year-old: Look at what the leader points to and know each function or each toy for example small car model and can persuade other friends to come and play with him.
-
- 1 ½ – 2 year-old: start playing simple role-play and start to know how to use items such as toy, spoon and doll. The child can sit with other children but still have some space playing by themselves.
- Kindergarten: They can play with more complicated assumptions and know how to interact with other children more.
Benefits of Coaching Children to Social Development
-
- Having better self-help skills such as eating, excretion (defecation) , brushing their teeth and self-dressing.
-
- Having language development be able to communicate better with others.
-
- Having more self-responsibility including community for instance right after playing a toy they can keep it back to a position.
-
- Having emotional inhibition like when there is time for their friends to take a turn in game they can wait for it.
-
- Encountering with obstacles or something they do not like knowing how to accept a result either winning or losing. This is a way to let them find a solution for self-emotional control and develop such a skill better.
-
- Knowing how to play a role as contributor or giver.
- Learn how to adapt in different ways to be accepted and live in harmony with others in a society.
Does your child have delayed social development?
If you notice that your child likes to play alone and no interesting in interacting with others by not looking at faces of others, not saying what are their need or want including not trying to communicate and respond by action even when somebody calls their name. Moreover, no feeling of boasting for their new troy and no interacting are major signs parents require taking them to a pediatrician as soon as possible.
Article by
Pediatrician (Dr. Nicha Limitrakul)
Pediatric Center Phyathai2 Hospital
Tel: +66-617-2444 ext. 3219-20
