6 Effective tips for building social skills in your baby
BY THABITHA DAVID · PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 25, 2020 · UPDATED NOVEMBER 20, 2020
Babies tend to learn social skills naturally. However, you can encourage these skills with the following activities.
Read, Play and Sing.
It may sound simple and you may not feel that there are many outcomes from these activities. However, these simple fun activities go a long way in developing strong social skills. Reading, Singing, and playing not only helps develop social skills, but it builds a very special and strong bond between the baby and the parent.
The happy atmosphere of singing and playing makes the baby feel happy and promotes a healthy growth both physically and mentally. Remember, babies do pick up the parent’s mood, so you want to give positive and happy vibes to your baby.
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Give warm and caring responses
Although your baby is not able to talk, he does give lots of signals and body motions of being picked up or hungry or just want us to play. Providing a warm and comforting response to the baby’s needs will let the baby know that he is cared for.
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Maintain the same routine of the day
Babies like it when they know what is next in the schedule of the day. This will result in little or no crying. It will comfort the baby letting him know that some particular thing is next. Haphazard schedules will only lead to a cranky and unhappy baby.
Know your baby’s favorites
Parents should concentrate on the preferences of the baby. Maybe your baby doesn’t like to sleep on her back or wants to be held till he falls asleep. Whatever he prefers better.
Respond to the baby talk
At some point, the baby will start talking in his own baby talk. The best way to respond to these talks is to nod and say things as if you understand the baby completely. This boosts confidence to try out new sounds and makes the baby happy. Know more about how to talk to your baby from our article How- To TALK to your baby ~ .
Strangers need to be accepted
Around the age of 9 months, babies get scared of new faces. This is not quite normal. The best and healthiest way to tackle such a situation is to practice letting go of the mommy. Talk to the baby that mommy is going outside the room. This will let the baby know that it is ok if she doesn’t see mommy’s face and instead sees someone new.
Additionally, more walks to parks or the play dates will eventually wash over the anxiety of seeing a new face.
Take the baby outside for some exploration
Healthy activity is to take the baby outside for some fresh air and learning. Point to the baby and say a bird or a tree. It will build up the vocabulary and it may even encourage the baby to say these words in his baby vocabulary. Also, the bay will learn to do copy the hand motion from you.
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5 Good Socializing Activities for Infants
Parents can play lots of games with their little ones. It is a great way to build a strong bond with the baby and gives many benefits to the baby’s physical and mental growth.
Furthermore, it develops many social skills like taking turns, being nice to other players, cooperation, and teamwork. These activities are excellent in every possible way.
Take turns passing the ball
IT can be played with one parent or some other babies like on a playdate. Sit with you baby in a circle with other babies with their moms and pass the ball to one another.
Peek-a-boo
Cover your eyes with your hands and say peek-a-boo. When you say boo, open up the hands show those big eyes filled with excitement. With enough session of play, you will be able to hear lots of giggle noises.
Pretend Games
Pretend games with a car or a little cartoon character will surely let out more giggles front he baby. This is an excellent game where the parent can mimic the sound s of the character and play out a short role to engage the baby.
Play “where is the baby?”
This is a fun game that you can play with your baby. Say out loud “where is baby?” and then say “here he is!” this enjoyable game will surely make the baby let go of some giggle sounds. He may even make some kind of noise to let the parent know his presence at “where is baby?”
Act out the nursery rhymes
There are some fun and excellent acting out games out there. For example, Baby Shark or The Finger Family are just some of the poems. These poems are not only fun to hear, but a great way to make the baby learn some of the hand or finger movements.
Signs that your baby is not Socially Developing
Some babies do not socially develop. There are some signs that you can keep an eye out for. If you see these listed signs, then you should seek a psychologist or speech therapist.
- The bay is not responding to the sounds.
- The baby is not smiling or responding to you the way she should by the age of 9 months.
- Avoids eye contact.
- The baby cannot self-soothe by the age of 9 months.
- The baby shows no interest in social games like peek-a-boo.
- By the age of 12 months, the baby shows no interest to the kids of her age.
Conclusion
Taking care of the baby might be challenging at some point. However, it is essential to let the baby grow in a nice health environment. Moreover, parents should play with the baby and do healthy and fun activities to promote the development of social skills in your baby.
All these inputs and steps and initiative that you take one day at a time with your baby goes to form a solid foundation for social skills in your baby. And your baby will be thankful for these to you in later years.