Does your child find it challenging to make friends? If yes, we are here to help your child make friends and keep friends by being a good friend.
If your child does not make friends easily, it can really effect how they socially relate to others. Having good quality friends throughout teenage years is very important because your child will start to branch away from you and learn to make decisions for his or her own self. A teen craves acceptance and support from friends.
Here are some simple but effective strategies you can teach your child to make the difficult social years much easier. The purpose of learning friendship strategies is to teach your teen how to be a good friend and learn to be comfortable about his or herself.
Let your child make use of the following friendship strategies:
Teach Your Child About Healthy Friendships
When your child knows what actions a good friend demonstrates, he or she will look for friends with those qualities and be a good friend to others. For one, make it clear to your child that a good friend does not gossip and maintaining a strong friendship requires effort.
Teach this lesson by telling your child what you like about his or her current friends. For example, if a friend calls when your child is sick to see how she or he is doing than you should make it know to your child that is a good friend action.
A child can foster strong friendships by you allowing the friend to occasionally join in on family activities such as movie night or dinner with the family. Make clear to your child there is no substitute for one-on-one time together. Texting and emailing only is no sign of a good friendship. Spending time together to bond is a sign of a good friendship.
Help Your Child Make Friends
You can help your child make good friends by showing him or her that attitude and appearance matter. Your child could send the wrong messages to peers if he or she always has an attitude or if he or she does not keep a confident physical appearance. Your child does not need the perfect body to keep friends. What your child needs is real confidence.
Don’t Make Popularity Be Important
Yes, it is normal for a child to want to be in the “in” crowd but it is not a good idea to teach your child to be a follower rather than a leader. Don’t let your own personal childhood baggage keep your child from making the right choices about friends. Teach confidence to your child by teaching him or her about respecting others’ opinions and talents. Teach your child to not resent others who are different from him or her in preference or abilities as well. Allow your child to discover the joys of real friendship. Be supportive and consistently provide a positive influence.
To teach your child and your child’s friends how to practice teamwork and support, take them to ShadowLand Adventures.
If you have any questions or want to leave it to the professionals to add some fun for you and the kids, contact the ShadowLand Adventures nearest you by clicking here today!
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