Social Skills

Label emotions of characters in books or television.  Practice identifying feelings of self and others, and discuss cause/effect.

Social stories describe a situation or expectation in the form of a story, from the child's perspective, like a basic how-to guide for kids.
(Social stories were originally developed by Carol Gray)

• Example: Ending a Preferred Activity by Ashley Simmons

• Example: Asking a Friend to Play by Head Start Center for Inclusion

• Here are some printable social stories from the Head Start Center for Inclusion.

Role Play situations beforehand, so your child can practice the appropriate way to handle it.  This can be done individually or in a group with friends or siblings.  Reenact the situation, and then celebrate success.  Keep it positive!Here are some examples of when you might practice social skills using role play:

• Giving an apology

• Giving a compliment

• Ignoring a rude comment

• Asking for help

Read books together about social situations and empathy.  Here are some examples:

• Examples listed here

• Examples listed here

Play simple games to practice winning graciously, losing calmly, good sportsmanship, etc.

Modeling - Modeling is a teaching strategy for showing the child what the appropriate target behavior looks like by having an adult or another peer engage in the target behavior. For example, the adult or peer might demonstrate how to ask for a toy by saying "Can I have that when you're done?"

Video modeling is a way of learning new skills by watching a video of someone modeling a targeted behavior or skill, and then imitating the behavior/skill watched.  It is a simple and effective teaching tool that motivates children to learn through a fun and enticing visual medium.  For best results, the video should be watched and practiced repeatedly.

• Video modeling can be used like a social story.  Only instead of a written story, it's a video!

•  "Video self-modeling is when the learner is recorded doing the desired behavior. This is highly effective because the video can be edited to remove any instances of undesired behaviors. Showing the video to the child allows them to see themselves doing it correctly" (Schmidt, 2020). -Jennifer Schmidt, Intervention Specialist

• To learn more about video modeling, visit Jennifer Schmidt's blog.