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Social Skills Activities for Kids : Fun Building Game

Social skills groups, games and activities help children with social anxiety, ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome, and emotional or behavioral challenges feel comfortable navigating social interactions and help develop socially appropriate behaviors across various environments.

The combination of explicit instruction, organic play and consistent opportunities enable children to practice critical everyday social skills in a smaller world.

Here is one social skills activity I have done in social skills groups and with families. You can do this activity with your child(ren) at home and even with some friends (safely, of course!) :


Building Activity : Straws & Connectors


Materials

  • Straws & connectors or building blocks (any toys you can use for building)

  • Visuals of things to build or even write on a board/paper (print pictures of a tent, bridge, sandcastle, tower, skyscraper, building, etc.)

Rules + How to Play

  • Show visuals of what you are going to build

  • Use visuals to build (bridge, tower, rocket ship, house, etc.)

  • Build together + individually!

Language to Use

  • How do you build?

  • What does it mean to build?

  • What types of things can you build?

  • What is this (sandcastle)? Have you ever built one?

  • What shapes are in your building? Where have you seen this shape before?

  • How far can you build before the structure bends or falls apart?

  • How many squares wide and how many squares tall?

  • Use language to talk about experiences

  • Let’s build together while we build friendships!

  • Comment on friendly building behavior


Objective


Gaining, using and building listening skills, eye contact, taking turns, problem solving, fine motor skills, increasing self-esteem


With the help of social skills activities like this one your child can practice developing practical skills like:

  • Flexible Thinking

  • Reading Social Cues

  • Problem Solving

  • Stronger Conversational Skills

  • Increased Self-Esteem and Self Awareness

  • Compromising and Sharing

  • Dealing with anger, frustration and negative feelings

  • Identifying one's own emotions and the emotions of others

Want more social skills activities? Check out our post on a Color Sorting Social Skills Game here: https://www.teamesteem.net/post/social-skills-activities-for-kids-color-sorting-game


And stay tuned for even more social skills games and activities on our blog!


Worried your child isn’t developing the social skills they need for everyday life? Want to help them overcome their emotional or behavioral challenges? I am here to help! Please reach out to me at jlevine@teamesteem.net. I look forward to hearing your story and working to transform you and your child’s life!