FitFam

Role-playing games for the development of social skills
Ten variants of role-playing games that will help develop your child's social skills
Role-playing games for the development of social skills
Children are very fond of role-playing games, because unlike school assignments, they allow them to release creative energy in a more active and friendly way. Role-playing games are a safe model of real life situations in which children can learn a lot about the world around them and about themselves.

Role-playing games can help children solve and prevent a variety of academic or behavioral problems, including helping to master social skills, as well as familiarize themselves with the rules of behavior in microsocial groups.

Social skills are the ability to communicate, solve problems, make situational decisions, behave correctly and interact with peers – in a word, these are the abilities that allow you to initiate and maintain positive and effective relationships with other people.

The lack of these skills hinders learning, healthy self-esteem and good mood of the child, as well as the formation of a favorable atmosphere in the environment in which he has to be.

Many children demonstrate incorrect reactions and incorrect behavior in the most common situations, because they do not yet have enough knowledge and illustrative examples of more effective decisions and actions. Parents and teachers can use role-playing games to develop the right models of responding to various circumstances.

Next, we offer topics and some introductory data for role-playing games that will help develop your child's social skills:

Cooperation. To carry out laboratory work on botany, the class in which your child studies was divided into groups of four people. At the same time, he does not like the two members of the group that your child got into. He has difficulty communicating with them.
Trust. Your child's friend no longer trusts him because your son/daughter lied to him. But your child really wants to renew a shaken friendship.
Empathy. Your child sees a boy with special needs sitting alone on the playground. He always looks a little sad.
Delicacy and tact. For English classes, your child's class was divided into two groups: the most successful students – group A and ordinary students – group B. Your child passed the competition and got into group A, while his best friend, with whom he always sits at the same desk, did not get into it and was very upset.
Courage. Your child saw an older boy teasing a girl and not giving her her hat.
Loyalty. Your child was given an invitation ticket to a concert that he had long dreamed of. But on the appointed day, he is already invited to his best friend's birthday.
Responsibility. Your child promised you to do your homework for a few days in advance so that the whole family could go to their grandparents on the weekend. But he's so engrossed in reading an adventure novel that he doesn't show any desire to do his homework even for tomorrow.
Honesty. Your child got stuck on three questions of the test paper and copied the answers from his friend. As a result, he received a higher rating than his friend, who was very upset about this situation.
Support for those who need it. There is a newcomer in your child's class who does not know anyone in your city, and in addition does not pronounce several letters yet and wears glasses. Many guys laugh and make fun of him.
Care. At the summer camp, parents came to all the children from your child's group for the weekend, but not to one boy. He is upset and afraid that something has happened to them.
If you are concerned about the possibility of other problematic situations, you can develop appropriate scenarios and beat them until the child learns the desired behaviors.

Important social skills, of course, include correct and firm reactions to suggestions to "smoke", "drink", "get high", visit obscene Internet sites (see the article "How to ensure the safety of children on the Internet"), participate in an antisocial event or join a dubious company.

To prevent unwanted reactions of your child in dangerous situations, model his competent behavior, and also illustrate the possible consequences of undesirable behavior with the help of role-playing games.