How Playgrounds Help Build Social Skills in Children

By Nic Moss

Playgrounds serve as vital environments for children's social development, providing opportunities for interaction, cooperation, and conflict resolution. The design and function of playgrounds can facilitate many types of play that are essential for building social skills in children.

What Are Social Skills?

Social skills are the skills people use to communicate with others, such as talking, listening, and understanding body language and facial expressions. These skills are valuable for helping children to convey their needs, share their ideas, and build relationships with others. Kids can develop their social skills by engaging with other kids and through observing people's behavior. The playground, park, and classroom are all great areas for kids to build their social skills.

When Is the Appropriate Time for Children to Develop Social Skills?

The development of social skills should start early in life, though this process will continue into adolescence. Kids should experience a series of milestones in their social development as they learn and grow.

• 2 to 3 Years Old: At this developmental stage, children begin to play with others and initiate social interactions. They should also work on their manners, like saying "please" and "thank you."
• 3 to 4 Years Old: During this period, children become increasingly engaged in imaginative play, and they often invent complex stories that involve different characters interacting.
• 4 to 5 Years Old: Children's games become more social and more complicated at this age. They'll begin making up games with complex themes and rules and playing in larger groups.
• 5 to 6 Years Old: Children ages 5 to 6 years old work on following rules and instructions and apologizing when they don't do what they're supposed to.
• 6 to 7 Years Old: By the time children reach 6 or 7 years old, they are capable of forming deeper friendships characterized by trust and mutual understanding. Their ability to empathize grows stronger; they can put themselves in others' shoes and respond sensitively to friends' emotions.

Different Types of Social Skills

Children need to learn a variety of essential social skills if they are to successfully develop relationships later in life. Teaching students these social skills is vital to their overall development and success in the future.

Greeting

The first and most basic social skill to learn is how to begin an interaction with another person. Just saying "hello" can be the start of a friendship or another type of relationship, and even a 1-year-old can learn to say "hi," though they may be shy at first. Parents can also model nonverbal greetings like a wave, smile, or nod.

Listening

Saying hello and talking to others is only one part of communication. Many kids quickly learn how to express what they're thinking or how they're feeling, but it's also important to learn how to listen as others do the same. During unstructured play outdoors, kids practice working together, and as they do so, they hone their listening skills, learning to understand other people's points of view.

Previewing

Previewing is the ability to envision how your words might be received by your audience. It's a crucial skill that helps people to adapt how they communicate to the situation, matching the tone of a conversation and using a vocabulary appropriate for the listener(s).

Understanding Social Cues

Social cues are essential components of interpersonal communication that provide hints about a person's feelings, attitudes, and intentions. These cues can be verbal, such as tone of voice and choice of words, or nonverbal, including body language, facial expressions, and gestures. Examples of social cues include crossed arms, sighs, or eye movements.

Problem-Solving

Disagreements and misunderstandings will happen, and kids need to learn how to manage these situations, using their problem-solving skills to resolve the conflict. They'll need to listen carefully and use empathy as they come up with a solution, which will often require compromise.

Apologizing

Apologizing is a fundamental social skill that plays a significant role in interpersonal relationships. Children often find themselves in situations where they unintentionally upset others, whether through physical actions or verbal exchanges. Recognizing when they have caused harm and being able to say "I'm sorry" is an essential part of emotional intelligence and social awareness.

Why Is it Essential for Children to Learn Social Skills?

People need social skills all through their lives to be successful, both professionally and in their personal relationships. Building a solid foundation of good social skills at a young age brings with it a host of benefits.

Developing Friendships

Young children often start out by making friends with kids who come from similar backgrounds and have similar interests, but as they get older, they'll meet a wider range of people and need to have the social skills to empathize and collaborate with them. Understanding the different needs and viewpoints of others is a crucial part of building new friendships.

Forming Relationships at School

In a school environment, children are constantly assessing each other's social skills as they develop their own. Kids who are good at previewing and interpreting social cues are better at knowing what to say and how to say it in different social situations, helping them relate to their peers.

Achieving Their Goals

Teaching children social skills is instrumental in helping them achieve both academic and personal goals throughout their lives. Social skills facilitate collaboration, allowing kids to work together toward shared objectives. Whether they're completing a group project in class or playing a team sport, the ability to cooperate and communicate clearly is vital for success.

Handling More Complex Social Challenges

As children transition into the teenage years and adulthood, the social skills they acquire during their formative years become increasingly useful. Being able to listen, empathize, and find compromise can help to resolve thornier social situations like conflicts at work or disagreements with a partner or spouse.

Enhancing Career Opportunities

In today's competitive job market, the ability to interact effectively with others is a crucial skill that employers highly value. Most professions require some level of collaboration, communication, and interpersonal interaction. Candidates who possess strong social skills are often seen as more desirable because they can navigate complex social dynamics and contribute positively to team environments.

Improving Overall Happiness

When children learn social skills such as empathy, active listening, conflict resolution, and cooperation, they are better equipped to form meaningful relationships throughout their lives. These relationships enhance self-esteem by providing affirmation and support from peers and family members. A strong support system can act as a buffer against stressors and challenges in daily life.

How Do Playgrounds Help Children Develop Social Skills?

One of the most significant benefits of playgrounds is that they provide opportunities for unstructured play. Unlike organized sports or adult-led activities, free play allows children to choose how they want to spend their time and with whom they wish to interact, promoting autonomy and decision-making skills. Along the way, they can take advantage of opportunities for socialization to hone their social skills.

Kids Play Freely

Social play in a free, unstructured environment is essential for children's development, and playgrounds are particularly effective settings for this, as they provide a range of safe play equipment and plenty of open space where kids can have fun without direct supervision from adults (who should, of course, still keep an eye on them from afar). Unstructured play is defined by its absence of predetermined rules or structured activities, and this lack of constraints allows children complete control over their time and interactions. They can choose how to engage with their surroundings, which promotes self-directed learning and exploration. If they're experiencing strong emotions like anger or frustration, they can swing or climb to let off some steam. If they choose to play with others, they'll need to communicate what they want while also considering the perspectives of others. And if they're in the mood to play pretend, they can role-play scenarios that can help them to develop empathy.

Kids Engage in Age-Appropriate Play

Playground equipment serves as a medium through which children can explore their social capabilities at every age. For instance, for younger children, playground structures often emphasize parallel play, providing space where kids can play near each other and watch each other without directly engaging or collaborating. Equipment designed for this age group typically includes features like small slides, climbing structures, and sandbox areas that allow for independent exploration and creativity.

Kids Practice Communication as They Pretend

Children have active imaginations, and playgrounds serve as ideal environments for them to use their creativity. In pretend settings, they invent characters and situations that require dialogue and problem-solving. They also need to listen to each other and compromise to keep their pretend stories moving forward.

Kids Learn to Respect Personal Space

Respect is important not only for cooperation and teamwork but also for working toward common goals. One way to learn respect is through the experience of sharing playground equipment. When you're all crowded together trying to use the same part of a climber or you're all trying to go down the slide at once, it's much less fun; respecting each others' personal space make for a better experience and can help kids develop stronger and more empathetic relationships with friends.

Kids Collaborate and Take Turns

Taking turns is a critical aspect of collaboration that requires patience and self-regulation. As children participate in activities that involve turn-taking, such as playing on swings or slides, they learn the importance of waiting for their turn and respecting others' right to enjoy the equipment. This practice not only builds social skills but also helps children develop emotional intelligence by managing their feelings of frustration or excitement.

Kids Practice Conflict Resolution

When conflicts occur during play, it provides an opportunity for children to practice resolving them. Learning to apologize and respond appropriately to feelings of anger is crucial to being able to maintain good interpersonal relationships. Children who navigate these situations develop resilience and empathy, which are essential traits for successful interactions both on the playground and in broader social contexts.

How to Encourage Social Development on the Playground

When children have well-designed spaces where they can play and interact, they have the opportunity to hone their social skills. However, this doesn't happen all on its own; adults need to do their part to encourage children's social development.

Design an Inclusive Space

Kids can have a variety of abilities, disabilities, and needs, and a well-designed play space provides opportunities for all children to have fun. This means providing an environment that's accessible for kids who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids and features comfortable spaces where children with sensory processing issues can thrive. An inclusive playground not only complies with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act but also creates an environment where children of all abilities can play together.

Model Positive Interactions

Children learn from adults' examples, so caregivers must do their part to model healthy social interactions. Encouraging a kid to keep climbing up the jungle gym or congratulating them when they make it across the monkey bars promotes open communication and empathy.

Intervene to Correct Problem Behaviors

In situations where children's attempts at resolving conflicts fail or where antisocial behaviors persist, caregivers should intervene. Adults can help children to learn and remember appropriate behaviors, manage their emotions, and find constructive solutions to problems.

Develop Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is a critical life skill that helps children navigate social interactions and develop emotional intelligence. The playground can be a setting for a variety of disputes, such as who gets to go first down the slide, and caregivers can help kids find fair solutions when these conflicts arise.

Additional Resources

• Nine Ways to Teach Social Skills in the Classroom
• Why Developing Social Skills Is Important for Young Children
• What Are Social-Emotional Skills?
• Social and Emotional Skills at Different Ages
• Promoting Young Children's Social and Emotional Health
• Supporting Social Play: Helping Children Learn Social Skills From Play
• Development of Social Skills in Children
• The Importance of Social Skills: Raising a Socially Intelligent Child
• Helping Children Make Friends: What Parents Can Do
• Developing Social and Behavioral Skills in Early Childhood