Helping to develop social skills in toddlers

Toddler develop great social skills through the interaction they have with people around them. Different activities help to develop mental, physical, social and emotional skills to stimulate your children's imagination and creativity. As a parent you should involve your child in such activities through which your toddler can understand and learn the world around him.

Some of the activities that can enhance your toddler's social skills are mentioned here:

Importance of Money: Give your child different coins and ask them to count them. Teach your child how to use the money and about money which will enable them to understand the value of it.
Indulge them in cooking: Accompany your child in mixing, baking, measuring the ingredients. These are the tasks your kid will enjoy doing and it goes not matter if they make a mess
Cleaning work through game: This will give them the sense of responsibility and will be hygienic from the very beginning of their life and they will do it as part of the "norm".
Encouraging Play with Others: Always involve and encourage your child to play in a group. This will inculcate the team skills in your child. They will watch and often copy what they see others do, even though they're not yet able to play with them. I am sure untill now your toddler thinks everything is MINE, but they need to learn the skill of sharing. As they grow and become more experienced at play, they'll learn to play with other children. This is called "cooperative" play, and usually happens after the age of 3. In cooperative play, children learn to work and solve problems together, and develop their social skills.

cooking

Teach Manners: Teaching social skills starts with teaching your kid good behavior towards others.

Your child needs your attention. If you only pay attention to children when they do something wrong, they will learn to misbehave to get your attention. So give attention to your children when they do something good, thus, they will learn positive ways to get your attention.
Try to give options to children and let them take their own decision. This makes them independent and gives them the power to choose between the things.
Always give them warning when you want them to change their activities as it's very difficult for them to stop doing something they enjoy.
Always be positive and calm while giving commands to kids. That's what they will learn. For example "Please use your spoon" than "Don't eat with your fingers."
Always acknowledge the emotion your child may be feeling when setting a limit on behavior.
Always educate your child on small things. Like if they approach for hot cup, do tell them "The cup is very hot. It can burn you." Or if they run across the street, guide them by saying "The cars cannot see you and you can get run over."
Use simple words, focus on the most important things, and adapt your rules as your child grows.
Share your pleasure and happiness with your toddler when he acts in acceptable ways or learn new things. Always appreciate whenever they do something good and positive.
Whenever you have guest at home accompany your child in the preparation. Teach them how to behave when guests are at home. Gently speak with them. Children are very good observer so set an example before them as they will learn the same you behave. Do give importance to your toddler and always speak good points about him in front of the guest.

Some tips for parents to help your child develop social skills:

playing in a group

Empathize: Kids who receive a lot of empathy for their own feelings from the adults in their lives are the earliest to develop empathy for others.
Don't force toddlers to share: it actually delays the development of sharing skills.
Share toys: Explain your toddler that the visiting child will of course expect to play with Junior's other toys, just as junior plays with his friends' toys at their houses. Another useful tactic is for the parent to keep a chest of "Mom and Dad's toys." Junior is allowed to use them, of course, because Mom and Dad share, so Junior sees useful modeling. Equally important, Junior won't feel as possessive about sharing them with visitors, because they aren't his.
Express emotions: It's never too early to give children language for their feelings. Labeling emotion is the first step in managing it.
Begin introducing the concept of noticing how other people feel as early as you can. If your child hurt his friend and the other child is crying do bring this in notice of your child.
Stay Calm. Research shows that one of the most important things parents can do to help kids learn to manage their emotions is to stay calm themselves.
Remember they're kids. It's important not to permit bad behavior toward others, but that doesn't mean you don't offer understanding -- and the confidence that your child will learn. Kids need to hear from you that they aren't bad people, just little.