Emily Clarke

Why Childhood Friendships are Important

Your child can learn about friendships and social behaviors by watching Rob the Robot videos and other shows. However, that doesn't discount the importance of having real childhood friends.

The relationships your youngster form now can significantly impact their development. Those friendships might not last forever, but their influence is monumental. Here's why.

Learning Social Cues and Appropriate Behaviors

Kids who spend all of their time around adults don't fare very well once thrust into an environment of peers. Children need to spend time with other kids! It gives them the chance to develop important skills they can't learn in a classroom.

We're talking about self-esteem, socially accepted actions, and more. Without friendship, your child would have a hard time adjusting later. You might even see them suffer from behavioral problems or bad grades.

Improving Communication Skills

Communication is important even when your child doesn't have a vast vocabulary. Watching Rob the Robot videos can improve your child's communication skills. However, real-world conversations with other kids are even better!

Friendships teach your bundle of joy how to share ideas and communicate feelings. It's also a chance to learn about emotional support and the value of high self-esteem. Those are all things kids need to experience first-hand. Once they do, they can become better equipped to talk to you.

Finding Empathy

Finally, let's talk about empathy. Empathy is one of those personality details that parents stress over. It's not something your kid can learn. It requires experience, and the best way to understand empathy is to have friends.

Friendships force your child to be more sensitive to the needs of others. They'll learn how to respect other viewpoints and what it means to feel what others feel. Many parents recognize a change in their kid's behavior after developing solid friendships with others. A big part of that has to do with the empathy they learn.

Letting Friendships Flourish

As parents, it's easy to want to control every little detail of your child's life. Let making friendships be something they do on their own. You can prepare them for forming bonds through modeling and encouragement, but building friendships should be something your child does on their own.

Author Resource:-

Emily Clarke writes about educational and entertaining apps for kids. You can find her thoughts at videos for kids blog.