Social skills play a vital role in the development of children. From meeting new friends to learning how to work with others, they’re great skills to continue developing throughout childhood and beyond! At PGL adventure camps, kids get involved with activities and challenges that help boost their social skills through teamwork, communication and cooperation.
Why are social skills important for children?
Social skills are key in the development of your child. Here are some reasons why social skills are important for children.
Grows confidence
By improving children’s social skills, it’ll naturally help them to become more confident. Being comfortable communicating with others means as they grow up they feel confident asking questions and sharing their opinion and thoughts.
Helps to create friendships
Pre-school, nursery, primary school, and high school are where most friendships are formed. Even from an early age, socialisation helps children develop massively as they progress into toddlers, teenagers and eventually adults. Having strong social skills means it’s easier for children to create friendships at school and outside of school.
Improves communication
Whether it’s communicating with friends, family or teachers, social skills are always important in all of these areas. As mentioned above by helping to make friends and developing those relationships, and communicating in the classroom with teachers and other students.
Ways outdoor adventures help develop social skills
Teamwork & Cooperation
Through team games, challenges and activities, outdoor adventures are fantastic at helping kids develop social skills. They encourage kids to collaborate and work together to solve problems and overcome challenges, which requires teamwork and cooperation to succeed.
At PGL all of our activities promote teamwork and cooperation in one way or another because we know the importance of developing these social skills.
How to develop social skills in kids
Encourage them to make friends
If you’re wondering how to develop social skills in kids then this is probably one of the best places to start. Encouraging your kids to make friends, whether that’s at school or at an adventure camp, will only further improve their social skills as they continue to build more relationships. It provides plenty of opportunities for your kids to interact and engage with others!
Promote empathy
Helping kids understand empathy is a brilliant way to develop their social skills. But why? Well, teaching them to see things from somebody else’s perspective can help them relate to others at school which only helps them build more strong relationships.
Support their communicational development
It’s essential to teach kids communication skills so they can express themselves, share ideas and ultimately be themselves! When they have the communicational freedom and confidence to talk to others and let their voice be heard, they’ll just continue to develop and develop as they grow older.
Social skills activities for kids at PGL
We’re all about helping kids develop social skills. Here are some of the adventurous outdoor activities that your kids can take part in at our camps that encourage the development of social skills.
Crate Challenge
Wearing harnesses and attached to safety ropes, teams must work out how to build the tallest tower using just crates, as well as finding a way to put two teammates at the top! It’s easier than it sounds. This challenge requires lots of communication and cooperation to identify the best way to approach it and beat the other teams.
Problem Solving
Everyone’s mind works differently. Which is why this challenge is so great at fostering social skills. If you’re working in teams to solve a puzzle, then everyone’s ideas are important because somebody could have an excellent way to try and solve it. Which team will win against the clock?
Buggy Build
This activity relies on teamwork to succeed. Teams must build a moving buggy using only the materials provided. They must communicate with each other to decide how they are going to create their buggy, what materials they need, and determine the roles for building it. Once complete, it’s then time to test the buggies against each other in a series of challenges!
Boost your child’s social skills on a PGL adventure camp
Want to know how to develop social skills in kids? Outdoor adventure camps are one way! At PGL, we have a range of adventure-filled camps over the school holidays, including multi-activity holidays, watersports camps and more. Our camps have been running for over 66 years! So, we know a thing or two about adventure. You can also browse all of our children’s adventure holidays here. Take a read through our blog if you want to find some more reasons why outdoor adventure camps are so great for kids.
We also have plenty of other camps running throughout the school holidays. So, get in touch with our friendly and experienced team today to see how we can help. It’s never too late to book!
