Fostering Social Development

Introduction 

Social Development: Infants and toddlers learn how to interact with others, form relationships, and understand social norms. The skills acquired in these early years are essential in emotional regulation, empathy and cooperation, which all have a bearing on well-being and later success (Garvis et al., 2019). Reciprocal interactions and the ability to navigate social-emotional challenges are based in early secure attachments (Kaywork, 2020). Social development skills play a role in cognitive, emotional, and language development; Therefore, it is important for social development to be an integral part of early childhood education. (Dean et al., 2019). 

Teaching Competencies and Skills Required

Educators need a range of skills to support social development, learning, and wellbeing in infants and toddlers:

  • Relationship Building: Offering consistent responses to children’s emotional cues builds trust and a sense of belonging (Nolan & Raban, 2015).
  • Social Scaffolding: Through Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) educators model and scaffold social skills such as turn-taking and sharing (Arthur et al., 2024).
  • Conflict Mediation: Supporting toddlers through social struggles by labelling feelings and encouraging empathy interactions.
  • Inclusive Practice: Adapting strategies to honour diverse family values and practices (ACECQA, 2022)
  • Environment Design: orienting the space for peer interaction and collaborative exploration. 

Authentic Curriculum Provision and Learning Opportunities

Authentically supporting social development means integrating social learning through play-based, relationship-rich and emotionally responsive experiences. Strategies include:

Musical Activity: Encouraging children to sing, to follow actions, and take turns during music time helps build community and supports non-verbal communication.

Dramatic and Role-Play: Setting up scenarios such as a family home corner or grocery store in your space allows toddlers to explore social roles, practice cooperation, and develop empathy.

Arts and Sensory Projects Together: Making art on a common canvas or fingering in a community sensory bin can facilitate shared attention, negotiation and collective creativity.

Alternatively, Social Narratives and Puppets teach children about friendship, emotions and conflict resolution which help children make sense of social experiences and opportunities to rehearse appropriate responses.

Three Original Learning Opportunities

  1. Face-to-Face Interaction; this learning experience is based on social bonding, joint attention, and face recognition. It carries over from areas in the curriculum, like Movement and Music, with rhythm and songs that encourage social reciprocity; Language and Literacy, which teach verbal cues and language patterns; and Humanities and Social Sciences, which provide the basis for social interaction, identity and belonging. 
  2. Handing Over Play; Teaching Turn Taking with Toddlers is focused on encouraging turn-taking, prosocial behaviour, and communication with toddlers. This includes Movement and Music, where children engage in coordinated passing games; Language and Literacy, which assists in the development of social phrases and verbal interactions; Humanities and Social Sciences, encouraging the idea of fairness as well as the notion of group belonging. 

 3. Friendship Picnic; For 2–3 year-olds, this creative learning opportunity creates empathy, allows for role-playing of social routines, and encourages collaboration. It uses drama and puppetry for the world of social roles, storytelling as a means for social dialogue and the humanities for understanding the roles of friendship and family.

Teaching Resources 

SONGS

"Innane Kapuana" uses music to develop social skills in the children with a song that raises awareness of Aboriginal people and culture and facilitates inclusion, appreciation, and participation that fosters a sense of belonging.

RHYMES 

"Who took the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?" supports social development in children, as it encourages sharing turns, listening, and playful ways of speaking together in an interactive play group that helps interaction, collaboration and gives children a rhythm, repetition and build social confidence.

BOOK

"Little Fox: A Lunch to Share" promotes children’s social development by emphasizing certain values such as kindness, generosity, sharing, etc. through a simple story, where the protagonist shares their food with friends

MOVEMENT ACTIVITY 

"Kindness ball game "activity promotes social development by encouraging turn-taking, cooperation, and communication among children. It also fosters empathy and shared enjoyment as children interact and engage in group play.

"The Hello Kids Greeting Song" encourages positive social interaction among children by learning names, taking turns and recognizing one another in a fun, structured way.

"Open Shut Them" helps to develop children's social skills. The interactive hand movements help them focus, listen, and follow directions together with the group. The song also promotes self-regulation and social bonding, as children settle in unison to a calm, repetitive routine that fosters trust and shared experience.

"Macca the Alpaca "covers topics important to children’s social development and it's about how to be kind, how to stand up to a bully, and how to be true to yourself through Macca’s gentle and faithful character.

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