A new academic year gives children a chance to make new friends and increase their social circle. Here are simple ways in which children and their parents can cherish and treasure school memories right from the beginning of a new class.
Form a Playgroup:
Parents can get in touch with their child’s friends’ families and form a group that can meet outside of school. Go on regular play-dates at the local park, invite them home for indoor games, go out for picnics and attend birthday parties. This helps children know each other on an emotional level and not just as a classmate they study with. Making friends without the pressure of a school set-up especially helps shy and introverted kids who can’t open up or bond with other kids in class.
Common FB Page/Group:
Parents can get together and create an online group/page via FB or Instagram and other similar social platforms to regularly keep each other updated. These help in sharing milestones, events and daily happenings of their children’s lives like a common time capsule. Keep updating this every year and someday this will make a memorable online treasure box of memories to look back to at their growing up years.
Personalized Creations:
Handmade is heart-made, and a personalized gift is sweet and sentimental. It could be a hand-painted bottle/vase, cards or just a keepsake for their spaces. Exchanging books and toys is another way of deepening the bond between friends and helping kids learn the value of sharing their material belongings. Another cute way is to let your child’s friend’s write/draw/paint graffiti or a picture in their favorite corner or spaces and vice-versa.
Write Letters:
This is slightly old-fashioned but writing letters is really very personal and an art by itself. Allow your child to make pen pals and this will help him write out his feelings. Watch them take a much-needed digital break from the online social networking sites to stay in touch with someone from a different country/time-zone. This could eventually help your child be introspective but ensure this isn’t the only way he makes friends or opens up to people as it could be a sign of social anxiety and extreme shyness.
Which are some of the ways in which you plan to treasure your child’s growing up years especially in school? Share your ideas with us and get featured on the blog.
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