Supporting Children’s Social Development: Strategies for Parents and Caregivers

This list contains a variety of resources associated with strategies for parents and caregivers for supporting a child’s social development.

IEL Resources

• Tip Sheet: Bullying Hurts Everyone
• Tip Sheet: He’s Teasing Me!
• Tip Sheet: Helping Children Learn to Get Along
• Tip Sheet: Helping Siblings Get Along
• Tip Sheet: Kids Who Care
• Tip Sheet: Making and Keeping Friends
• Tip Sheet: Manners and Preschoolers
• Tip Sheet: Play Right—Don’t Bite!
• Tip Sheet: Take a Bold Approach to Shyness
• Tip Sheet: Work and Play Together
• Q&A: Development in Young Children
• Video: Two on a Trike
• Video: Drawing a Friend

Web Resources

• Promoting Positive Peer Social Interactions
  This brief by the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning discusses the importance of successful social interactions to promote positive social and emotional development in children.
• Making Friends and Getting Along with Peers
  This chapter from the book From Neurons to Neighborhoods discusses how establishing relationships with peers is a major developmental task that is not always easy for children.
• Fostering Healthy Social & Emotional Development in Young Children
  These tips, which are organized by age, are intended to help early childhood caregivers support children’s social and emotional development.
• Social Development in 3-5 Year Olds
  Preschoolers are learning sophisticated ways to relate to others. This article provides information on social development, including empathy, imagination, and more.
• Supporting Social-Emotional Development
  This webinar series from Teaching Strategies, featuring short instructional videos, addresses positive relationships, modeling empathy, and the importance of social-emotional and cognitive development.