There is nothing wrong with being a little reserved. But, when kids feel shy, they stop enjoying or experiencing new things even though they genuinely want to do it. How can you help your children overcome shyness?
Trying not to be shy is not trying to change the kid’s temperament. It is more about respecting and honoring the temperament and the variations to help the child to be not affected by the environment. Being shy is not a bad thing, but if this is keeping your child from enjoying and appreciating the joys of life, they are missing a lot of things.
Shy children could be highly sensitive and highly affected by their environment. Few others are introverts and need time away from the people to renew themselves and their energy.Few of the children are simply uninterested in the social interaction. However, there are rest of the kids who we think feel awkward in a social situation or are anxious. We have mostly seen the kids snuggled around their mother’s lap, what can you do about it?
How can you support your child to become more comfortable in a social situation? As a parent, it is natural to worry if your child feels awkward and anxious with other people. We all want our kids to make friends easily and feel comfortable in the group of people asking questions at school or sticking up for themselves. The best part is that kids usually manage to learn the social anxiety and speak up for themselves with some extra support.
Shyness in child development:
Is being shy that something we learn or we are born with? Apparently, the answer to this is both. A child is usually hesitant to approach an unknown or unfamiliar object or speak with strangers. But as they grow it was found out that most of the kids have outgrown the shyness, and a tiny percentage of them are still consistently shy. It is also possible that your little one could be temporarily inclined towards the feeling of acting. It is also possible that your little one could be temporarily inclined towards feeling of acting shy. Separation anxiety, stranger anxiety and other such things create shy behavior in kids. The other behaviors like avoiding eye contact or turning away the head while talking to someone and hiding themselves behind their mother also come in the category of shyness. There are also physical conditions in which the kid shows up their anxiety – racing heart, flushing, thrashing out for a baby or crying. And then are the thoughts which make them ponder why everyone is staring at them or that they have no idea what they need to say. It could be either long-lasting or recursive.
How can you help your child overcome shyness?
Some parents feel that they must accept their shy child the way they are. But there are others to focus on teaching to overcome shyness and be able to interact more comfortable in a social environment. What matters is the best support from the parents to let the child build their own personality and have a keen self-awareness. There are few activities to overcome shyness.
1. Teach them the way:
Maybe your shy child needs you along with them while they are in the sand box even though the other parents could be sitting and chit chatting on the benches. It is worthy for you to put your feet into the sand, so they feel safe.
2. Nurture your kid by knowing their needs:
When an extremely nursing mother understands her highly sensitive child, they become leaders in the group. And on the contrary, a highly sensitive child nurtured by a less responsive mother seems anxious and fearful. What we want to highlight by this is that because the mother is more aware of the needs of her children the kids can negotiate better and learn to come themselves.
3. Empathize:
It is always good to acknowledge what your child feels without passing negative judgements. Then you give your kids an impression that there is probably something not correct in them, it makes them feel worse and insecure. Empathizing is the best way you can win your kid’s trust and help him to enhance the social skills by connecting them to yourself and with others.
4. Set the stage:
You must encourage your friends and family to interact more with your child. Let them know that your child is shy and takes time warm up. Ask them to create an environment for your shy kids to adjust.
5. Kids learn from watching us:
Be the role model for your child and help them to learn from your behavior. You must be friendly to strangers, having a relaxed attitude and offering help to others with a confident interaction of all kind socially.
6. How to join to make new friends:
A good way to go about this would be to play “role play” games and see how your child responds. It is also ok to go and play in the park with your child having him introduced to the others. Be it a party or a playground; it is sensible to introduce your child to others. In this way the child she is secure and fits into the group easily.
7. Help your child to discover their strengths:
As a parent, you have to understand their personalities if they are not talking and along with their emotions. As you help your child to become more social, let them know that you are teaching your child to become more comfortable and so that they can enjoy themselves. And let them know clearly that you’re not doing this because you feel that your child is different.
8. Quotes your child stand up for themselves in a social situation:
What all must know to express their needs and be confident and what they can handle especially when the parents around. This is very much important for the kids to not be a victim of a bully. Role play helps here as well to see what and how your kid manages their anxiety and how they respond to such situations and the outcome.
9. Do label your child:
Never point out your child that they are shy. It creates a negative impact on the child. Instead, similar to the second point empathize and let the little one know that they can overcome their fears.
10. Indulge in daily interaction:
Your tires might need a downtime however you can give them plenty of opportunities to practice the Social Skill. You can provide your child with a small chance every day to interact with others. Encourage your child to talk at the dinner about one good thing that a person in the family did that day.
11. Do not push your child:
As a parent, you are bound to worry and put your child to perform. This is wrong. Let your unique child be taking things at their own pace.
12. One good friend is body many acquaintances:
Your child does not have to be in the life of the party always. They might have only one person they connect to and having that one good person is important.
