How to raise an extraverted child?

Being outgoing is a good trait in children. Outgoing kids often feel comfortable in social interactions and tend to be more successful in life. So, how can parents foster an outgoing child? Let’s find out!

1 Encourage social interaction in children

If parents want their child to be more outgoing, they need to create opportunities for them to communicate and participate in social activities. There are two main types of social activities:

• Structured activities: These are activities planned by adults, such as classes, clubs, teams, etc.
• Unstructured activities: These are free activities, often organized by children themselves, such as playing with friends, participating in games, etc. In unstructured activities, children can express themselves freely, develop leadership skills, and manage groups. In structured activities, children learn to follow rules, work in teams, etc.

Here are some specific suggestions for parents:

• Enroll children in extracurricular classes: Extracurricular classes such as arts, sports, etc., provide great opportunities for children to meet new friends, learn new skills, and develop social relationships.
• Encourage children to participate in community activities: Community activities such as volunteering, helping others, etc., provide children with opportunities to contribute to society and learn how to communicate with different people.
• Create opportunities for children to meet new friends: Parents can organize birthday parties, outings, etc., to give children the chance to meet and make friends with new people.
• Lead by example: Parents should show friendliness and kindness to everyone around them, so that children can follow their example.

Encourage social interaction in children

2 Help children develop social skills

Outgoing children are often friendly and sociable. They enjoy interacting with others and are always ready to participate in group activities. However, outgoing children may lack certain social skills.

Parents need to help children understand how their behavior can impact others. For example, if a child encourages friends to boycott another friend, parents should intervene immediately and help the child understand that this behavior is wrong.

Parents should also teach children how to share and help others. For example, parents can encourage children to help friends in group work or participate in volunteer activities.

Help children develop social skills

3 Acknowledge children’s strengths

Outgoing children often have more confidence than other children. Confidence is an important factor for success in life. Confident children find it easier to make friends, communicate with others, and challenge themselves.

If parents notice their child’s confident and strong actions, they should acknowledge and praise them to motivate the child. For example, when a child presents in front of the class, parents should praise the child for that.

However, parents also need to praise the child correctly to avoid the child becoming arrogant. Arrogance is a negative trait that can make a child proud and distant from others. To avoid this, parents should praise the child’s actions rather than the child themselves. For example, instead of saying “You’re so good,” say “You gave a great presentation.”

Acknowledge children’s strengths

4 Encourage children to respect differences

Children often tend to play with others who are similar to them, with similar personalities and interests. While this is normal, parents also need to teach children to respect the differences of their friends.

Parents should teach children that each person has a different personality and no one is perfect. Being introverted does not mean someone is unfriendly; they just prefer to spend time alone rather than socialize with others.

Parents should encourage children to make friends and be open-minded towards friends with different personalities. This helps children learn to respect differences and develop necessary social skills.

Here are some specific ways parents can teach children to respect differences:

• Lead by example: Parents should show respect to everyone, whether they are different from themselves or not. For example, parents can compliment the beauty of others, even if they have a different appearance.
• Talk to children about differences: Parents should explain to children that everyone has different personalities, interests, and life circumstances. This makes them special and worthy of respect.
• Praise children when they show respect for others: When children show respect for others, parents should praise and encourage them. This helps children understand that their actions are right and deserving of praise.

Encourage children to respect differences

5 Prioritize children’s safety

Outgoing children often enjoy exploring and experiencing new things. While this is good, it can also expose them to dangers. For example, outgoing children may easily be drawn to participate in risky games or be exploited by strangers.

Here are some ways to help outgoing children stay safe:

• Teach children how to recognize friends: Outgoing children often make friends easily. Parents need to teach children how to recognize true friends, avoid befriending bad people, or people who can harm them.
• Be cautious about dangers: Parents need to teach children to be aware of dangers, such as not following strangers, not playing in dangerous places, etc.
• Consider the risks before participating in dangerous activities: Parents need to teach children to consider carefully before engaging in dangerous activities. If children want to participate, parents should accompany them or allow them to participate with older, experienced friends.

Prioritize children’s safety

Above are our insights on 5 ways to raise an outgoing child. We hope you find this article helpful. Thank you for reading!

Source: VnExpress