Social and Emotional Development

There are many factors that can affect a child’s social and emotional development. It is important that parents and caregivers be aware of how a child develops socially and emotionally and how they can help this process. One activity that can assist development in both areas is play. Sociodramatic play or pretend play is common in early childhood and can have many positive affects on a child’s development. According to Coplan and Arbeau (2009) “Sociodramatic Play becomes increasingly common from ages 3 to 6 years, and is widely viewed as a positive contributor toward cognitive, language, and social-emotional functioning (p 148).

Play forces children to interact with each other and helps them develop social skills. According to Coplan and Arbeau (2009), “Play is the primary context for fostering social interactions with peers for young children and that it helps develop all the skills needed for social interactions” (p 149). While children are playing they also learn how to explore, understand, and regulate their emotions. “Pretend play offers children opportunities to relay, elaborate, explore, and ultimately master situations that involve intense emotional arousal. These experiences help to regulate emotions and reduce anxiety and ultimately promote the development of emotion regulation skills (Coplan & Arbeau, 2009, p151).

A type of controversial play that helps children learn self regulation of their emotions is roughhousing. Rough and tumble play referred to as RT by Coplan and Arbeau, is important in social interactions. RT gives children an outlet to be aggressive while forcing them to control the amount of aggression that they exhibit. “Regulation of aggression may be enhanced by participation in RT play, particularly through the enhancement of excusive control” (Coplan & Arbeau, 2009, p151). Parents and caregivers should recognize how play is important to development and allow children the time to partake in play. RT play may scare some parents and caregiver; however its part in helping a child learn to regulate their aggression should be taken into account when deciding whether or not to allow the child to partake in this activity.

It is important that children engage in prosocial behaviors in early childhood to have a healthy social and emotional development. In her article Bergen talks about a series of studies that followed children who exhibited nonsocial or "withdrawn" play behaviors during preschool. According to Bergen (2002) “they found that early social withdrawal predicts peer rejection, social anxiety, loneliness, depression, and negative self-esteem in later childhood and adolescence, as well as having negative implications for academic success”. It is important that parents and caregivers give their children the opportunities they need to be social in early childhood. This may include setting up play dates, putting the child in childcare, enrolling them in preschool, and enrolling them in kindergarten.

 During the preschool years children begin to direct more of their speech at their peers and begin to interact with a wider range of their peers (Coplan & Arbeau, 2009, p145). This is an important step in a child becoming social and would be greatly hindered if the child did not have access to peers. Preschool children are just learning how to interact with their peers and may need some help from a more experienced individual. According to the Mid-State Central Early Childhood Direction Center (2002), “it is the role of the parent and caregivers to help “coach” a child through social interactions when they need it” (p. 4). Engaging in play and conversation is the main basis of how children develop socio-emotionally in early childhood. It is important that parents and caregivers help children learn how to interact nicely and how to resolve conflicts that may arise among them and their peers. Early childhood is also the time when a child’s personality and emotional control is developing. What they learn in their early childhood can create the foundation for their life long social interactions (Mid-State Central Early Childhood Direction Center, 2002, p. 4). Teachers can help their students to identify their emotions. According to Raver (2003) “using modeling, role play, and group discussion, teachers can devote relatively small amounts of time to instruct children on how to identify and label feelings, how to properly communicate with others about emotions, and how to resolve disputes with peers” (p. 1) Being able to label their feelings allows the child to better communicate their emotions and can help in the child’s emotional adjustment. A child’s early emotional adjustment can affect how well they do in school. According to Raver (2003) children who are emotionally well adjusted have a significantly greater chance of early school success while children who had serious emotional difficulty faced risks of early school difficulty (p. 1).

Interactions that young children have can affect their self-concept and their self confidence. Young children who receive positive feedback from caregivers about their abilities and attempts to succeed have higher self-esteem and self-image than those who receive negative feedback and have their achievements downplayed and ignored (Oswalt, 2016). A child’s peers also affect their self-esteem and self-image. Children with nice, including peers develop a positive self-image. Children who are regularly left out, teased, or bullied develop a low self-image (Oswalt, 2016). The child’s temperament can also affect their self-esteem. Children with the ability to cope with frustrations and challenges are likely to think of themselves as successful, valuable, and good leading to a higher self-esteem. Children who are easily discouraged and frustrated may need extra help to complete tasks which can lead to lower self-esteem (Oswalt, 2016). Caregivers can help their child develop positive self-esteem by teaching them how to work through frustrations and challenges by themselves.

Refrences

Bergen, D. (2002). The Role of Pretend Play in Children's Cognitive Development. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 4(1), p. 1-13. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED464763.pdf

Coplan, R. J., & Arbeau, K. A. (2009). Peer Interactions and Play in Early Childhood. In K. H. Rubin, W. M. Bukowski & B. Laursen (Eds.), Handbook of Peer Interactions, Relationships, and Groups. (143-154). New York: The Guilford Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6x9cfetz-3kC&oi=fnd&pg=PA143&dq=play+early+childhood&ots=l2tZdFy9eT&sig=rpDMi8JDSLH3qs72Dg4_60M6M3o#v=onepage&q=play%20early%20childhood&f=false

Mid-State Central Early Childhood Direction Center (2002). Preschoolers (3 to 5 Year Olds). Understanding Social and Emotional Development in Young Children. Retrieved from http://ecdc.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/BulletinSocialEmotionalDevelopment2.pdf

Oswalt, A. (2016). Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development Identity and Self-esteem. Community Counseling Services.  Retrieved from http://www.communitycounselingservices.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=12766&cn=462

Raver (2003). Young Children’s Emotional Development and School Readiness. ERIC Digest. IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education Champaign. Retrieved from http://jpkc.zjys.net.cn/jpkc/ImgUpload/files/young%20children's%20emotional%20development%20and%20school%20readiness.pdf