April 7, 2025 • 11 mins
This podcast will support listeners to:
- Explain why social interaction skills are important, now and in the future.
- Provide ideas for types of play and how to use them to help their child develop social skills.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:03):
Welcome to Vision Australia's podcast series, designed to help children
and young people develop the skills they'll need to open
their future.
Rebecca (00:13):
Hi, my name is Rebecca. I'm a child and family
counsellor here to talk to you today about the role
of play in how young children develop social skills. We'll
look at how you can use your child's play in
a more deliberate way to teach these skills, and hear
from other parents about how they used play as a
teaching opportunity. Sighted children learn so many of their social
(00:34):
skills by watching others and imitating them. Children who are
blind or have low vision may not have as many
incidental learning opportunities, but if we plan it out well,
we can use play as a practical and enjoyable way
to support their learning. Your child needs to learn social
skills so they can communicate effectively with others and develop
(00:55):
and maintain relationships with friends, family, other children, and adults.
Play is not just something children do for fun. It
plays a key role in learning how to spend time
with other people. Through play, your child becomes aware of
others and practices interacting with them at the same time
as doing the things they enjoy. The development of social
(01:16):
skills goes through three stages awareness, interaction, and evaluation. In
their early years, young children need to develop not only
an awareness of other people, but also of themselves and
their own identity. When they have a sense of self,
they can make choices and have influence over others. Then,
when it comes to getting along with others, knowing and
(01:38):
following the social rules can really help. Play is a
great opportunity for your child to start building the foundations
for their social interaction skills. Very young children and I'm
talking about from birth to two years old, start to
learn to play. And they do this by playing with you.
(01:58):
You are both your child's playmate and their best teacher.
You may not have thought about it as play, but
activities such as tickling, blowing raspberries and bath time all
provide wonderful opportunities for play and learning basic social interaction skills.
For example, in a game of tickling, there is anticipation
for both you and your child and an opportunity for
(02:21):
your child to learn that if they respond in a
certain way, for example, giggle, wiggle, or laying very still,
you will tickle them again. If you repeat this sequence
many times, your child will learn how to play a
back and forth game. To help your child learn these games.
Make sure you attend very closely to their reactions so
(02:41):
you can respond and keep the game going. The challenge
here is that your child may not be able to
see your facial expressions, so your voice and touch become
very important. Have a listen to how this mum uses
her voice when playing with her child.
Mum (02:56):
Are you ready for a. Tickle tickle tickle Are you
ready for a tickle, Tickle, tickle. Tickle, tickle. Are you
(03:19):
ready for. Tickle tickle tickle tickle tickle.
Rebecca (03:26):
Did you hear how she used her voice to build
anticipation and pause? To wait for a response? How did
her child know that their mother understood what they wanted?
Now let's talk about toddlers and how they learn social
skills through play. Most toddlers engage in what we call
(03:48):
parallel play. They may be playing in the sandpit, for example,
next to another child, both digging and building, but they're
not playing together. Parallel play creates opportunities for your child
to learn new social skills such as sharing, waiting their turn,
and connecting with others. So how can you support this? Well, firstly,
your child may not even be aware there is another
(04:09):
child in the sandpit. You need to help them realise
this and work out where in relation to themselves this
child is playing and what they are doing.
S4 (04:18):
Hey Maya, you've got a bucket. Can Lucy sit with
you and play with that bucket? Would you like to
share with Lucy?
Rebecca (04:24):
It's also important to let your child know when they
show some good interaction skills, such as reaching out towards
the other child or talking to them. Play doesn't just
need to be with other children. By being your child's playmate,
you'll be able to plan and deliberately create opportunities for
them to learn. As your child's playmate, ask them if
you can play with them to model how they can
(04:46):
do this with other children. When you describe what you
observe your child is doing. Ask what you should do.
This helps them become aware of basic rules, offering them
a toy that you're playing with or asking for a
toy they are using introduces sharing and taking turns. And
if once they've had their turn to play, your child
(05:06):
doesn't want to share or take turns explaining how that
makes you feel gives them important cues about how their
actions affect others. This is particularly helpful since they won't
be able to see how you're expressing your disappointment with
facial expressions and body posture. Between 3 and 4 years old,
children start imaginative play. Sometimes this is by themselves with
(05:30):
dolls or toy cars, for example, and other times it's
with others, like when they play dress ups. This type
of play involves pretending and acting out roles and situations.
Pretend play is such a fantastic type of play for
your child to develop their social skills. Even if they
are playing by themselves. The interactions they're having with their
(05:51):
toys are very real to them, and you can start
to make them aware of some of the elements of
interacting by describing what you observe them doing and asking questions.
For example oh no, the fence is broken. Does it
need fixing?
Mum (06:04):
We found when we did pretend play it was easiest
to replicate something that we actually have done in real
life for Holland. Understand? For example, we used to go
out on the boat all the time, so we created
a cardboard. Boat and Holland would pretend play in the
cardboard boat.
Rebecca (06:23):
Where do you start? Well, start by considering where your
child is at in their social skills development and what
would be the next skill. The personalized checklist may also
be helpful here. For example, you may have noticed that
your child is starting to show an interest in other
children but doesn't know how to connect with them yet.
Reflect on what that looks like in your child's world.
(06:44):
Where would your child meet other people? How would you
like them to make contact and greet them? Now think
about an imaginative game that has opportunities to pretend to
meet another child. One option is playing house one of
your lives at the house, and the other is visiting
the house with their mum. Your child can knock on
a pretend door and you can open the door and say,
Hi Jimmy, do you want to play? Switching roles during
(07:07):
the play will give your child an opportunity to imitate
your behavior in that role. Describing what's going to happen
in the play can also be helpful. When playing shop.
You might say, I'm going to go to the shop today.
Here is the shop and I am walking in now.
Doll makes a nice sound to let the shop owner
know that I'm here. I hope the shop owner is
(07:28):
nice and says hello to me. Your child may or
may not pick up on the hint. That's okay. It
takes repetition for your children to recognise the cues. In
social situations. You can initiate the greeting. Hello shopkeeper, how
are you today? Remember that this is a play opportunity
and play needs to be fun. So let the play
flow and trust that with repeated practice, your child will
(07:50):
start to increase their range of social skills. Be careful
not to ask too many questions as this can put
a lot of pressure on your child. Instead, include inquisitive
statements like I wonder what will happen if I put
the cake in the oven? Or mm, I can hear
the kettle boiling. When you finish playing tell your child
what you liked about how they played. It was so
(08:12):
nice to hear you asking your friend if they wanted
to play. You did so well saying hello to me
when I came into your shop. Or I really liked
how we took turns being the shopkeeper. Typically, a child
over four years old becomes more interested in playing with
other children. This can be more of a challenge for them,
(08:34):
as other children rarely play by the book. Sometimes children
who are blind or have low vision will hover around
the outskirts of other children playing, listening to find out
what's going on. You can make the play both more
enjoyable and support your child's learning by verbalizing what's happening
and helping your child to join in with the play.
Giving gentle feedback is helpful as well. For example, it
(08:57):
looks like your friend is feeling left out. Can you
tell them what you're doing? At this age, you can
also introduce some structured games with rules. Let's hear from
this mum about some of the games they taught their
child how to play.
Mum (09:11):
We made our own pasta parcels and would all sit
around as a family and pass the parcel. The same
with duck, duck, goose. We would all sit around and
explain and play duck, duck, goose. We also would explain
to Haaland about what a pinata is, and that he
would hit basically a big box with a stick and
lollies would come out.
Rebecca (09:32):
Thank you for sharing. It's great to hear the added
benefit of children learning how to play games that are
often played at birthday parties. I have one final suggestion
for you. Your child's play is a wonderful training ground
for their social skill development, and it may be tempting
to turn every time they play into an active learning opportunity.
But play is also an important way for your child
(09:53):
to learn to be by themselves. So maybe choose just
a few times during the week where you specifically target
social skills. Learning through play. Also, make the most of
any incidental learning opportunities that pop up in your daily routine.
Be mindful though, if either of you are tired or distracted.
Active learning and teaching may not be the best thing
to do. Before we finish this episode, I'd love to
(10:16):
give you a challenge. How can you build in some
social skill learning through play opportunities with your child? When
in the next week or so, do you have some
time where you can relax and play together? What type
of game will you play and what is one small
social skill you can focus on? Don't forget, have some fun.
Mum (10:35):
Are you ready, Lucy? Should we swing? One. Two. Three. Swinging.
Rebecca (10:47):
Thanks for joining me. See you next time.
S8 (10:52):
Vision Australia. Blindness. Low vision. Opportunity.
Rebecca (10:57):
This podcast was written using the research and ideas of
Sharon Z. Sacks on social interaction in ECC essentials, teaching
the Expanded Core Curriculum to students with visual impairments. Check
out our other Expanded Core Curriculum social interaction resources.
Welcome to Vision Australia's podcast series, designed to help children
and young people develop the skills they'll need to open
their future.
Rebecca (00:13):
Hi, my name is Rebecca. I'm a child and family
counsellor here to talk to you today about the role
of play in how young children develop social skills. We'll
look at how you can use your child's play in
a more deliberate way to teach these skills, and hear
from other parents about how they used play as a
teaching opportunity. Sighted children learn so many of their social
(00:34):
skills by watching others and imitating them. Children who are
blind or have low vision may not have as many
incidental learning opportunities, but if we plan it out well,
we can use play as a practical and enjoyable way
to support their learning. Your child needs to learn social
skills so they can communicate effectively with others and develop
(00:55):
and maintain relationships with friends, family, other children, and adults.
Play is not just something children do for fun. It
plays a key role in learning how to spend time
with other people. Through play, your child becomes aware of
others and practices interacting with them at the same time
as doing the things they enjoy. The development of social
(01:16):
skills goes through three stages awareness, interaction, and evaluation. In
their early years, young children need to develop not only
an awareness of other people, but also of themselves and
their own identity. When they have a sense of self,
they can make choices and have influence over others. Then,
when it comes to getting along with others, knowing and
(01:38):
following the social rules can really help. Play is a
great opportunity for your child to start building the foundations
for their social interaction skills. Very young children and I'm
talking about from birth to two years old, start to
learn to play. And they do this by playing with you.
(01:58):
You are both your child's playmate and their best teacher.
You may not have thought about it as play, but
activities such as tickling, blowing raspberries and bath time all
provide wonderful opportunities for play and learning basic social interaction skills.
For example, in a game of tickling, there is anticipation
for both you and your child and an opportunity for
(02:21):
your child to learn that if they respond in a
certain way, for example, giggle, wiggle, or laying very still,
you will tickle them again. If you repeat this sequence
many times, your child will learn how to play a
back and forth game. To help your child learn these games.
Make sure you attend very closely to their reactions so
(02:41):
you can respond and keep the game going. The challenge
here is that your child may not be able to
see your facial expressions, so your voice and touch become
very important. Have a listen to how this mum uses
her voice when playing with her child.
Mum (02:56):
Are you ready for a. Tickle tickle tickle Are you
ready for a tickle, Tickle, tickle. Tickle, tickle. Are you
(03:19):
ready for. Tickle tickle tickle tickle tickle.
Rebecca (03:26):
Did you hear how she used her voice to build
anticipation and pause? To wait for a response? How did
her child know that their mother understood what they wanted?
Now let's talk about toddlers and how they learn social
skills through play. Most toddlers engage in what we call
(03:48):
parallel play. They may be playing in the sandpit, for example,
next to another child, both digging and building, but they're
not playing together. Parallel play creates opportunities for your child
to learn new social skills such as sharing, waiting their turn,
and connecting with others. So how can you support this? Well, firstly,
your child may not even be aware there is another
(04:09):
child in the sandpit. You need to help them realise
this and work out where in relation to themselves this
child is playing and what they are doing.
S4 (04:18):
Hey Maya, you've got a bucket. Can Lucy sit with
you and play with that bucket? Would you like to
share with Lucy?
Rebecca (04:24):
It's also important to let your child know when they
show some good interaction skills, such as reaching out towards
the other child or talking to them. Play doesn't just
need to be with other children. By being your child's playmate,
you'll be able to plan and deliberately create opportunities for
them to learn. As your child's playmate, ask them if
you can play with them to model how they can
(04:46):
do this with other children. When you describe what you
observe your child is doing. Ask what you should do.
This helps them become aware of basic rules, offering them
a toy that you're playing with or asking for a
toy they are using introduces sharing and taking turns. And
if once they've had their turn to play, your child
(05:06):
doesn't want to share or take turns explaining how that
makes you feel gives them important cues about how their
actions affect others. This is particularly helpful since they won't
be able to see how you're expressing your disappointment with
facial expressions and body posture. Between 3 and 4 years old,
children start imaginative play. Sometimes this is by themselves with
(05:30):
dolls or toy cars, for example, and other times it's
with others, like when they play dress ups. This type
of play involves pretending and acting out roles and situations.
Pretend play is such a fantastic type of play for
your child to develop their social skills. Even if they
are playing by themselves. The interactions they're having with their
(05:51):
toys are very real to them, and you can start
to make them aware of some of the elements of
interacting by describing what you observe them doing and asking questions.
For example oh no, the fence is broken. Does it
need fixing?
Mum (06:04):
We found when we did pretend play it was easiest
to replicate something that we actually have done in real
life for Holland. Understand? For example, we used to go
out on the boat all the time, so we created
a cardboard. Boat and Holland would pretend play in the
cardboard boat.
Rebecca (06:23):
Where do you start? Well, start by considering where your
child is at in their social skills development and what
would be the next skill. The personalized checklist may also
be helpful here. For example, you may have noticed that
your child is starting to show an interest in other
children but doesn't know how to connect with them yet.
Reflect on what that looks like in your child's world.
(06:44):
Where would your child meet other people? How would you
like them to make contact and greet them? Now think
about an imaginative game that has opportunities to pretend to
meet another child. One option is playing house one of
your lives at the house, and the other is visiting
the house with their mum. Your child can knock on
a pretend door and you can open the door and say,
Hi Jimmy, do you want to play? Switching roles during
(07:07):
the play will give your child an opportunity to imitate
your behavior in that role. Describing what's going to happen
in the play can also be helpful. When playing shop.
You might say, I'm going to go to the shop today.
Here is the shop and I am walking in now.
Doll makes a nice sound to let the shop owner
know that I'm here. I hope the shop owner is
(07:28):
nice and says hello to me. Your child may or
may not pick up on the hint. That's okay. It
takes repetition for your children to recognise the cues. In
social situations. You can initiate the greeting. Hello shopkeeper, how
are you today? Remember that this is a play opportunity
and play needs to be fun. So let the play
flow and trust that with repeated practice, your child will
(07:50):
start to increase their range of social skills. Be careful
not to ask too many questions as this can put
a lot of pressure on your child. Instead, include inquisitive
statements like I wonder what will happen if I put
the cake in the oven? Or mm, I can hear
the kettle boiling. When you finish playing tell your child
what you liked about how they played. It was so
(08:12):
nice to hear you asking your friend if they wanted
to play. You did so well saying hello to me
when I came into your shop. Or I really liked
how we took turns being the shopkeeper. Typically, a child
over four years old becomes more interested in playing with
other children. This can be more of a challenge for them,
(08:34):
as other children rarely play by the book. Sometimes children
who are blind or have low vision will hover around
the outskirts of other children playing, listening to find out
what's going on. You can make the play both more
enjoyable and support your child's learning by verbalizing what's happening
and helping your child to join in with the play.
Giving gentle feedback is helpful as well. For example, it
(08:57):
looks like your friend is feeling left out. Can you
tell them what you're doing? At this age, you can
also introduce some structured games with rules. Let's hear from
this mum about some of the games they taught their
child how to play.
Mum (09:11):
We made our own pasta parcels and would all sit
around as a family and pass the parcel. The same
with duck, duck, goose. We would all sit around and
explain and play duck, duck, goose. We also would explain
to Haaland about what a pinata is, and that he
would hit basically a big box with a stick and
lollies would come out.
Rebecca (09:32):
Thank you for sharing. It's great to hear the added
benefit of children learning how to play games that are
often played at birthday parties. I have one final suggestion
for you. Your child's play is a wonderful training ground
for their social skill development, and it may be tempting
to turn every time they play into an active learning opportunity.
But play is also an important way for your child
(09:53):
to learn to be by themselves. So maybe choose just
a few times during the week where you specifically target
social skills. Learning through play. Also, make the most of
any incidental learning opportunities that pop up in your daily routine.
Be mindful though, if either of you are tired or distracted.
Active learning and teaching may not be the best thing
to do. Before we finish this episode, I'd love to
(10:16):
give you a challenge. How can you build in some
social skill learning through play opportunities with your child? When
in the next week or so, do you have some
time where you can relax and play together? What type
of game will you play and what is one small
social skill you can focus on? Don't forget, have some fun.
Mum (10:35):
Are you ready, Lucy? Should we swing? One. Two. Three. Swinging.
Rebecca (10:47):
Thanks for joining me. See you next time.
S8 (10:52):
Vision Australia. Blindness. Low vision. Opportunity.
Rebecca (10:57):
This podcast was written using the research and ideas of
Sharon Z. Sacks on social interaction in ECC essentials, teaching
the Expanded Core Curriculum to students with visual impairments. Check
out our other Expanded Core Curriculum social interaction resources.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.