Interactive Skills

By learning to use gestures and words, they will start to communicate and interact with others in more complex ways.

Children develop interactive skills from the moment they are born. They quickly start bonding with their parents and siblings by making eye contact and interacting with different pitches and tones of voice.

As they grow and develop, so do their interactive and social skills. By learning to use gestures and words, they will start to communicate and interact with others in more complex ways.

Children learn interpersonal and social skills based on their experiences – by what worked in the past. Young babies may scream and cry to let their parents know they are hungry. As a child gets older, screaming for food becomes less and less acceptable – once some basic language has been learned it becomes more appropriate to ask for food. With time, practice and encouragement, children will learn that communicating using words and sentences, including the word ‘please,’ to ask for food maybe the best way to get what they want.

At this age, your 1 year old will develop a very specific image of his social world. He is at the centre, and while he will need you to remain close by, he is most concerned about how everything around him fits in relation to himself. He is aware of the people around him, and they barely interest him, but he is yet to be conscious of how they think or what they feel. For now, he believes that everyone thinks as he does. Activities that can help in your 1 year old’s Interactive skill development:

• Be his role model by showing him how words and listening can be used to resolve conflicts. For example: “I know you want to get down and walk, but you must hold my hand so I know you’re safe”
• Encourage your child to play with other children his age and share his toys. Although the concept of sharing might not be understood yet, introducing it early on can make it easier to grasp in the future.
• Praise the process and not just the result of what your child is trying to complete.
• Engage in interactive games such as “peek-a-boo”, playing with a ball together or “catch me if you can”.