How Can I Help My Kid Make Friends?
One of the most basic and often overlooked social skills our kids need to learn in order to be approachable and available to make friends is to greet others appropriately. Last summer, when I taught campers how to introduce themselves to others, step 1 included smiling and making eye contact. That step holds true for…
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Why Making Friends is One of the Most Important Things that Happens at Summer Camp
“Friendship is the gold of childhood” Michael Thompson, Ph.D. When I saw this TED Talk by Susan Pinker, “The Secret to Living Longer May be Your Social Life,” I was reminded once again of the crucial importance of relationships and social connections to our children’s (and our own!) life-long health and happiness. Children and adolescents…
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3 Simple Techniques to Help Kids Make Friends
Coaching kids on their social skills is one of the most helpful things caring adults can do to positively impact children’s lives. Why are social skills so important? We need look no further than the 75-Year Harvard Study (and our own life experience) to know that it is NOT what college our kids attend or…
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Ep. 4: Giving Kids’ Phones a “Vacation”
“We want this party to be with all the girls being present and in the moment with their friends.” -Ashley, Parent Ashley’s Facebook post caught my attention – it was a photo of the text she had sent to the parents of the 22 (yes, you read that correctly, TWENTY-TWO!) girls invited to her…
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Five (MORE) Reasons Great Parents Send Their Kids to Camp
There are so many reasons great parents choose to send their kids to summer camp. Two years ago, I shared five of them on the most popular post I’ve ever published. But now I have more to share. Consider this the second installment in a series with others to follow, because the list of ways…
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10 Surprising Things Kids Learn at Camp
I would not be the person I am today without camp. -15-year-old camper My three decades of camp experience, coupled with my own and others’ research, have shaped my long-held opinion that camp experiences benefit children in profound ways. Yet even I was astounded by the revelations shared at our closing campfires last summer for…
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5 Steps to Help Kids Resolve Conflicts
The Conflict Resolution Wheel I’ve always considered myself non-confrontational and I do my best to avoid conflict. In researching ways to teach kids conflict resolution skills, I’ve discovered that avoidance is actually a choice on the “Conflict Resolution Wheel.” I’m primarily a “walk away” or “go play with somebody else” conflict resolver. And, perhaps because…
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10 Social Skills Kids Learn at Camp
At one of my son’s soccer games this fall, a mom on our team offered her son $50 for each goal he scored. He had the highest scoring game of his life, and his mom had to fork over enough cash for a new iPhone. This anecdote illustrates something I have long felt to be…
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It’s Not All Bullying
A few summers ago, a ten-year-old camper wrote a letter home telling his parents he was being bullied at camp. His irate mother called to let us know. I was very concerned, so I went to talk with the camper right away. I expected to find a sullen boy sitting in the corner of…
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“Pay it Forward” Day is April 24
No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted. -Aesop I usually rush through the day thinking about what I need to get done and consumed by all the stuff that weighs on my time and my brain. And yet, being aware of those around me and doing a simple act of kindness can change…
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Making Friends: Developing Emotional Intelligence
Why should we care so much about our kids making friends? Because children with friends show many positive characteristics that continue into adulthood, including more of all of these traits than their friendless peers: • Happiness • Confidence • Altruism • Cooperation • Ability to take different perspectives • Achievement and work-orientation But what exactly…
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Five Reasons Great Parents Send Their Kids to Camp
My shy, quiet nine-year-old went to camp not knowing a soul. Two weeks later, she came home transformed. She blossomed. She made friends, learned a multitude of activities, felt safe, loved, confident, and happy — really, really happy. As hard as it was on me, it was all worth it for her. It was the single…
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