3 year old has hard time socializing with other kids?

Question

My daughter will be 3 in a couple of months, and she's always been a stay at home kid. She has always been shy around kids at the playground as well as adults. I've had her in a mommy and me class and a playgroup for the past 6 months. She hasn't seemed to warm up to the kids and prefers to play by them but not interact with them. HOw can I help my child make friends?

Answer 1

Continue what you are doing.  Possibly invite one or two kids to your house frequently so that she has the opportunity to become better friends in a familiar environment.  Arrange the situation so that they must interact to build something with legos, make a mural, make play dough, etc.  

Also remember that kids go through a stage called "parallel play" where they are more comfortable to play alongside another child rather than interact in play with the child.  Parallel play is very common in children of your daughter's age.  This stage usually progresses to interactive play.

Answer 2

My cousin, who is also 3, had a problem like this. Her mom had picnics where she had her friends come over for a pool party and had some snacks. Her mom would sit on the side watching the kids run around-she also asked one of the girls to ask my cousin to go play on the swings with her. My cousin did and now those two are best friends! Hope that helps!

Answer 3

What my parents did for me was they made/ organized a playgroup in my neighbor hood when i was really little and I got to know lots of people that i know today. Just have the Moms or unusually dedicated dads bring their kid to your house and they can play while the parents chat and watch them. Its really good to start of shy or aggresive kids because all the parents are there and they don't have to actually play with each other, just being around others helps drastically. Of course I would not reccomend this if you live in a bad neighborhood.

Answer 4

She is not even 3 yet, RELAX.

Children learn to play with each other by playing next to each other, but not with each other.

Just keep doing what you are doing and she will learn.

You don't mention how talkative she is.

As she learns to communicate better she will seem more social.

Give her another year, yes a full year to blossom into a social butterfly.

Answer 5

Try to have a playdate but not let on about it until the day of. That opened up my daughter. She's school president now! Also try to observe and see what other kids do the same and try to convince her to play.

Answer 6

Maybe you can have some family members around her age come to visit. Maybe you can hire a baby-sitter so your daughter  can meet new people other than you. If you have any friends or neighbors who have children her age you should invite them over. You can send her to a pre-school so she can talk to other kids, but make sure there is one-on-one care with a teacher since she is shy. If you have her around other people she will eventually learn to interact with them. I think it is unhealthy for a child to socialize with only her parent and not anyone else. Having her stay home is taking her away from everything that she will need in the future.