Handout #8: Promoting Positive Peer Social Interactions

Teach peers positive social interactions during daily large group activities.

Circle time or story time usually provide good opportunities to take a few minutes to teach these skills. Skills are taught by:

Explaining the skill
Demonstrating the correct way to use it
Demonstrating an incorrect way and letting the children figure out what step was missing
Letting a child practice a skill with an adult
Letting a child practice a skill with another child
Providing positive feedback and attention on use of the skills

The target social skills are:

Getting a friend's attention
Sharing objects
Asking peers to share objects
Providing a play idea to a peer
Saying something nice to a friend

Monitor playtime for naturally occurring positive peer social interactions.

Teachers should be actively moving around the classroom, interacting with children during play, and looking for children using the targeted social skills. Additionally, teachers should be ready to provide assistance to children as needed so they can interact successfully with their peers.

Provide cueing as needed by reminding children to:

Play together
Share with their friends
Be persistent

Provide additional assistance to children as needed to ensure that peer social interactions are successful. For example:

Modeling
Specific verbal cues (e.g., Remember to tap him on the shoulder)
Physical assistance

Provide positive attention to children who are using targeted social skills naturally with:

Positive feedback and attention
Superstar System

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This material was developed by the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (Cooperative Agreement N. PHS 90YD0119). The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial projects, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. You may reproduce this material for training and information purposes.

We welcome your feedback on this What Works Brief. Please go to the CSEFEL Web site (http://csefel.uiuc.edu) or call us at (217) 333-4123 to offer suggestions.