The first thing that comes to me when I consider how to best position my children for future success is giving them the ability to form connections, be nice, and get along with others. They should have social skills, please!
Regardless matter whether you work as a teacher, parent, or another kind of leader, you’ve undoubtedly had a similar notion. And even though adolescents in high school like going through tedious classes, I believed that injecting some humor would be a better option.
Therefore, I’ve discovered 10 social skills exercises for high school kids that are entertaining, participatory, and aid in developing those crucial abilities. And I’m eager to give some of them a try!
All of the abilities that enable you to interact, collaborate, and form bonds with others around you are referred to as social skills. There are far too many to mention here, but here is a couple!
High school kids must master all of these social skills in addition to others! They’ll be able to establish wholesome connections thanks to it throughout school and beyond. Is there anything a young adult might learn that would be more beneficial?
Fortunately, there are several strategies for developing these abilities, including these social skills exercises!
Are you prepared to engage in some enjoyable social skills exercises? These are them!
Bingo to Get to Know You
Discover yourself bingo is a timeless game for a reason! Give each kid a blank bingo sheet, and ask them to fill it up with some basic information about themselves.
It might be anything they can think of, such as the place they were born, the month they were born, their favorite color, etc. Then they search the room for everyone who has an identical item on their board. They may both cross it off if they discover someone else who has the same information.
Whoever gets a bingo first win!
Role Playing
Role-playing a scenario when someone is having trouble can help you develop empathy. Put a group together for a role play to practice collaboration. Or practice your communication skills by acting out various scenarios!
Whatever you decide, role plays are a terrific way to teach students social skills and are also a lot of fun.
3. Speed “Dating” using Conversation Cards
Try setting the group up speed-dating style and providing them with discussion starters on index cards to improve their communication skills. Encourage kids to converse with one another and practice striking up dialogues.
They’ll get to know one another considerably better and become more at ease conversing with a variety of individuals.
4. Jenga’s benefits
One of my favorite social skills exercises could be this one! Take out a Jenga game and distribute blocks to each member of the party.
Write down what each individual believes to be their best strength. As kids build a Jenga tower, have them read about their characteristics.
Describe the significance of respecting others around you and cooperating with them if you want to succeed.
5. Arguments
Having discussions is a fantastic exercise that aids in understanding social signs and developing respect! Debates may be held on a variety of topics, including the finest pie taste and current events.
The greatest debate subject will depend on the sort of group you are in, but if you need some inspiration, here are some excellent teen-friendly options!
Empathy Chart
I like Hope 5 Hurting Kids’ concept of creating an empathy map. Empathy may be a challenging concept for young brains to fully comprehend, therefore it is helpful to break it down in a fun manner.
This mapping exercise may be beneficial, especially at a period of life when empathy is often forgotten. In essence, you choose a circumstance that the kids could experience and contrast what you observe with how someone feels.
For anybody of any age, the whole experience is very reflecting.
7. Volunteer Project
What about participating in a community service project? Children may develop their social skills by doing service. They interact as they work together to coordinate their efforts, develop empathy for one another, and finish the assignment.
If you’re in a formal setting, you could do a project right there in class, or if you have the means, you may go on a field trip to complete your assignment.
8. Class assembly
A meeting is great, straightforward social skills exercise that you might use often in your class or group.
Change up the responsibilities of the meeting leader, scribe, etc., and allow the kids to provide topics for discussion. They will not only practice their social skills but also get the opportunity to express themselves and feel like they belong.
9. Board of Acts of Kindness
I like the concept of having high school students make a bulletin board listing random acts of kindness.
Find a location for a board that reads “acts of kindness” and put sticky notes or areas for people to post messages about good things they did or the kind things someone else did for them.
It’s a fantastic approach to motivate children to engage, converse, and show kindness to one another while having fun!
How to improve academic performance
10. Scattergories by Group
Play Scattergories with the group divided into smaller groups of three to four persons. The groups may alternately choose various letters. Be ready with ideas for the subjects that each group will use to come up with words that begin with the selected letters.
Although it may be challenging, they will be able to cooperate and take turns selecting various responses to submit as a group.
Neither group earns a point if the other group has the same response. However, a team will score if they provide a unique and pertinent response. The winner is determined by total points.
