Using skits to teach social skills (For All Ages)
Goal 1: Develop play skills
Materials: Two dolls, puppets, or pictures of children; several small blocks or other objects
General Information: To adequately learn about ways to interact with others, teachers need to point out the pertinent features of the interplay, and pose questions that help children clarify their understanding. Older children benefit from opportunities to reenact the scenes and to generate their own.
Procedure: Select one play skill as a focus. Decide on the medium of presentation. Use props such as dolls, puppets, or photographs of children (rather than animals or cartoon characters). Dolls, puppets, or photos need to be of both boys and girls, of different ethnic groups, and differing physical abilities. Outline a script that consists of five parts: demonstration of a skill, demonstration of lack of the skill, explanation by an adult, discussion by the children, and opportunity for children to use the props. Write out statements and questions you will use for the discussion. Which characters demonstrated the skill, which showed lack of the skill, the reaction of each character, how viewers evaluated the behaviors and why, and what they think the characters could do to improve their situation. Be sure to include both effective strategies and ineffective strategies. Doing so is important for helping children distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behaviors in a variety of situations. Rehearse the skit until you are comfortable with it, then introduce it to children. Seat the children in a semicircle, facing everyone so that they can see your face, hands, and all the space directly in front of you. Use a low bench or table to display the props. Say, "Today we are going to talk about friends. Here are two dolls; we're going to pretend that they are real children just like you. Their names are Sarvesh and Cathy. They are 5 years old and go to a school just like ours. Watch carefully and see what happens." After you present the skit, ask the questions you prepared, adapting them to situations that arise. Paraphrase children's ideas. If children have difficulty thinking of ideas, prompt them by giving suggestions. Once children suggest their ideas, replay the scene, using each suggestion, one at a time. Ask children to predict how Sarvesh will react in each case. Play out the scene as they suggest. Provide further information as appropriate. Help children evaluate how well their solution worked. Summarize for them the ways that worked. Point out that the more unfriendly ways resulted in hurt feelings, anger, sadness, and confusion. Present each social skill numerous times and in several ways across time. Change characters' roles often.
To Simplify: Carry out the activity with a very small group of children, keeping scenarios short and simple. As children suggest solutions, act them out and point out the result.
To Extend: Encourage children to reenact the scenario you demonstrated on their own. Introduce open-ended scenarios where a problem is posed, but not the solution and effective and non-effective are modeled. Invite the children to create a solution and then evaluate it. Let the children act out their own scenarios.
Materials: Two dolls, puppets, or pictures of children; several small blocks or other objects
General Information: To adequately learn about ways to interact with others, teachers need to point out the pertinent features of the interplay, and pose questions that help children clarify their understanding. Older children benefit from opportunities to reenact the scenes and to generate their own.
Procedure: Select one play skill as a focus. Decide on the medium of presentation. Use props such as dolls, puppets, or photographs of children (rather than animals or cartoon characters). Dolls, puppets, or photos need to be of both boys and girls, of different ethnic groups, and differing physical abilities. Outline a script that consists of five parts: demonstration of a skill, demonstration of lack of the skill, explanation by an adult, discussion by the children, and opportunity for children to use the props. Write out statements and questions you will use for the discussion. Which characters demonstrated the skill, which showed lack of the skill, the reaction of each character, how viewers evaluated the behaviors and why, and what they think the characters could do to improve their situation. Be sure to include both effective strategies and ineffective strategies. Doing so is important for helping children distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behaviors in a variety of situations. Rehearse the skit until you are comfortable with it, then introduce it to children. Seat the children in a semicircle, facing everyone so that they can see your face, hands, and all the space directly in front of you. Use a low bench or table to display the props. Say, "Today we are going to talk about friends. Here are two dolls; we're going to pretend that they are real children just like you. Their names are Sarvesh and Cathy. They are 5 years old and go to a school just like ours. Watch carefully and see what happens." After you present the skit, ask the questions you prepared, adapting them to situations that arise. Paraphrase children's ideas. If children have difficulty thinking of ideas, prompt them by giving suggestions. Once children suggest their ideas, replay the scene, using each suggestion, one at a time. Ask children to predict how Sarvesh will react in each case. Play out the scene as they suggest. Provide further information as appropriate. Help children evaluate how well their solution worked. Summarize for them the ways that worked. Point out that the more unfriendly ways resulted in hurt feelings, anger, sadness, and confusion. Present each social skill numerous times and in several ways across time. Change characters' roles often.
To Simplify: Carry out the activity with a very small group of children, keeping scenarios short and simple. As children suggest solutions, act them out and point out the result.
To Extend: Encourage children to reenact the scenario you demonstrated on their own. Introduce open-ended scenarios where a problem is posed, but not the solution and effective and non-effective are modeled. Invite the children to create a solution and then evaluate it. Let the children act out their own scenarios.
