Join In and Play by Cheri J. Meiners, M. Ed.

Brief Overview:

In this book, children are placed in realistic scenarios of situations that could often happen at a school setting and teaches you how to deal with it. This book can help build up anyone’s social skills, any person, any age. For the shy child, it teaches children how to take initiative to join in when others may already be in their own groups playing and can be as simple as saying “Hello” and how to respond to that hello by listening. I appreciate how it included a page or two on how to ask a grown up if you feel you would like a little help to join in. It dabbles on empathy and how to show respect when playing or interacting with others.

Thoughts:

I was looking for a book focusing on social skills and how to be a friends and happen to come upon this. This is truly the perfect “how to” for kids on what’s appropriate or not when it comes to stepping into an activity that’s already started, how to take part when others may be mingling already in their own group or what you should do at school if day, you sometimes get picked last for something.

No pun intended, but this by far my absolute favorite book on “how to join in and play.” This book is a must for every child who will be attending school or really any child who interacts with other children, such as in the park or playgroup. I would highly recommend this book for any person, regardless of age (essentially for anyone’s who has ever experienced feeling left out and would like to feel included– haven’t we all?😉).

Social skills are so important, yet not often taught or emphasized in the classroom. It’s often, “That’s not nice. Don’t do it again” especially when school can be fast paced and teachers don’t always have enough help or perhaps special training on how to foster and grow a child’s social and emotional skills.

Children learn academics in school; they sometimes get to be creative in the arts; play games during recess; but how often do schools work on empathy and mindfulness? How often do teachers even have the time to ask “Why did you do that? How do you feel? How do you think your friends feel?” Or “How can we play fairly and respectfully?” Social competence is the core of success in each of those content areas whether it be at school, home, at the work place, in social gatherings or social events; even the commute to work or waiting in the waiting room at a hospital or reading a book quietly amongst others, in the library. Life is about experiences and connecting; sharing and growing.

As a preschool teacher for several years before deciding to become a stay at home mom, I’ve seen children who knew exactly what to do when they desired to fit in during an active conversation or group activity. I’ve seen other children who may have needed a little assistance from adults to step up and facilitate before knowing how to respond, what to say or ask. Boy do I wish I had this book when I was still teaching! I’m so happy I found this book after I had my girls. I will be gifting it to my daughters’ teachers the beginning of the school year, coming in September.

Parents, teachers and professionals, I encourage you to add this book into your library if you don’t already have it! It’s a great refresher for adults and a good foundation for children looking to begin and further develop their social skills.

I will be including this book in my post sometime in August for Back to School Book Recommendations. Please subscribe and follow me on Facebook and Instagram if you want to see all my latest posts! Share in the comments below, your best finds for books that teach social skills to children! I will also be giving a copy away as part of the Back to School Giveaway in August. Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.