How Has Infant and Toddler Socialization Been Affected by the Pandemic?

Infant and Toddler Socialization
 

As you well know, the past year has been difficult for our children in so many ways. With social distancing, less time in childcare, and less time playing with other kids, our children have not only experienced social isolation and loneliness, but have missed out on opportunities for cognitive and social development as well.

Without the stimulation they would normally get outside the home, children can experience developmental delays, such as delays in speech and language, as well as trouble sharing and being in groups. Socialization is crucial not only to a child’s happiness, but to their healthy development as well.

Adverse Life Events Can Have Long-Term Effects on Child Development

Infant and Toddler Socialization
Many studies show that adverse life events early in a child’s life (also known as Adverse Child Experiences) can negatively impact their health and development. These events can include any negative or potentially traumatic experience.

Adverse life events in childhood can be detrimental to brain development and overall health, and have the potential to result in long-term effects such as learning disabilities, depression, heart conditions, and more. While not every child who experiences an adverse life event suffers from these effects, their chances of developing these or similar health issues are increased by these events.

A worldwide pandemic certainly qualifies as an adverse life event. Not to mention the other difficulties that have stemmed from the pandemic for many families, ranging from adjusting to social distancing and other health safety precautions to experiencing housing and food insecurity or even increased domestic abuse and neglect. These experiences can have long-term effects on a child.

Childcare providers are already noticing effects the pandemic is having on children, such as delays in the development of their speech and language skills, trouble sharing and being in groups, and a general sense of heightened awareness of the world around them (making sure they’re distanced from one another, that they don’t touch items other kids have, etc).

This is the age when kids learn how to share, but it’s tough to learn how to share when you’re not supposed to touch something another kid is touching! When you’ve learned not to do something through a traumatic experience, it can be difficult to then have to relearn that thing later in life.

Socialization Plays an Important Role in Development

Infant and Toddler Socialization
Socialization is an extremely important part of child development. When kids socialize with one another, they learn what are called executive functioning skills — things like impulse control, the mental flexibility to solve complex problems, and the ability to hold multiple thoughts at once. Socialization also helps children hone their language skills and build social and emotional skills such as learning to share and follow rules. For these reasons, it’s important for kids to be socially engaged right from the start.

Isolation from other kids can have a significant effect on a child’s development of social competence and relationships. It’s within interactions with their peers that children learn how to reciprocate relationships, respect other opinions, and maintain conversations.

This ability to understand others’ perspectives, viewpoints, and emotions is called theory of mind. Developing these social-cognitive skills results in children who are more empathetic and kind to others than those who fail to develop this understanding.

During the pandemic, kids have missed out on a lot of opportunities to play and interact with their peers. The level of isolation many children have experienced could impair their development of these crucial skills and behaviors and impact their relationships with one another.

What Parents and Caregivers Can Do

The good news in all of this is that children are resilient. With the help of their parents, teachers, and other caregivers, kids can recover what was lost this year.

High quality early childcare programming can help support cognitive and academic development as well as key social emotional learning. But coming out of what has been a stressful year, it’s also important to help kids relax and play as much as possible right now.

While summer school and tutoring may help bridge the gap academically, one of the things kids need most right now is play. Give them as many opportunities to play with other kids as you can. Reintroducing them to a more social life will go a long way to recouping what they’ve lost over the past year and help ease the effects of the pandemic on their development.

At Take Note Studio, we offer the best of both worlds in our Kindermusik program! In this program, kids enjoy engaging musical learning experiences that aid in brain development, all while having a whole lot of fun! 

Find more information and sign up here for a complimentary Kindermusik class!

Complimentary Kindermusik Class

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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