How's your child fitting in with peers?

WHAT’S GOING ON?

Throughout elementary school, children's center of socialization expands from the family to their peer group, and they become more and more sensitive to how they fit in with the group.

At this age, kids are graduating from playmates based mainly on proximity and convenience – they live next door and have good toys – to a more nuanced awareness of other kids's feelings and a sense of reciprocity in friendship. The increasing ability to form close friendships is one of the important tasks of childhood, as much research has shown that friends increase health and wellbeing throughout our lives (1).

Returning to school is a heady time for peer relations as everybody attempts to reconnect with old friends and navigate new groups. Groups may shift from last year – this can be an age when children increasingly desire to play with only same-gender children, or when some children turn toward games with rules and away from imaginative play – so a variety of things may affect who your child plays with and how they feel they fit in.

How does this apply to your child?

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