A huge number of people battle with shyness on a daily basis, rendering what others would consider to be simple tasks extremely difficult. You may even be shy yourself and know how uncomfortable it can make your life, which is why seeing shyness in your child is even more concerning.
To an extent, very young children are generally prone to shyness due to necessity. For their formative years, they will spend much of their life in the same places, surrounded by the same people. They don’t socialise much; they definitely don’t network; and their social skills are years from needing to be developed. So when confronted by new people and new situations, of course they are going to feel reticent.
Over time, a large number of children will shed this inclination and be able to find a way to feel more comfortable around other people. Extroverted personalities will emerge, and they will feel less need to cling to you for reassurance. Of course, in some cases, this just doesn’t happen, and you find yourself needing techniques to encourage a shy child to come out of their shell.
Introduce Them To People Early
Wherever possible in the formative years of your child’s life, introduce them to new people, situations, and group settings. This helps accustom them to being around others, as well as nurturing the need for them to make themselves heard in a group of people. With the assistance of the likes of Piptree early learning, you can get them on the road to not only encouraging their mind, but their social skills as well. Confidence comes with time, so the more practice they have - and the earlier they have it - the better.
Go At Their Pace
You might hope that your child will run forward to engage in a game, willingly throwing themselves into something exciting and forgetting their inhibitions. You can be confident that they will enjoy it when they get involved, so it’s tempting to nudge them into throwing themselves into whatever activity is in question. This might seem helpful, but it’s actually the exact opposite for a shy child. If they want to take time to assess the situation and build up their confidence, then it’s completely within their purview to do so. Go at their pace; not what you consider ‘normal’ or ‘natural’.
Start Small
To help your child grow in confidence when it comes to being around other people, introduce them to small groups to begin with. Three or four different people they have never met before, ideally including some children of around the same age as them. If you start with a big party of 20+ people, that’s going to be intimidating for anyone, not just a shy child - so take your time and increase the numbers as slowly as possible.
Accept It
Shyness is always something you can work on, but for some children, it’s just an inherent part of their personality. They’re never going to be the life and soul of the party, and that’s okay. They will have much to offer people and the world at large, but they’ll do it at their own pace - and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
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