How Can You Inspire Your Child to Engage in Teamwork?

From joining sports teams and fun games to taking on group projects and future jobs, your child will use collaboration skills throughout their life. Not only is being a good teammate important for academic and career success, but it’s beneficial in social settings and problem-solving efforts as well. In fact, some of the world’s most impactful, inclusive ideas are the product of many different people working together to solve a problem!

Support Social-Emotional Learning Through Collaboration

To be a good teammate, children must practice patience and empathy to consider the thoughts and feelings of others. Collaboration can also help introduce your child to the importance of diverse perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. Often, the best solutions to real-world problems have come from diverse teams.

To accomplish effective collaboration, your child must have the confidence to clearly communicate their ideas and expertise while still listening to the thoughts of their peers and accepting constructive feedback. When everyone gets a fair chance to express themselves, we can all learn to grow and thrive together.

Embrace Teamwork in Everyday Life

While it’s important to provide children with plenty of opportunities to work together, knowing where to start can feel overwhelming. To help you get started, we have put together a list of ways to empower your child to become a more confident, empathetic teammate!

Set an Example of Strong Communication

Children often learn by watching others, so one way to inspire an awesome collaborator is to show them what a good teammate looks like and how it feels to be supported by someone else! Since working together requires empathy — and often compromise — make sure to set an example of honest communication, active listening, empathy and patience.

Play Collaborative Games

Learning through play is a fun and impactful way to develop new skills. Try selecting games that require teamwork to be successful for a family game night, and encourage your child to work together when they play with others. Many fun games can provide your child with opportunities to put teamwork into practice in a low-pressure environment.

Join Group Activities

Another common way to become a good teammate is to sign up for a club, class or group. Sports like basketball, volleyball, baseball and more require collaboration and communication among players. And if your child is interested in art, chess, nature or other activities, there are plenty of organized clubs or groups that will encourage them to share ideas as they explore their interests!

Use Teamwork Around the House

If practice makes perfect, then regularly intertwining teamwork with everyday household chores and activities should make a great little teammate! Try working as a pair or group to clean up a messy room, bake your kid’s favorite treat or care for a pet. Soon, collaboration will feel natural.

Learn More!

To find additional resources that will help you encourage your child to develop vital skills like collaboration and empathy, we invite you to check out our blog.