Many think that verbal communication is made up of just words. Body language, however, plays a key part in the role that every communication ends up playing. We could even say that when we speak, we are speaking in two different languages; if somehow those two languages contradict each other, communication becomes ineffective.
Before discussing some body language activities for kids, i.e., before discussing how to improve your child’s body language, let us first understand why it is important to have positive body language.
Importance of Positive Body Language
Body language refers to the non-verbal signs that accompany anyone conversing with another. These signs include gestures, eye contact, fidgeting, physical proximity, way of standing, and so on. Oftentimes, we are not aware of what our body language is conveying. That’s where the importance of positive body language comes in.
- A person’s body language gives an insight into his/her feelings and attitude.
- If words and body language contradict each other, a person may end up confusing the other person and lose credibility.
- Positive body language helps a person look more confident, approachable, competent, and trustworthy.
Body language is more or less acquired, just like any other language. We can control how we show ourselves to be. There are ways how to improve your child’s body language.
Tips for Positive Body Language
If we want to establish real connections with people interacting with us, we need to be conscious that our body is sending out the right message. There are a few body language activities for kids that can help your child send out the right message and establish real connections.
- You may switch off the sound while watching any show on TV and indulge your kid in guessing what the actors are doing and going through. This helps your child in understanding the role of body language in effective communication.
- Encourage your child to enact various emotions. Playing charades is a great way to do that. Also, it will help your child acknowledge how different people act out emotions in different ways.
- How to improve your child’s body language is more of a matter of making it positive, so while going out with your child, encourage your child to observe other people and guess what their body language is conveying.
- Teach your child the importance of maintaining eye contact 60% of the time while speaking with anyone. This helps one connect better and not scare the person (as one might do by making eye contact 100% of the time) and not make the person feel ignored (as one might do by not maintaining eye contact at all). Eye contact is also a sign of confidence.
- Mirroring is one of the best tips for positive body language. Show your child how people can relate to other people better if they mirror the body language of the person in front of them. This is not to say that we should exactly copy the other person. This is to say that we need to show empathy and look sad if the other person is sad or look concerned if the other person is so. We should lean in when a person is sharing something with us.
- To help your child understand the role of body language in effective communication, you may also ask him/her to observe other people for around a week and make observations about their body language. Give your child some hints that an upright posture is a sign of self-confidence while slouching is a sign of low self-esteem in general. Talk to them about exceptions (for example, old people might slouch because of back pain).
How to Improve Your Child’s Body Language
Apart from the tips discussed above, you should bear in mind that you are your child’s role model, and your child’s surroundings influence the way your child carries himself/herself. Make sure that they develop into self-confident individuals with a high sense of self-esteem and purpose, and make sure that their body language conveys so. Your own body language has the power to guide the way.