Activities to Enhance Social, Emotional, and Problem-Solving Skills: Ninety Activities That Teach Children, Adolescents, and Adults Skills Crucial to Success in Life

Abstract

This third edition includes 14 new activities that teach a wide range of social, emotional, and problem-solving skills. The target skills for the new activities vary from delaying gratification to facilitating team success. We have also updated references and identified an additional valuable use of the activities - to assess specific skills in a fun activity. Our experiences in testing the new activities have confirmed our view that even highly functioning adults lack many of the skills taught by the activities. With 90 activities total, the third edition provides many choices for fun activities to teach important psychological skills. ... his book is for anyone who wants to help others improve social, emotional, or problem-solving skills: teachers, counselors, psychologists, occupational psychologists, parents, corporate trainers, and so on. The skills taught range from elementary, such as identifying emotions others are experiencing, to sophisticated, such as providing leadership and solving real problems. The activities teach skills of great value to children, teens, and adults. The activities can help the activity coordinator teach skills, assess skill level, and begin a conversation about specific skills, including the value of the skills and how to improve them. The activities have special value in that they include fun elements that are important to maintaining motivation by individuals learning the skills. Because the activity coordinator participates along with learners in the fun activities, the activities can help the coordinator establish and maintain a positive working relationship with the learners.