Parallel play is when two or more children are involved in independent activities, proximate to one another. The children are not engaged in the same activity, but are doing their own thing next to each other. For an activity to promote socialization, encourage preschoolers to look at what everyone else is working on during parallel play. Model to the kids how to ask peers for help or to make a friendly comment about something another peer is making. Have preschoolers give it a try with their neighbors. Give preschoolers the task of asking their neighbors at least one question about the type of toys with which they are playing.
Pairing for play is an activity in which two or more preschoolers are paired up to play with one another. The two kids must make a decision about what they want to play or do together. This exercise teachers preschoolers how to communicate, how to relate to one another, get along, resolve conflicts and express feelings for emotional development. Some pairs of kids may agree on everything, while other pairs may run into challenges and have disagreements. Show kids how to get along by teaching them communication skills, listening skills and modeling to them how to share.
For a holiday or celebration, give preschoolers arts and crafts supplies so that they can color and create friendly greeting cards. When the greeting cards are finished, the kids are instructed to give their greeting cards to one person in the class. This activity teaches kids to be thoughtful and to care about their neighbors. Make sure every child in the classroom receives a friendly greeting card, so that one student doesn't get all of the cards while another student gets none.
Create two or three large groups of preschoolers. Give each group a task to work on that requires the preschoolers to collaborate to get the task done. Task ideas include finding the objects on a scavenger picture hunt, solving a puzzle or making a drawing. The kids must work together to accomplish the goal, which helps them develop their socialization skills because they will soon learn that disagreements and challenges will set them back instead of move them forward.