Introduction

Eye contact plays a crucial role in social-emotional learning for young students. It helps them understand when to listen, when to speak, and how to gauge the feelings of others. By teaching kindergarten students the importance of making eye contact, we can enhance their communication skills and help them develop meaningful relationships with their peers. This blog post will present an easy-to-implement, no-prep activity, thought-provoking discussion questions, and related skills to further strengthen their social-emotional abilities.

No-Prep Activity: The Eye Contact Game

This activity requires no preparation or materials from the educator and is perfect to help students understand the importance of eye contact. Here’s how it works:

1. Have the students sit in a circle, facing each other.
2. Choose one student to start the game. This student will make eye contact with another student in the circle and say their name.
3. The student whose name was called will then make eye contact with another student and say their name.
4. The game continues until every student has been called.
5. After the game, discuss the experience with the students, emphasizing the importance of eye contact.

Discussion Questions

Use these questions to stimulate further discussions about the importance of eye contact:

1. How did it feel when someone made eye contact with you during the activity?
2. Why do you think eye contact is important when we’re talking to others?
3. Can you think of a time when someone didn’t make eye contact with you? How did it make you feel?
4. What can you do to remember to make eye contact when talking to others?

Related Skills

Besides eye contact, there are other essential skills for students to develop in social-emotional learning. Some of these skills include:

• Active listening: Encourage students to listen attentively to others and show that they understand what has been said.
• Body language: Teach students to recognize and interpret non-verbal cues from their peers, such as facial expressions and gestures.
• Empathy: Help students develop the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.
• Turn-taking: Guide students to practice taking turns when speaking and listening during conversations.

Next Steps

Now that you have learned about the importance of eye contact in social-emotional learning and have an engaging activity to try with your kindergarten students, it’s time to explore more resources. To enhance your students’ learning experience, sign up for free samples of skill-based activities and other helpful materials at Everyday Speech. By incorporating these resources into your teaching, you can help your students develop a strong foundation in social-emotional learning, setting them up for success in their future interactions.