Why Will No One Play With Me? by Caroline MaguireWhy Will No One Play With Me? is an excellent book for every parent who has ever worried about their child fitting in with her peers as it's a question no one wants to hear their child ask.

Author, parenting and social skills expert Caroline Maquire introduces the Play Better Plan to Help Kids Make Friends and Thrive. The book is divided into four parts:

Part I: What is the Story

Part II: The Play Better Plan The Coach's Playbook: Coaching Guides, Questionnaires and Tools

Part III: The Play Better Executive Function Social Skills Tracks

Part IV: The Play Better Plan: To Playdates and Beyond

followed by appendices offering logs, checklists and questions to ask your child to open up discussions, plus a useful and comprehensive index.

Why Will No One Play With Me? offers help with the seven things everyone needs to be socially successful:

  1. Manage emotions rather than let them manage you
  2. Read the room 
  3. Meet people halfway
  4. Understand social cues and unspoken rules and be ready to change your behaviour in response to them
  5. Learn to walk in someone else's shoes, or see things through their eyes
  6. Be flexible and adaptive
  7. Know your audience and adapt your communication to be appropriate

Whether a child is shy, has moved to a new community or changed school, or is anxious or discouraged by the way things have been, Play Better coaching and activities will help them learn new ways to connect with other children and make friends.

Highly recommended.

PWT rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

Published by Vermilion Why Will No One Play With Me?: The Play Better Plan to Help Kids Make Friends and Thrivewhy-will-no-one-play-me-caroline-maquire is available from Amazon and bookshops.