Social Skills Groups in Schools

Supporting educators in fostering creative, individualized, social development programs in classrooms and schools.

  • Collaborative in-school partner for addressing the social and emotional needs of children who struggle with social interactions.

  • Support educators with the knowledge, skills, language, and strategies needed to foster their students' social-emotional development and well-being.

  • Build a safe space where educators and schools feel prepared to handle social interactions, complex behaviors, and challenges.

Struggling with capacity challenges, many schools experience difficulty in providing appropriate scaffolding for children who need non-generic supports with crucial play skills, social engagement, and connecting with their peers.

These students may often feel overwhelmed by the social environment in their school setting. Under such stress, it's natural for them to face challenges as they try to navigate their social interactions. With limited options to adjust the external environment, schools in turn struggle to support these children. This dynamic negatively impacts the child's daily life, making their experience of school even more complex and isolating. In such cases, a thoughtful and supportive approach to support educators in maximizing existing resources within immovable constraints can help children better cope with these difficulties and shift cycles of stress for all involved to pathways of support.

School directors and educators

If you are experiencing a rise in challenging behaviors in the classroom, and noticing children struggling socially, it may feel impossible to find a better way forward when your resources are stretched far too thin.  

You are not alone.

For schools and educators

Bringing PlayGroup to Schools

When PlayGroup brings their social skills groups to school, the children and educators learn from our model.

  • We customize our groups to match the needs of each specific school setting and the children within each group. PlayGroup’s expert team facilitates a dynamic in which children lead with their interests to develop, practice, and strengthen individual social abilities, while growing their confidence. Through the encouraging, evidence-based support of PlayGroup, children become more secure, engaged, and active members of the school community.

  • We are rooted in progressive education, which means that we value: emergent, child-led, play as important experiential learning; creative use of found objects and loose parts; representational play and responsive games; and conflict as an opportunity for improved communication.

  • We get to the root of what each child loves to do, noting their strengths, motivations, and interests in play. We go beyond the typical linear skills (such as making eye contact, sharing, taking turns, or language modeling) because we find better results, and improved mutual respect, by digging deeper to identify and encourage individualized solutions. This approach leads to a lifelong understanding for our students of their own needs and communication styles, as well as how to perceive and respond to those of others.

How we’re different:
supporting progressive education

40 + years combined experience working with children in social settings.

Holistic Approach

Trauma-informed

Developmentally play-based and neurodiverse-affirming

Child-led, strength-based support

Relationship-based, highly individualized

Small group setting + curated environments and materials

Directors and teachers

We provide Social Emotional Workshops for directors, educators, and school staff. 

Are you experiencing challenges with classroom behaviors and observing children who are struggling socially?

Discover our customized professional development workshops designed specifically to meet the unique needs of your school’s team.

We believe that empowering educators with the knowledge, skills, language, and strategies to respond to challenging behaviors from children who are struggling to communicate safely is one of the most effective approaches in supporting these students.

Participants in our Social-Emotional Workshops will learn how to create a positive and conducive learning environment to foster their students' social-emotional development and well-being.

Let’s start with a conversation

Get in touch today to find out how we can collaborate with your educational environment