BIGFeels NYC
SEL Coaching
Making Friends & Understanding Others
In child development, few challenges are greater than entering the social world. To navigate social situations, children need to learn how to connect with peers, show empathy, and read social cues. By growing these important social awareness and relationship skills, children begin to build meaningful friendships and understand different perspectives.
However, it can be challenging for children to make friends and understand how others feel, especially when social situations feel unpredictable, they struggle to read nonverbal cues, or they haven't yet developed empathy for perspectives different from their own.
Through activities and social skills coaching, BIGFeels NYC helps children develop their capacity to build friendships, understand others' feelings, and navigate social situations with ease.
How We Help Children Make Friends & Understand Others
Children practice six core abilities that support friendship-building and social understanding:
Coaching For Building Friendships & Understanding Others
BIGFeels NYC uses evidence-based activities designed to strengthen communication and self-advocacy:
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Structured language prompts ("I need..." "Please help me with..." "I feel...")
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Emotion-and-need matching exercises (connecting feelings to needs)
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Role-play for asking for help and expressing needs
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Social scripts for common communication situations
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Visual needs cards (e.g. help, space, rest)
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Guided practice saying no or setting limits respectfully
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Body signal awareness activities (recognizing hunger, tiredness, overwhelm)
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Reflection on how expressing needs affects outcomes
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Real-world communication practice (advocating in safe settings)
We work with families to create custom strategies that honor your child's unique strengths and support their developing capacity to communicate and advocate for themselves with confidence. View a sample intake report or book your free consultation below.