Teaching kids social skills is never easy. One challenge we face very often is to teach kids how to behave in different social settings. Do you usually explain to kids about a new place they are going to visit? Like a dentist’s office, or a new school? I always found it helpful to tell my child about the places he’s going to visit, be it the first grocery store trip, or the first dentist appointment. It helps the kid understand what is going to happen, what he can expect from other people, and what he is expected to do and say. All these not only help kids ease unnecessary anxiety but also teach social skills kids need in their daily life.
Model Me Going Places is a social skill app for kids showing them appropriate and expected interactions and behaviors in different social settings. It is originally designed for kids with special needs, such as autism, Asperger, but I found it helpful for any kids before their first visits to these places. 
The app is free, and includes 6 social settings: hairdresser, Mall, Doctor, Playground, Grocery Store, and Restaurant.
The app is very easy to use. On home screen, kids will see the 6 buttons for the 6 locations. Tapping on any of them starts the video showing the visiting process at that location.
For hairdresser, it starts from “I am getting a Hair Cutting” with the picture of a boy walking into the hairdresser place with his mom; the next scene is the boy sitting on the chair, “I wait my turn quietly”; then “I sit and wear a cape”; then he introduces the hairdresser, showing the audience how the hairdresser wet and cut his hair and the tools the hairdresser uses. At the end, the boy walks out of the hairdresser place with a smile.
The videos are short to keep kids’ attention, yet thorough enough to cover the places, the people, what the people do, and what the kids are expected, like sit still for hairdresser, wait quietly for your turn.
All videos have subtitles and the narration is done in a child’s voice.
For those who don’t have iPad or iPhone, there are DVD and CD products available of the same content and even more. The app has only 6 social settings, while the DVD and CD have 12 social settings. To check out the DVD and CD product, you can visit Model Me Kids website.
Model Me Going Places is available on iPhone, iPod and iPad. It is Free on App Store.
If you would like to check it out or purchase it, please use the App Store link provided below. The cost is the same to you, but iGameMom gets a small percentage. Thanks for your support! Note: The link works for all countries.
