Increasing confidence of DS age 5?

[DingbatsFur]

Hi folks,
My lovely DS1 is a lovely boy but really has no confidence & I really really need to do something to help him. He had no friends really in nursery until he met one little girl who he formed an incredible attachment to & is now reluctant to be parted from her when they are at school. His reception teacher separated them deliberately twice at the end of term and he just wept. I signed him up for a summer camp also attended by her & today saw footage of the performance (i couldn't go because it was at 2:30 in the afternoon and I had to work) & saw he spent the whole time watching her (odd because she was in the row behind him during the dancing) & at one point he went over & hugged her.
I know he has a hard time. We are not from here & most of the children have quite a strong regional accent which he does not. He's also quite eccentric which a very very detailed knowledge of dinosaurs & trains. He doesn't care for football & is quite clumsy. He does however have an increidbly vivid imagination & makes up great stories including a very real imaginary friend. The teacher in his year end report has highlighted his people issues too.
So what the heck can I do? I signed him up for a summer camp a few days a week away from the girl. This week I'm going to introduce him to a few more kids & am planning to sign him up to scouts/gymnastics in the autumn. Any other suggestions?

Don't be too worried for a start. He's five and he's allowed to have imaginary friends, no talent for football and a detailed knowledge of dinosaurs. He's also allowed to get obsessively fond of one person. If other kids don't immediately take to him, that's really not his problem. I think it's slightly unkind to tag a small child as having 'people issues' or 'eccentric'... if you can't be a little off-beat when you're five, when can you?

If you want to build his confidence, keep him in his comfort zone and spend time reassuring him that he's loved. Stop calling him eccentric and clumsy for a start. Find activities that allow him to shine rather than feel awkward. If he struggles with coordination gymnastics might not be the best option as an activity. If he has an great imagination, why not something theatrical or art-based instead? Didn't know they had scouts for five year-olds.

Could you invite other children over to yours so he has some 1 on 1 time with them in a familiar environment? This might make him more confident about talking to others when he's at school/activities if he gets to know them a bit first in a quieter environment.

Hi. My son is similar. He is 4 and 9 months and starts school in Spetember. He is a little quirky too, but has been getting gradually better with peers since he turned 4. He does tend to pick out one child and try to stick with them and I think this may put the other child off at times. He also tends to play with younger kids at playgrounds and sometimes, when he's in a certain mood, he will be a bit agressive with other children, not physically but he'll 'tell them off' for nothing (think he's just copying his dad here though...!) Hopefully, these things will straighten out with time. I was a shy little girl and didn't really mix well until I was about 7 when things just seemed to 'click'. I never enjoyed sports involving balls (or teams, come to that!) but as I got older I started to enjoy running, swimming and did karate for a while, so maybe these are the kinds of sports our children would excel at. Does he like to play in the park/garden, on scooter/bike?