How do I handle this

[partypingal]

DD who is 6 is a lovely girl and doing well at school, well behaved and fun at home. But I'm at a loss as to whether to push her a bit on the socialising / extra curricular stuff.

I know early years at school is a lot for small kids but I'd love her to explore some of her interests outside
school and to have some play dates.

But she's refusing everything. Partly it's because she's introverted and finding school a lot. But partly I think she's anxious about new situations.

So please advise wise parents. Do I let her lead the way or do I push her a bit?

Honestly if she’s otherwise settled, and school reports are good, no need to intervene
Its a real burden that parents impose or expect their kids to engage in activities, often it’s for the parents, a competitive oh look isn’t my child so rounded
ask if she wants a friend over be guided by her preferences

I'm sure you're right

It just seems such a small existence - school or home

I'm quite introverted so I do get it. But I think I've always been interested in lots of things. Maybe it's just that she's so young.

She sounds like a lovely happy balance child, that’s enough
School can have quite an unpleasant competitive dynamic to it. The Kids.The parents. Actually mainly the parents. My kids by choice do no activities. No piano. No sport. No music. I don’t make them either.
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Give her the opportunities but let her lead the way, she may well surprise you as she matures.

I have a similarly introverted daughter who didn’t want to do anything outside of school. I took her to ballet but as soon as she was old enough to dare to say no, she stopped going. Eventually, she asked to go to Brownies and a different dance class, and enjoyed those for a while.
Your DD is very young still so I would let her take the lead and as others have said, suggest, encourage but let her decide. Once she sees friends doing things, she may be more inclined to want to herself.

Do her school run after school clubs? Or is there a friend or two she might like to have over?
My daughter is a reserved sort of child, but enjoys the after school dance club, and has had a couple of play dates at our house in the school holidays which she enjoyed. She was very nervous the first time she went to play at someone else’s house, but I stayed for the first ten minutes and then left once she felt more settled.