The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed our social lives, and children are no exception. 

Playgrounds are empty, families are foregoing day care and kids are missing out on many of the typical environments where they once learned and forged friendships. Some children now even associate other people with 'danger.' They're spending much more time on screens at home.

Many parents are concerned this lack of social interaction will have long-term effects on their children's learning abilities, personality and social skills. 

Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek , Director of the Infant Language Laboratory at Temple University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, says she believes in the resiliency of the human spirit and that the negative aspects of pandemic isolation can be mitigated by the type of safety net parents provide for their kids.

In addition, Dr. Hirsh-Pasek encouraged parents of young children to use their imaginations to create more socially interactive activities, and to learn to "read the kids' mood" to avoid passing their anxiety to their kids.  

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