Children are born with their individ-ual way of experiencing the world, known as their emperament. It sounds as if your son, like many kids, needs time and support to feel safe in new situa-tions. Try talking in advance about what the new experience might be like and inviting one
of the children over to play. Once you are there, explore together, talk about what the
other kids are doing, and join another parent and child in an activity. Taking a slow and
sensitive approach should help your son feel more comfortable in new situations.