9 Essential Life Skills For Kids
In the Western world, we live in a day and age where we see toddlers learning to use smartphones in lieu of learning basic life skills. We also live in a day and age where most kids don’t enter the workforce until they’re older — maybe not even until after college! And at that age, some of them still don’t know how to do their own laundry.
Only a century ago, kids would lead fairly independent lives. And while there is plenty to be said for the fact that this is no longer the case, we often forget that a ten-year-old is perfectly capable of doing his or her laundry or cook a simple meal. They may even be able to sew their own dress! You might not want to leave them unsupervised, but there’s no reason not to teach them a little independence.
Below we’ve put together 9 essential life skills for kids that you might want to consider teaching your child!
1. Cooking
When your child is about three to four years old, they’ll be happy to help you stir in ingredients when you are baking. And they’ll be able to hold your hand while measuring things. They’ll also be able to spoon up some yogurt and cover it with pre-cut pieces of fruit, or cereal. What’s more, they’ll be able to help you set the table. Maybe not when using the fine china, but…
As they grow older, you can teach them more and more things. Instead of them watching the iPad while you’re cooking, get them to help you cook! Usually, they love trying out whatever it is you’re doing.
Letting your child smell certain spices and try things before and after applying spice is also a great way of engaging their senses.
2. Sewing
You can start teaching your child cross-stitching and how to sew a pillow while they’re still in preschool. Likewise, you can help them make a sock puppet. As they get a bit older, you can teach them how to sew on buttons, do knitting and crocheting.
Of course, you can also teach them to make curtains for the dolls’ houses or put together a tipi.
As they get older, you can teach them more and more. If sewing isn’t a passion of yours, that’s not a necessity, but them being able to do some simple sewing can help them when they in the future rip a pair of pants.
3. Woodwork and DIY
If you are good with a saw and a hammer, there’s no reason your child can’t join you in making things. Likewise, there’s no saying they shouldn’t join you when fixing the plumbing or painting the fence. Obviously, you have to teach them how to use tools wisely and not leave any sharp, or dangerous ones, out for them to use unsupervised.
Building a doll’s house or a treehouse is often a popular exercise.
If you aren’t great with woodwork and DIY, it might be wise to ask someone else to help your child to get some basic skills so that when they one day have a household, they know how to hang their own paintings on the wall.
4. Gardening
A garden can provide you with fresh fruits and herbs year-round. Teach your child how to sow a seed and then transfer the seedling to the garden, or a bigger pot. Involve them in watering household plants and getting shoots from the garden or the forest. Shoots are free and can leave you with a whole garden filled with plants!
5. First Aid and Emergency Preparedness
Courses in first aid are available to children as young as nine years old! These classes can help your child know what to do if someone has a heart attack if someone is choking, how to safely put out or escape a fire, and more.
And if you encounter a snake in the forest, what do you do? If someone gets a cut or scratch, how do you treat it?
Knowing how to put pressure on a wound and wrap it up can be the difference between life and death, as can knowing how to save someone from choking, or having the ability to call 911.
With children (and adults), modeling is important. Don’t just talk about these things—act them out.
6. Social Skills
Don’t stray away from teaching your child social skills. What do we do when we meet someone? We introduce ourselves, then we ask questions about the other person’s life. We give praise and compliments. We shake hands confidently and we say please and thank you.
As with the above, use modeling. Pretend to go to parties with the cuddly animals, or the dolls. Make new friends. This might very well help your child build the social skills they need to make friends in real life.
7. Smart Social Media Use
Children start using social media early. You can read our article about introducing them to it here. What’s important is to have conversations with your child about social media best practices. You want them to know what to avoid online and what to do online to build strong relationships and foster connections across the globe.
8. Letter Writing
In the not-so-distant past, letters were a big part of communication. They still are—only now they are called emails.
Teaching your child to write letters and postcards, possibly even having pen pals, can be a great way of engaging them in the joys of writing. It can also foster relationships and build language skills.
9. Budgeting
How much money do you have when grocery shopping and how do you decide how to spend it? Doing a simple budget and having your child help you follow it can be a fun exercise. You can also use an app for this.
Likewise, setting up a weekly amount your child receives (possibly after ensuring they did their weekly chores) and then showing them to put it in four piles—what to spend now, what to spend on something you’re saving for, long-term savings, and donations—might very well set up great spending habits for them for their adult life.
In Closing
There are many essential life skills for kids that you can teach your child now, instead of waiting till they reach their late teens. We even have a range of role-play toys to help your children understand the world around them and invent their own identities. This can help set up good behaviors for when they are older. Our children are often more capable than we think. And that says a lot, given we all think our own child comes with superpowers!