Have you ever thought to yourself, “I wonder what my kids learned in school today?” Depending on the quality of schooling your child gets, you might think that they’re not learning anything useful for life. That’s especially true if you you personally didn’t learn much in school and had to learn how to take care of yourself. Then you might wonder how to offer your little one a more useful upbringing than you had. There are many practical life skills for children that a lot of schools still don’t teach, unfortunately. So, take the reigns to help develop independent, self-assured kids who have the skills to do well as adults. Teach your kids:
How to Wash Their Clothes
Not only will teaching your kids how to wash their clothes help around the house, but it also instills responsibility in them. That’s why it’s the first of the practical life skills to tell you about today.
Kids will learn that their clothes don’t magically get clean and that they need to put in effort to get them that way. This article from overthebigmoon.com/how-to-teach-young-kids-laundry/ is a great place to start if you want some help teaching your kids how to do laundry effectively.
But washing their clothes by themselves can be dangerous. So teach your kids how to:
- Use detergent
- Safely use the machine
- How to dry their clothes
Also, don’t show your kids how to use an iron until they’re older and more responsible. But getting them to help out with the laundry early on in their development will make them feel useful around the house when it comes to chores. And this activity can also help them understand that they have responsibilities to take care of when they are older.
How to Drive
Next on the practical life skills for children list is learning how to drive. Online tests, such as americansafetycouncil.com/content/florida-learners-permit-test, will help your child get their learner’s permit early. But it’s still important to use your own experience to teach your child how to drive. You don’t need to overly complicate it or teach them every single intricate thing though as that can overwhelm them. As long as you give your teen some advice about vehicle handling, they’ll learn at a good pace.
Alternatively, some parents refuse to teach their kids how to drive or even give them advice. They opt to give them bicycles or encourage using public transport instead of driving vehicles to save the environment and cut costs. While it’s understandable, since the cost of owning a vehicle is higher than before, driving is still an incredibly useful skill.
And driving safely is easier with more experience. Lastly, having a learner’s permit gives a teenager a chance to learn how to use a vehicle early on and also to appreciate the use of a car.
Practical Life Skills: How to Cook
Cooking is still one of the most important of the practical life skills. Sure, fast food is cheap and you can get by without touching an oven or stove. But being able to cook is about much more than just sustaining yourself. Cooking is a family skill that brings people together.
Teaching your kids to cook is as much a bonding activity as it is one of the practical life skills to pass down to them. Perhaps you give them the secret family recipes they love or teach them how to entertain guests well. Either way, they’re learning a good skill. This article at parents.com/recipes/tips/cookingwithkids/teach-your-kids-to-cook/ should be a good starting point on how you can get them involved in the kitchen at an early age.
Fast food is a cheap and fast choice but it’s also unhealthy. Therefore, encourage your kids to cook meals to promote a healthier lifestyle, in addition to showing them cooking is a great social skill too.
Final Words about Practical Life Skills for Children
There are many other skills to teach your kids, such as money management and DIY projects around the house. But the three skills above are perhaps the most practical and useful of them all.
These particular skills will help your kids when they move out into their dorms for college and beyond that. Help them gain independence and increase in self-confidence by providing them with a great base skill set.
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