Essential Life Skills To Teach Your Kids

Life skills are valuable lessons that people use throughout their lifetime. Unlike many of the things you
learn at school, such as trigonometry or geography, these lessons are ones that your kids must learn
to live as functioning adults. The problem is, many children don’t learn how to handle real-life situations
in school. This means that, when they leave home and go on to further education, they don’t know how
to truly live independently. Even if university is a long way away, you should start teaching these
practical lessons now. With that in mind, here are seven life skills for your kids. 


1. Buying The Groceries
Teaching children to be smart consumers definitely takes practice. Rather than expecting your kids to
know how to comparison shop, you should show them what you do and explain to them why. For
example, you show that bulk buying costs less by comparing the price of a multipack of beans with
single cans. You can also ask them to help you write shopping lists before you leave the house. This
conveys the importance of lists and shows which goods are essentials. 


2. Preparing A Meal
Cooking dinner by yourself might be the quicker option, but it doesn’t teach your children anything. For
this reason, you should invite your kids to help you make meals. Take the time to assign them jobs and
stay calm throughout the process, even if they make a mistake. Depending on the ages of your children,
there are many tasks that they could try. While the younger kids wash vegetables, you could ask the
older ones to peel and chop them. 


3. Answering The Phone
Everyone needs to know how to make a phone call, especially in emergency situations. If your children
are too young to have their own mobiles, then visit a telephone shop. Landlines are a great teaching
tool for younger kids, as they come without the temptations many smartphones have, like music, games,
and videos. When you have a landline, your kids can give their friends the number. This allows them to
stay connected and learn how to answer the phone politely. 


4. Wrapping A Gift
Giving presents is just as rewarding, if not more so, as receiving them. What makes the act even more
satisfying is picking it, purchasing it, and wrapping it yourself. If your child has done the first two
themselves, they only need to learn how to wrap the gift. Kids aged five and younger should have no
trouble cutting the paper and sticking on the tape, while older ones should be able to do the whole task
with your help. Just remember to remind them to remove the price tag. 


5. Cleaning The House
Every parent could do with a little help now and then. If you’ve been completing all of the housework
yourself, you should ask your children to lend a hand. They’ll need to learn how to clean eventually
anyway. Begin with an age-appropriate chore chart, which could include dusting the shelves, making
the bed, and emptying the dishwasher. You should also ask that your kids clean up their own messes.
While many don’t, some parents pay their kids to do their chores. 


6. Treating A Wound
Kids mimic and learn from the behaviours of their parents. This is why most people who are scared of
blood have a parent that is also scared of blood. To keep your children from developing this fear, you
can’t freak out when they hurt themselves. Instead, you should take the opportunity to teach them how
to treat the wound. Show them to apply pressure until the bleeding stops, rinse the cut with water, apply
an antibiotic ointment, and then cover the injury with a plaster. 


7. Making A Friend
There is a very good chance that you will move house at some point in the future. Even if you don’t,
your children will eventually leave school and begin attending a new one. Leaving friends behind can
be scary, but knowing how to make a new friend will make the transition easier for your kids. If you think
it will help, you should role-play meeting new people with each other. Show your children that a happy
smile will always help and that a polite question can break the ice. 


Kids learn a lot at school, but some of the most important lessons are left to you to teach. Hopefully,
with the advice above, you should have no trouble raising confident, smart, and independent children. 


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