Teaching young children life skills can be challenging. They’re not always going to be ready to learn some of the finer skills, and they might even resist being taught. However, it’s critical to begin teaching kids certain life skills as early as possible. As they say, repetition is the key to learning, and the sooner they start learning, the better.
If you’re wondering what’s most important, below are five life skills that young kids should learn.
1. Organizing a bag
There will be many times throughout a child’s life when they’ll need to pack, unpack, or organize a bag without help from an adult. For example, they might be in a situation where they have to gather their things quickly and the adults won’t have time to carefully pack their bags. If a child doesn’t understand the basics of organizing a bag, they’ll struggle to get everything back inside.
The best way to teach kids how to organize a bag is to first help them develop a sense of sorting things by size and shape. Large or heavy items should go on the bottom, and irregular-shaped, lighter items should go toward the top. At the very least, you can teach kids to place their clothes and perhaps a towel at the bottom of their bag and place their toys on top.
posted. Kiddie Totes suggests teaching kids organization by having them cultivate an interest in collecting something they find interesting. For instance, if your child likes to collect rocks, you can teach them to sort, classify, and arrange the rocks by color, size, and shape.
2. Eating with utensils
Once your child can hold a utensil, it’s time to teach them how to eat with at least a spoon. It’s going to be awkward at first, but they’ll eventually develop the muscle memory and it will become easy.
Teaching your kids to eat with utensils helps them develop fine motor skills, which will also help them develop their writing skills.
As children learn how to eat with utensils, they begin developing hand-eye coordination, finger dexterity, and strength. These are skills they will use throughout the rest of their life.
3. Putting their toys away
Toddlers can be messy, and although it’s understandable, they need to learn to put their toys away. Granted, you probably won’t get your child to organize their toys for a while, but you can at least teach them to put everything back into a box to start.
Not everyone enjoys cleaning, and that includes children. However, there are ways you can present the task to them that they will understand. For instance, you can tell them what will happen if they don’t put their toys away. Toys left on the floor can be stepped on, tripped over, and broken. They may not understand the consequences until it happens, so if one of their toys gets smashed, use that as a learning opportunity.
Although it’s nice to have a clean house all the time, you can’t expect your kids to clean up multiple times throughout the day. The best way to handle it is to create a designated time for cleaning up toys. Make it consistent and daily, and you’ll have a better chance of getting your child into a routine.
4. Bathing themselves
Kids need to learn how to bathe themselves for many reasons, including their sanity. At first, bath time is fun, but it can become a drag over time. The more independent you can get your kids, the better.
Naturally, how you teach your kids to bathe will depend on their age, but it will be a gradual process. Start with simple tasks like showing them how to wash their legs, feet, and arms. They’ll get the hang of washing and rinsing in no time, and don’t forget to teach them to wash behind their ears!
5. Blowing their nose with a tissue
If your child is using their sleeve (or your sleeve) to wipe their nose, it’s time to teach them how to blow their nose with a tissue. Most of the time, if a child is at the point where they’re looking for sleeves to wipe their nose, they should have learned to blow their nose a long time ago.
Don’t just teach your kid how to use a tissue. That’s the easy part. Teach them to go get a tissue the second they feel like they need to blow their nose. Teach them not to wait too long.
Empower kids by teaching them life skills
When children get a head start learning life skills, they’ll feel empowered throughout their life.