Empowering Families: Turning School Closings into Life Skills Lessons for Kids
As school closings approach, parents are often tasked with keeping their kids active and engaged. This is particularly true for families who are intentional about minimizing screen time. While this can be a challenging time for some, it can be a great opportunity to turn everyday tasks into valuable life lessons for their children. Let’s explore creative ways to teach crucial life skills that extend beyond the classroom. Here are some practical tools and resources to help you seamlessly integrate these lessons into your child’s routine:
- Household Budgeting
Involve your child in creating a basic household budget. Discuss categories such as groceries, utilities, and entertainment. Help them understand the importance of saving and budgeting for future needs. While working on the budget, have conversations about some of the budget items for a more enriching experience. For example, discuss different types of insurance policies (auto, home, rental, life etc) and how they work. Perhaps you can work on getting a quote online together.
Tool/Resource: Use this Budgeting Basics Template to create a clear picture of your financial landscape.
Business Plans
Encourage your child to come up with a simple business idea, create a business plan, and present it to you. This exercise fosters creativity, critical thinking, and communication skills. It also empowers them to think about starting and building a business in addition to the traditional route of being employed.
Tool/Resource: They can use this guide to write a Business plan template.
Garage Sale
Have your child declutter their belongings, decide what to sell, donate and keep. This is also a great exercise for books. Work with them in setting prices and coming up with a marketing plan such as putting up lawn signs. This not only teaches organization but also entrepreneurship and negotiation skills. To make it more fun, consider working with neighbors and hosting a multihome garage/yard sale.
Tool/Resource: Create a spreadsheet on Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel for inventory and pricing.
Library Book Management
Teach your child how to search for books online, request books and check them out independently. This promotes responsibility and enhances their love for reading. It also gives them agency and instills confidence. Most libraries participate in a reciprocal program with other local public libraries. Consider visiting a different local library for a new experience.
Tool/Resource: Utilize your local library’s online catalog and self-checkout system.
Cooking Skills
Guide your child in preparing age appropriate light meals like cutting fruits, making sandwiches, and using the microwave. Investing in kid safe utensils is a great idea. A kid apron is also another fun accessory to consider as it encourages kids to want to use it and learn this important life skill. Basic culinary skills are the foundation for an independent, fulfilling, healthy and balanced adult life.
Tool/Resource: Kid-safe knives and simple recipes suitable for their age.
Laundry Folding
Teach your child the art of folding clothes neatly. This not only helps with organization but also develops fine motor skills. You can use a simple homemade cardboard folding tool to demonstrate folding and to make it easier for small children. Not only does this teach responsibility and keeping their clothes neatly organized, it can also be a great screen-free activity though some may choose to do it while enjoying family movies.
Tool/Resource: Create a cardboard folding tool or use pre-made ones available online.
Assembling Furniture
Expecting a box of delivery? Involve your child in assembling lightweight furniture. This enhances problem-solving skills and patience. It is an amazing opportunity to activate and use different parts of their brain. It requires reading directions, using tools and their hands to assemble furniture and the satisfaction of putting together something tangible. That piece of furniture becomes a daily reminder of pride and confidence for young children.
Tool/Resource: Follow the instruction manual provided with the furniture.
TIme Management
Show your child how to schedule events, set reminders, and send calendar invites. This promotes time management and organizational skills. Consider opening a child email account that is connected to yours. This has the added benefit of allowing them to communicate with parent approved family and friends, particularly if the child is not ready for a phone yet. You can also put them in charge of updating the family calendar on the fridge or get them a physical planner to get them in the habit of tracking their homework due dates, activities and important family days.
Tool/Resource: Use online calendar apps like Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook.
Car Maintenance
Involve your child in simple tasks like watching an oil change. This imparts practical knowledge about car maintenance. While some tasks may not be appropriate for kids to actively participate in just yet, kids learn a lot by watching us. Taking an effort to be intentional about demonstrating what we do can go a long way in setting them up to be self-sufficient and well rounded adults.
Tool/Resource: Basic car maintenance guides and tutorials.
Mail Management
Teach your child to check and sort mail, distinguish between important documents and junk mail, and understand the importance of timely bill payments. They can also be in charge of shredding mail on a regular basis. Bonus: show them how to address an envelope. In the days of everything digital, getting a note in the mail has become special. In addition, there are some official correspondences that may require mailing.
Tool/Resource: Set up designated spaces for incoming mail and bills.
Writing Checks
Guide your child in writing checks. Though most of us use online payment methods, there are still situations where writing a check is needed. Teaching them how to properly write a check is still an important skill as is how to properly deposit a check.
Tool/Resource: Blank checks for practice or online check-writing simulators.
Salesmanship
Encourage your child to practice salesmanship by selling a product or service to family members. This can be having a lemonade stand, purchasing an item in bulk from warehouses (think Costco etc) and selling individual items for a profit. This fosters communication and persuasion skills.
Tool/Resource: Role-playing scenarios or online courses on basic sales techniques.
Grocery Shopping
Involve your child in creating a shopping list, comparing prices, and budgeting for groceries. Encourage them to look at the circulars that come in the mail and circle which grocery items are normally used at home or are on sale. There are apps such as Cozi that make creating grocery lists easy for families. Teach them to know what the “staple items” are for your home and check the pantry ahead of going out to shop. The self checkout lines are a great way to empower kids as well as allowing them to be conscious about the cost of each item. Look at brand names vs generic, benefit of buying in bulk vs in small quantities. This instills smart decision-making and financial literacy.
Tool/Resource: Grocery shopping lists and budgeting tools.
Being Assertive
Teach your child to express their needs confidently. Role-play situations where assertiveness is required, helping them build self-confidence and effective communication skills. Differentiate between being aggressive or confrontational and calmly drawing boundaries and asserting their values. This is such an underrated yet critical skill to build as children so they can grow up with these skills strong in adulthood that will allow them to navigate personal and professional lives much smoother. Modeling in real life and giving our kids permission to be assertive is the best way to instill this important life skill.
Tool/Resource: Role-playing scenarios and assertiveness training guides.
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