Are you aware of Life Skills? Do you know what Life Skills your kids must possess? There are several life skills for kids that are important for their overall development as individuals in society.
Children need to learn things apart from just academics. Their learning process starts right from the age of 2 years.
And they learn these skills in the earliest years of their life. Teaching your kids these life skills at home will prepare them for the world that is waiting for them.
Most of them are self-taught skills. However, there are some of the most important life skills you must incorporate into your child.
In this article, we will discuss some of them and show you how to implement them.
Table of Contents
1. Problem-Solving
This skill is vital for every kid’s growth. Every parent wants their kid to be dependent upon themselves. That’s why parents want their kids to be great problem-solvers.
Having proper problem-solving skills can help the kid in various areas in life. Kids with good problem-solving abilities are good in Mathematics, Logical Reasoning and help with better decision-making.
To enhance problem-solving skills in your kids, you can
- Teach them to play SUDOKU
- Let them solve PUZZLES
- Organize a TREASURE HUNT
- Make them learn CODING
2. Teamwork
You kid is never alone in this world. They always play, study, talk in a group. Teamworking skills define your kid’s ability to work and adapt themselves in a group of individuals.
It makes communication better, builds better connections with friends who think similarly. Doing tasks in a team also reduces individual stress.
“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” – Vince Lombardi
Working together in a team increases creativity and smoothens idea generation. Also, at work, teamwork improves productivity and betters academic results.
Overall, a kid with great teamwork capabilities will excel as a leader in the future, regardless of the area they choose.
To make your kid a team player, you can
- Conduct group activities.
- Play a team-game.
- Allow group-study sessions.
3. Communication
Life skills for kids are unfinished without this trait. Communication skills are very important for a kid to interact with someone in the real world. Good communication skills help others to understand pieces of information better.
Having strong communication skills helps in all aspects of life. For students, good communication helps them to exchange information better with their fellows in the classroom. In the office, it helps an employee to bring out better business results.
The above two life skills are also incomplete without good communication skills. Problems can indeed be solved with proper teamwork. But proper teamwork can only be achieved with good communication skills.
How parents can improve their kid’s communication skills:
- Teach your kids to listen first.
- Improve their body language (eye contact, hand gestures, etc).
- Tell them to think before they speak.
- Show how to maintain a positive attitude.
4. Focus and Self-control
The world we see today is very busy. The future will be busier. Today’s kids will face a future that they are not prepared for. To tackle that, focus and self-control will be very crucial.
Focus
A focused kid can tackle many tough situations in life with ease. Staying focused helps in retaining attention while completing important tasks. It enhances peace of mind, calmness.
Staying focused while studying can also facilitate better academic results.
Self-control
Self-control teaches a student to not get influenced by bad things in life. Like controlling emotions, staying motivated, and resolving problems. It all comes down to proper self-control.
A person who is lacking self-control may respond in a variety of ways when his/her desires are not met. They might act violently, become angry, or do anything inappropriate.
Parents who want to improve their child’s focus and self-control can:
- Teach their kids to meditate.
- Make them read story books.
- Ask them to follow a routine daily.
- Encourage them to stay positivie.
- Aware them of bad habits and influences.
5. Resilience
Being a kid, resilience is something that they will not understand before they hit a certain age. Kids undergo some serious mental and physical changes while growing up. Coping up with their education, peer group, and family, they face a lot of new challenges and experiences.
In such situations, being resilient gives them the ability to tackle these challenges with ease. Even when they are failing to do so, resilience gives them the hope to not give up and stand up to fight those challenges.
Resilience also gives them the ability to approach newer situations with more confidence and, thus, better outcomes.
Parents can teach their kids to be resilient by:
- Teaching themselves to solve their own problems.
- Encouraging them in their smallest achievments.
- Teaching them how to set long-term and short-term goals
6. Time Management
Time never stops. That’s why managing time is one of the most crucial life skills for kids. This life skill must be taught to every kid before they even start their schooling. It will teach them the value of time. Kids must learn how to organize or divide their time to perform a particular task.
Time management is important in different ways. However, mastering this skill will take practice, experience, and determination. But with time, if a kid masters his/her management of time then it will ease their life to a great extent.
Better time management means less stress, better productivity and efficiency, better reputation, and much more. Whereas, bad time management can lead to missed deadlines, poor workflow,
Parents can help kids to build time management skills by:
- Make an activity routine and turn that into a checklist.
- Teach them to plan out tasks on their own
- Set a defnite screen-time everyday.
- Make a proper spot for studying
7. Health and Hygiene
Apart from the skills we discussed, this skill exists physically. During these trying times amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, staying healthy and hygienic must be everyone’s top priority.
Are you keeping a close look at your kid’s daily behaviors? If not, then start taking care of their activities. Check whether they are maintaining proper hygiene or not.
The kid’s health must be kept in mind. Keep a check on your parenting checklist. Feed them fruits and green vegetables and ensure they get all the nutrients they need for their growth. Appoint a doctor if you see any kind of anomalies in your kid. It’s never too late, right?
Stop the spreading of germs and build a healthier lifestyle for your kids.
Here are the seven hygiene habits parents can teach their kids:
- Washing hair
- Bathing
- Skin Care
- Oral Hygiene
- Hand-washing
- Nail cutting
8. Finance
Although kids do not earn at this age, learning how to spend and save money can be very beneficial for them. The sense of inhibiting saving habits can help a lot in the long term.
Educating your kids about spending decisions and money planning from a young age will set them to save money efficiently. If parents allow their kids to make a decision early on, then it will be easier for them to make other decisions easily when they grow up.
So teaching them about financial literacy will enhance their decision-making skills.
For example, you can play games with your kids to teach financial literacy. Give them a small amount and tell them to spend it on a week’s snack. Let them buy a snack and pay for it themselves.
You can also play different play-money-based games and teach them how to spend them on different occasions.
To make them financially literate, you can also:
- Play money-related games like monopoly.
- Provide limited pocket money to cover their monthly expenditures.
- Send them for grocery shopping.
- Present them with difficult money-based scenarios and ask them to solve those problems
9. Decision-making
Decision-making is a skill that every child needs to develop from a young age. It is the process of choosing the most suitable option from a variety of options that provides the best possible outcome.
KId’s personality and relationships deeply depend on their decision-making skills. Kids who make their own decisions become more responsible and independent than others.
A child starts making decisions right from age 1. Although those decisions are very small-scale, they really make an impact at a greater stage of their life. For example, when a child starts to walk, he/she falls for the first time. But standing up and again start walking is their own decision.
This skill keeps on growing as their parents keep supporting their decisions whenever necessary.
Parents can help their kids to be a good decision-maker by:
- Showing them the ‘real’ world from a young age.
- Allowing them to make mistakes and learn from them.
- Teaching them what’s right and what’s wrong.
- Playing board games with them.
10. Respect
Data shows that kids from the age of 2 – 6 years have the highest capacity to develop their brains. In this age group, they learn the most important life skills of their lives. So parents must be very careful while teaching their kids any skill. Parent’s behavior reflects in their kids.
Treating someone with respect means showing them admiration and letting them feel that you want their well-being. If your kids respect someone, they will behave politely and show good manners while interacting.
PRO TIP: If you want to teach them to respect others, then start respecting them. It doesn’t mean that you should call them sir or madam. Just treat your child the same way you treat other persons.
Parenting hacks to teach your kids to respect others:
- Respect your kid’s preferences. They will respect other’s.
- Teach them good manners.
- Speak politely with them.
- Practice positive gossiping. Never use negative or obscene language in front of them.
We all do agree that kids make some mistakes in their daily lives, right?
But what matters the most is what they learn from their mistakes. That’s the reason why these above life skills for kids are very important.
If parents teach these skills properly from a young age, then surely their kids will turn up to become the most virtuous kid, ever.
Want more tips on parenting? Read this blog: How to Positively Parent a Teenager
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