10 Important Life Skills Every Child Should Learn

Raising children is more than just keeping them safe and healthy now, it is also all about leading them for the future. Teaching your kids these 10 important life skills is a very important part of parenting. 

10 Important Life Skills Every Child Should Learn

Every child needs to know how to care for themselves as they go through life, and while these life skills may not be needed daily they are valuable for every child to learn and may come in handy at some point. As parents, it’s our job to make sure that our children are ready for anything in life.

These 10 basic life skills are some of the ones I thought my girls should know before adulthood and it’s something we work on every day. Especially when it comes to bettering their manners, how to take care of themselves, and how to have simple learning tasks that could come in handy later in life.

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Basic Etiquette

One of the most important life skills every child needs to learn is how to treat those around them. This comes with basic etiquette. Things like saying please and thank you are important, as well as basic manners. Teach your children about basic table etiquette, how to be polite in mixed company, and the things that should be done in private.

This is one of the most important life skills our children can learn. Especially with so much hate and negativity going on in our world. We need to teach our kids to be better and to treat those around them with politeness. Even if they are different, have different beliefs, and are of different skin color. Teaching etiquette is also teaching humanity to our children.

Creating A Budget

Adults struggle with debt and finances more now than ever. Teaching your children what a budget is, how to create one, and most importantly how to follow a budget is vital. Explain to them the checks and balances of paying bills, taxes, and how to account for their income and expenses each month.

If your child does chores, allow them to earn some cash on the side for helping out. I don’t always agree with this method, but it’s a great way to teach your children how to earn their own money by working for it. This will also teach them to save up money for something special they would like to buy.

Researching Information

In today’s society, kids have so much information handed to them easily online and in classrooms. They truly need to learn how to not just do basic research, but how to decide what is fact and fiction. This means looking at multiple sources both online and in written documentation like books, magazines, and articles. This is useful for future work, their own belief regarding religion or politics, and simply being in a conversation with others.

My daughters love visiting our local library for books when they have to do research for school projects. It’s a great way to get them away from just using their electronics when looking for answers. Too many times I’ve caught my daughter asking her “Alexa” for help with homework. I give her props for being smarter than me, but, knowing how to do her own research for school homework will only help her later during her college years.

Proper Cleaning Techniques

This is more than one skill but can be housed under one area. Teaching your children how to clean up after themselves is important. Not just in their rooms and home, but also things like basic hygiene and sanitation when exposed to illness or things like raw foods. They should know how to clean up their messes, as well as how to protect themselves from illness. This can also include things like laundry, washing dishes, and basic household chores.

I find myself too many times feeling like their housekeeper rather than their mother, so teaching my girls to clean up after themselves not only teaches them to be tidy, but it’s also helping me keep our home clean and organized. 

Basic First Aid

Understanding the basics of cleaning and dressing a wound is important for everyone to learn. Add to that the addition of how to check for temperature and at what point a doctor should be called and you have a nice basis for personal care. Additionally, you can take them for basic CPR classes, or even help them understand what to look for in cases of burns, frostbite, gangrene, or other more uncommon things that could occur if they found themselves out in the elements too long.

With my oldest daughters food allergies, my youngest daughter is completely trained on how to use an EpiPen, what signs to look for if she has to use it and to call 911 immediately after. 

How To Grow Food

While most will be able to go to a grocery store for their needs, growing a garden is a life skill every child should know. Teach them basics about starting their own seeds, planting, fertilizing, and harvesting crops. You could even teach them about home canning and how to dry and preserve seeds for the next year.

This doesn’t have to be detailed, but you want your child to know how to grow some vegetables and herbs. You don’t need a huge backyard to do so. My daughters and I plant herbs inside our home all the time using mason jars. They also love planting vegetables outdoors with their dad. It’s a fun way for them to also see the way nature works.

Building A Fire

Fire is necessary to keep them warm, boil water for drinking, and cook foods. Whether they find themselves without electricity or just need to use the fireplace in their home, the steps to building a basic fire are necessary. Include options for how to start a fire without matches or a lighter to make it more fun and realistic for them.

Building a fire will most likely be used when you are camping outdoors, but this is when you most need to teach your child how to do it. 

Cook Basic Meals

Everyone needs to know how to safely cook a few meals. This can be as simple as how to scramble eggs or make a basic pasta dish, but learning some cooking skills is a life necessity for everyone. Teaching knife skills, food safety, and a few simple recipes are important for your child.

Make sure you are also teaching cooking skills according to your child’s age. You want to make sure that they are ready to master certain fine-motor skills, so they don’t get hurt. Cooking scrambled eggs or heating up mac and cheese in the microwave is a great way to start.

Basic Sewing Skills

Everyone will face a point that a button pops off, or a simple tear occurs. Basic sewing skills are a life skill everyone should learn. Start with simple things like sewing a straight line, hemming pants, or a button back onto a piece of clothing.

There’s also a lot more sewing supplies that are easier to use nowadays. The point is that your child will be able to mend pieces of clothing if necessary, especially in tight situations.

Basic Childcare Skills

There are times in life when taking care of a child is a must. Whether or not they plan to have children of their own doesn’t mean they shouldn’t know how to properly bathe, diaper, and feed a baby. A babysitting course would be a great addition to this.

Most kids have a sibling, a cousin, or family friend who are younger than them. Teaching kids how to attend to younger children is not important but could help later on in life. I also believe that when a child has the patience for another younger child, that’s teaching them to take care of others at a young age.

Teaching these important life skills every child needs to your kids is part of your role as a parent. Make sure they are age-appropriate and slowly as your kids get older teach them a new skill. A great way to start this is by having a family chore chart. Sign up for our emails and receive a FREE age-appropriate chore chart for your kids straight to your email!

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What other skills would you include in this list?