One of the biggest gaps I see children growing up with today is the confidence and ability to perform practical life skills. Practical life skills are everyday skills needed for areas of our lives like home management, hygiene, safety, and even relationship skills.

I didn’t feel fully equipped going into my adulthood when it came to practical, day-to-day small things. I had no clue how to clean a toilet or go grocery shopping for more than road trip snacks. I spent the better part of my early 20s eating out because I was intimidated by the kitchen. When I finally started cooking I relied on complicated recipes and spent too much time and money on impractical meals. I would call my dad to ask how to put air in a bike tire and was nervous going to the post office. While I aced algebra tests and was an honor roll student at my public high school, I was “educated” by the world’s standards, but I was not ready for adulthood.

In this blog post:

• How to teach children practical life skills
• 100 practical life skills to teach your children [Free PDF download]

How to teach children practical life skills

I believe practical life skills are learned at home, in a family setting. I believe it is the parents’ job to teach these skills and it is so easily overlooked. We are doing our children and the world a disservice when we aren’t intentional about these things and neglect to send them out as resourceful, confident, problem-solving individuals. 

A huge benefit to homeschooling for my husband and me is having the margin in our days to teach our children practical life skills. While many of these are taught somewhat organically throughout childhood and life, I decided early on it was wise to be a bit more intentional about teaching them. Why not include them in our homeschool day? To me, they’re just as important as learning fractions or the story of Abraham Lincoln. 

When my older children were around ages 4 and 5 we began “Morning Chores.” You can read about how we handled chores at that young age here. Along with daily chores, I try to include practical life skills intentionally throughout our days. I invite each child to cook with me. I try to slow down and welcome my children to observe “adult” things I am doing like pumping gas and writing out my meal plan. I explain everything in detail and give them a chance to help. 

Related: Habit Training: Household Chores and My Homeschool Mom Morning Routine

Morning chores are part of our family’s daily rhythm. After we finish breakfast, each child has a few tasks they do to help care for our home. It might be helping clean up breakfast, getting dressed and brushing their teeth, or making their bed. Each child has a chore chart from the Daily Rhythm Bundle to cross off their chores each morning and evening. For my family, it helps set expectations and create accountability. It also teaches my children that we all have an important role to play in our family.

100 practical life skills to teach your children

There are chores that children can do at every age. Take this list and let it inspire you as a launching board. Check off what you think they already feel confident in. Add some things you wish you would’ve known going into adulthood. Ask your children what “adult things” they wish they understood or could do. Their answers may surprise you.

Decide how you want to be intentional, depending on your children’s ages and abilities. Maybe you could tackle one or two at a time with your children until you feel they’re confident. However your approach, let this encourage you to remember what education is – it’s giving our children the tools they need for a full, rich life.

Download the full list: 100 Life Skills to Intentionally Teach Your Child