Life Skills to Teach Our Children

Over the last year, I’ve realized how important it is to teach our children basic life skills they won’t learn in school. Many of these skills as adults we assume our children learn by observation. Teaching your children important life skills helps build your relationship, and can help them develop independence, confidence, and stronger self-esteem.

Teaching your kids basic skill sets can help them with critical thinking, taking on challenges, communication, taking responsibility, and problem-solving. Plus, some skills are being lost generation by generation. Thinking back two or three generations, many people knew how to tend bees, make soap, animal raising for food, blacksmithing, and much more.

DIY & Construction Skills

I am thankful I followed my Dad around while I was growing up. Even though he didn’t instruct me in many of the general construction skills, I learned a lot by watching. Both boys and girls need a background in general carpentry, electrical, and plumbing. Even if they don’t do the work themselves, knowing this information allows them to be an informed consumer.

Many times, parents think that construction equipment is dangerous, but if used in age-appropriate ways, it gives your kids lifelong skills. These are some great skills to teach your kids:

• How to do general simple plumbing so they can fix a leak or change out a faucet. Shark bites have removed needing to use a plumbing torch so that nearly anyone can repair plumbing.
• How to use a power drill, hammer, and most of the tools in a household tool kit.
• How to do simple electrical repairs like fixing a lamp or changing out a switch plate or socket.
• Accurate measuring, converting units, and reading a tape measure.
• General building knowledge such as knowing the different types of wood, concrete, drywall, nails, screws, and insulation values.
• Teaching how to cut lumber, make a basic joint, whether butt, miter, or dado, and how to build simple structures.

Cooking & Baking Skills

Learning basic cooking and baking skills will serve your children for their lifetime. Knowing how to cook and bake also allows your kids to learn valuable skills like reading recipes, measuring, and substitutions for ingredients. These are some of the valuable skills to teach your children:

• How to bake basic bread and kneading skills
• How to mash potatoes and various ways to prepare potatoes
• Measuring ingredients and sifting
• Cracking eggs and various ways to prepare eggs
• Basic muffin and cookie recipes
• What to put in compost and what not
• Chopping and cutting techniques
• How to fry, roast, and sauté
• How to choose vegetables and fruit
• Basic stew and soup recipes
• Basic food storage techniques
• Basic food preservation and canning techniques

Teach Kids Basic Sewing

Learning sewing skills isn’t only about making your clothes; it’s also a valuable skill to know basic sewing construction for mending purposes. My mom taught me how to sew when I was 8 years old. Taught is probably stretching the situation.

She taught me how to use the sewing machine: forward stitch, back stitch, thread a needle, and not to get my hand too close to the needle. She gave me the pattern directions, showed me how to lay out the pattern, cut out the pattern pieces, and then showed me how to pin the pieces together, and then said follow the pattern. I learned so much, even though it was a bit stressful for an 8-year-old. What basic sewing skills you can teach your children:

• Threading a needle
• Knotting thread
• Straight stitching by hand and on a machine
• Basic sewing machine skills
• Running stitch and backstitching
• Have them practice sewing on paper on a sewing machine before they graduate to fabric
• Start with simple patterns: hair scrunchies, throw pillows, pillowcases, or tea cozy

Teach Your Kids Knitting

In Scotland and Ireland, they teach both girls and boys how to knit. They start with a scarf and end up learning how to knit their socks. The beauty of knitting is that it coordinates the left and right brain, is soothing in its repetitive motion, is a great way to calm anxiety, and they have a product they’ve made. Most children can learn to knit between 5-7 years old. Some good knitting skills to teach children:

• Casting on
• Knit stitch
• Purl stitch
• Simple decrease
• Simple increase
• Simple bind-off
• Knit stitch
• Garter stitch
• A simple 2/2 rib stitch
• Let them start with a scarf and then take on a beanie cap, and then maybe a simple tube sock

Knitting is portable and a skill they can enjoy over their lifetime. If you don’t know how to knit, take a class together, or watch a YouTube video together and follow along. Knitting on projects together is a good relationship-building exercise with your children especially if you can laugh at mistakes you might make in learning knitting.

Basic Gardening Skills to Teach

Teaching your children how to grow their vegetables and fruit is a skill they will use for a lifetime. Gardening teaches them so many skill sets. They learn about weather conditions, pests, soil types, compost, fertilizers, when to plant when to harvest, and so much more. Learning gardening skills can teach your children responsibility, patience, observation skills, problem-solving techniques, and nutrition. Some handy skills to teach your kids about gardening:

• Planting seeds
• Growing seedlings
• Irrigation techniques and watering techniques
• How to weed and how to mulch
• When to harvest fruits and vegetables for optimal nutrition
• Soil care
• Tool safety and use
• Identifying pests and beneficial insects
• Companion planting
• How to build raised beds
• How to trellis vegetables and plants

Camping & Outdoor Skills

Camping and outdoor skills are fun to teach your kids and the skills help them way beyond the outdoors. We share some of our favorite outdoor and camping skills to teach children:

• How to build a fire
• Foraging skills
• Outdoor cooking methods
• Knife use and sharpening
• Anima track detection
• First aid
• How to use a compass
• Water safety including drinking water safety
• Knot tying
• Navigating without a compass or GPS including trail marking
• How to signal for help
• Identifying plants
• Fishing skills
• How to use a chainsaw
• Wood splitting
• Understanding wildlife and their habits

Teaching our children outdoor skills helps them appreciate nature more and take the proper safety precautions, but it also helps them succeed in emergencies.

Enjoy this winter weather for planning your next DIY project or teaching your kids important skills. We are here at Shed Windows and More to support you in creating great DIY building projects. Take a look at our newest products, and our 2025 catalog will be coming soon!