You already know how important children are for our future. because of that, it is so important that you know what self-reliant skills for children you should be teaching them.
Children absorb so much knowledge so easily at a young age. Now is the time to instill those important skills that they can take with them going forward. From simple bread-making to sewing skills, this post is going to share the many skills you can start teaching your children right away.
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Self-Reliant Skills for Children in the Home
Children learn quickly. So when they are young why not start teaching them the skills they will need when they have their own homes? Below is a list of self-reliant skills for children of all ages. As your children get older, increase the difficulty.
Laundry Skills
- Sort laundry
- Using the correct washing cycle
- Hand-washing delicates
- Use of a clothesline
- Making DIY laundry soap
- Folding towels, sheets, and other bulky items
- Making DIY dryer sheets, fabric softener, wool dryer balls
- Older children can learn to use an iron
Kitchen Skills
- Measuring solids and liquids
- Understanding yeast
- Baking bread
- Making pasta
- Following a recipe
- Substitutions
- Meal planning
- Baking cookies
- Render lard
- Making butter, cheese, and other dairy products
- Care of cutting boards
- Cooking from scratch
- Washing dishes
Food Preservation
- Using a dehydrator, solar and electric
- Water-bath canning (if too young, they can gather ingredients and clean the food)
- Using a pantry
- Freezer cooking
Money and Financial Skills
- Budgeting
- Saving money
- Using a checking account
- Couponing
- Making change
- Balance a checkbook
- Giving to charity
Repairs and Maintenance Skills
- How to use a measuring tape
- Figure out the square foot of a room
- Furnace filter replacement
- Understand how a smoke alarm works
- Learn to use a drill, hammer, wrenches
- Simple electrical repairs (older children)
- Simple plumbing (older children)
- How to caulk windows and doors
- Replace a window pane (older children with supervision)
- Replace a doorknob, install a deadbolt
General Skills Around the Home
- Simple sewing, crocheting, knitting, and even weaving
- DIY cleaning products
- Making soap and bath products
- Making DIY candles
Gardening Skills
- Starting seeds
- Make compost
- Vermicomposting
- Weeding a garden
- Mowing the grass
- Raking leaves
- Caring for herbs and vegetables
- Harvesting vegetables, fruit, and herbs
- Using hand tools
- Simple foraging skills
- Watering plants
Survival Skills
- Making firestarters
- Safety in the wild
- Starting a simple fire
- Cooking outside
- Using cast iron pots (older children)
- Building a simple shelter
- Simple first aid and natural remedies for common ailments
- Using a compass and a map
- Identifying poisonous plants
- Hunting, fishing, trapping
Getting Them Involved
Children are normally curious and open to learning new things. Start involving your children in all of the things you do and let them watch or even take part.
The above self-reliant skills for children are all great starters for you to instill in them. There are too many children these days that just do not know how to do simple things. The problem with that is that those simple things are the very skills they will need in the future.
It is up to us as parents, grandparents, and caregivers to instill these skills in the children if we want their futures to be better. What do you teach your children that will help them become more self-reliant going forward?