What Are Life Skills?
Ellen Galinsky, author of the book Mind in the Making, describes life skills as tools parents can intentionally teach children that will help them thrive throughout their life, into adulthood. Life skills are essential for children’s development as they form the foundation for their future well-being and success.
By developing these life skills, children gain tools they need to succeed in school, work, and personal relationships. They become more confident, resilient, and responsible individuals who are well-prepared to face the challenges and opportunities for the future.
Below, we explore the seven basic life skills described by Galinsky and offer some simple ways to nurture them.
What are the most important life skills to teach kids
1. Focus and self-control
Children thrive on schedules, habits, and routines, which not only create a feeling of security but also help children learn self-control and focus. Talk with your child about what to expect each day. Organize your home so your child knows where to put shoes, coats, and personal belongings. We live in a noisy, distraction-filled world, so quiet activities like reading a book, enjoying sensory activities, or completing a puzzle together can help your child slow down and increase focus.
2.Taking another's point of view
Thinking about another’s point of view doesn’t come naturally to most children, but it can be developed. Discuss characters’ feelings and motivations in the books you read, e.g., “I wonder why the cat and the pig wouldn’t help the little red hen.” Make observations about how others are feeling, e.g., “Alex was really sad that he didn’t get a turn. I wonder what he might need to feel better.”
3. Communicating with others
Children need high-touch personal interactions every day to build healthy social-emotional skills, including the ability to understand and communicate with others. While the pace at which they develop these skills may vary, children need to learn how to master the meet and greet and listen carefully. They must consider what they want to communicate and the most effective way to share it. Just talking with an interested adult can help build these life skills for children. Spend time every day listening and responding to your child without distractions.
4. Making Connections
True learning, says Galinsky, occurs when we can see connections and patterns between seemingly disparate things. The more connections we make, the more sense and meaning we make of the world. Young children begin to see connections and patterns as they sort basic household items like toys and socks. Simple acts, such as choosing clothing appropriate for the weather, help them build connections. Point out more abstract connections in life, or in stories you read, e.g., “This book reminds me of when we picked sea shells at the beach.”
5. Developing critical thinking
We live in a complex world in which adults are required to analyze information and make decisions about myriad of things every day. One of the best ways to develop critical thinking is through rich, open-ended play. Ensure your child has time each day to play alone or with friends. This play might include taking on roles (pretending to be firefighters or superheroes), building structures, playing board games, or playing outside physical games, such as tag or hide-and-seek. Through play, children formulate hypotheses, take risks, try out their ideas, make mistakes, and find solutions—all essential elements in building critical thinking.
6. Taking on challenges
One of the most important traits we can develop in life is resilience—the ability to take on challenges, bounce back from failure, and keep trying. Children learn to take on challenges when we create an environment with the right amount of structure—not so much as to be limiting, but enough to make them feel safe. Encourage your child to try new things and take healthy risks, such as climbing a tree or riding a bike. Offer a new challenge when they seem ready, e.g., “I think you’re ready to learn to tie your shoes. Let’s give it a try.” Focus more on effort than achievement, e.g., “Learning to tie your shoes was really hard, but you kept trying.”
7.Independent, engaged learning
A child who loves learning becomes an adult who is rarely bored in life. To foster a love of learning, limit screen time and encourage plenty of reading, pretend play, and open-ended exploration. Model curiosity and enthusiasm for learning in your own life by visiting the library together, keeping craft supplies, making games available, and allowing for some messes at home.
By following these simple tips, you can easily help your child build basic life skills.
Bright Horizons Podcast: Lemons to Lemonade with Four Ingredients
On this episode of the Work-Life Equation, turn those parenting lemons into lemonade! It might not seem like it, but your child is more predictable than you think—and each stage of your child’s development, along with every meltdown, is a gateway to building life skills for kids. Hear early childhood experts Ellen Galinsky and Rachel Robertson discuss the science behind parenting that can turn frustration into great skills for life.
