Life Skills Archives - Our Life Homeschooling https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/category/life-skills/ Homeschooling Encouragement for Everyday Moms Tue, 13 May 2025 01:48:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/cropped-1-1-32x32.png Life Skills Archives - Our Life Homeschooling https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/category/life-skills/ 32 32 Practical Life Skills: Gardening Ideas for Kids https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2024/07/17/practical-life-skills-gardening-ideas-for-kids/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=practical-life-skills-gardening-ideas-for-kids https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2024/07/17/practical-life-skills-gardening-ideas-for-kids/#respond Wed, 17 Jul 2024 20:33:06 +0000 https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/?p=7013 One of the most important life skills you can ever teach your kids is where food comes from and how to produce it for themselves. These gardening activities for kids will help you pass on this valuable heritage to your own children. Gardening is a life skill that all kids should learn. Planting and harvesting...

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Practical Life Skills: Gardening Ideas for Kids

One of the most important life skills you can ever teach your kids is where food comes from and how to produce it for themselves. These gardening activities for kids will help you pass on this valuable heritage to your own children.

Gardening is a life skill that all kids should learn. Planting and harvesting food is not a one time activity. It’s a process that takes time. 

No lesson plans or fun garden activities will build this muscle in your children. To see young plants through to maturity, you have to be spending time on a regular basis weeding, watering, pruning, and caring for them. Beautiful gardens that produce a bountiful harvest require much time and consistent care. 

Practical Life Skills: Gardening Ideas for Kids

Why You Should a Garden With Your Kids

Why should I have a garden when I can buy the same thing in the grocery store for a similar cost for the time I put into it? Have you ever asked this question? 

While it is true that having a garden may not save much money or save only a little money, in my opinion, the advantages outweigh the cost.

Having a garden helps kids see where food comes from and how much work it takes to grow it.  

When I think about how heavily our fruits and vegetables are sprayed with pesticides, I have a lot of peace knowing that a large portion of our produce is grown in our backyard. 

Another great reason to garden with your children is because it teaches them the generational skill of growing their own food. Thankfully, we live in abundant times where we can get whatever we need at the grocery store. But should more difficult times come when they would need to know how to provide for themselves, they will have built the muscle for it.

Practical Life Skills: Gardening Ideas for Kids

Benefits of Having a Yearly Garden

Perhaps the best part of having a yearly garden is that it draws kids outside. With so many various colors and different things to see, a garden gives kids something to observe and do. 

Even public schools are beginning to realize how important it is for young kids to have plenty of leisure time in the natural world. As a result, schools all over the U.S. are adopting environmental education programs into their curriculum.

For many years we have had a vegetable garden in our backyard. Because of all the time our kids have spent gardening, they can identify the name of each plant by seed, flower, or leaf because they are so familiar with them.  

Every time we go outside, the kids discover some new wonderful thing that they want to know more about. Spending time outside sparks on-the-fly Nature Study lessons as we try to learn more about each specimen. 

Practical Life Skills: Gardening Ideas for Kids

How to Start a Garden

If you’re wondering how to teach your kids gardening skills, don’t overthink it. Just start a garden in your own backyard. 

Don’t spend too much time worrying about having the soil just right or what each plant needs.(In gardening, you learn as you go. After several years of gardening, I’m still learning new strategies.)  

Before you put the first plant in the ground, it’s a good idea to learn the plant hardiness zones in your location. This tells you the approximate last frost date so you can determine the when it is safe to plant 

Pick a good sunny spot for a garden bed, use a hoe to dig up the sod, and put a few plants in  the ground. I recommend buying plants from a nursery for your first time. After you have a few successful years of gardening, then you can try growing from seed. 

Remember to water your garden daily, especially when putting the plants into the soil. Watch for predators like rabbits and moles. You may have to protect your plants while they are still small. 

It would be best if you also protected your plants from weeds that try to choke them. We like to use landscape cloth to put between our rows. It costs a little money initially, but saves a ton of work if you use the same landscape cloth every year!

Practical Life Skills: Gardening Ideas for Kids

How to Help Kids Develop a Gardening Habit

It’s not hard to teach kids how to grow something. Put a seed in the ground, water it, and pull weeds around it. The habit of gardening, however, is a bit more difficult to master. Seeing something through from start to finish takes hard work and consistency.

  • Aim to spend a little time in the garden every day. Kids can help water, weed, and pick off any bugs that are pests.
  • Go out in the morning hours before it gets too hot. 

Young Children

Having a garden bed, however small, may be too much for young children, but they may enjoy having their own mini garden in a large pot on the deck or patio. Fill a clay pot with 3-4 plants. A very small natural space will be much easier for little ones to maintain. 

Gardening Easy Ideas

Try these easy gardening activities for kids to get them excited about growing food for the family!

Seed Starting

After you have a successful harvest for a few years, you may want to try starting seeds indoors. This is a great activity for children of all ages. 

You can buy seed starting trays from any hardware store. Make sure to buy seed-starting soil, not just potting soil. Have the kids put a small amount of soil in each cell. Make small holes in each section, drop in 2-3 tiny seeds, and cover it up. Watering the soil before planting will help the seeds to not bubble up and displace. This is a great way for young children to sharpen their fine motor skills.  

It can be a test of patience making sure they got seeds in each plug while also not doubling up on others. We always plant our seeds on the kitchen counter, or patio table so that it’s not too hard to clean up the mess. 

Rain Barrels

One fun experiment for older kids is to find ways to conserve water by using rain barrels to collect water.  Did you know you can irrigate your own garden with rainwater rather than running up your water bill using the tap?

How To Make A Homemade Rain Catcher: 11 Effortless DIY Ideas Explained

Challenge older children to find other smarter ways to be more efficient in the garden! A little Google or Pinterest searching will quickly spark some new inspiration. They might surprise you with their ideas. 

Garden Markers

One creative way to get kids involved in the garden is to have them make garden markers. When we plant seeds in our garden, I like to mark the rows with some sort of stick or marker. These garden markers below are one simple idea that any child can put together quickly. 

How to Make Garden Markers At Home

Flower Gardening

While growing a vegetable garden is a practical life skill, flower gardening will bring color and beauty to your home. Nasturtiums, marigolds, and zinnias are easy flowers to start with for kids. Our kids like to try making beautiful flower bouquets from the flowers we grow around our property. 

Herb Garden

An herb garden is a fun way to add taste and smell to your outdoor endeavors. In our home, we invested in a dehydrator. We looked through the pantry at some easy herbs to grow that we use often in cooking. For us, sweet basil, oregano, and mint were easy to grow and dehydrate. We use basil in soups; oregano is delicious on our homemade pizzas; and mint makes delicious meadow tea.  

Notebooking

I have a few kids who learn best by writing and drawing what they observe. Provide plenty of colored pencils, pens, and watercolor paints for your children to use in making a wildlife journal or nature notebook.

They can sketch the pests they see in the garden. Another idea is to have them measure and graph how tall certain plants grow from week to week. 

This is really fun to do with cucumbers. Measure the baby cucumbers when you first see them on the vine. Measure the growth each day write down your findlings. Your kids will be amazed to see how quickly they grow overnight!

In this post, I share how we make a Simple Nature Study notebook in our homeschool. 

Practical Life Skills: Gardening Ideas for Kids

Gardening as Homeschool Curriculum

Can gardening be used as your main science curriculum? Yes! You can extend your gardening lessons into the winter months by studying these topics. 

  • life cycle of plants 
  • parts of a plant and flower
  • which seeds need to be started indoors
  • identify a plant by seed, leaf, flower, and fruit
  • identify wildflowers, fungi, mosses, weeds
  • movement of sap and absorption of water
  • photosynthesis, how plants make food 
  • types of pollinators
  • plant blights
  • common pests
  • organic material in soil
  • how much water and direct sunlight plants need

While spring, summer, and fall are the best times to study outdoor gardening, these are some of the concepts kids can learn about gardening at any time of year. When I look for books on these topics, I go to the non-fiction kids section of the library. Let your kids pick their favorite books.

Excellent Gardening Books for Kids

Here are a few of our favorite books to inspire kids to garden. 

*This post contains affiliate links which means I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.*

Sale
Farmer Boy (Little House, 2)
  • Wilder, Laura Ingalls (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 384 Pages – 04/08/2008 (Publication Date) – HarperCollins (Publisher)

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This is one of my favorite books of the Little House on the Prairie series for boys. Almanzo tells detailed stories about American home life on the homestead. Readers get a glimpse of the daily work it takes to feed a family from the food you grow. 

Sale
The Trellis and the Seed: A Book of Encouragement for All Ages
  • God, religion, faith, Trellis and the seed, trellis, seed,
  • Hardcover Book
  • Karon, Jan (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 32 Pages – 04/14/2003 (Publication Date) – Viking Juvenile (Publisher)

The Trellis and the Seed by Jan Karon

This is an inspiring book for anyone that wants to have a flower garden. The illustrations alone are a feast for the eyes. 

Sale
The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre!
  • The backyard homestead produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre
  • Language: english
  • Book – backyard homestead: produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre!
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 368 Pages – 02/11/2009 (Publication Date) – Storey Publishing, LLC (Publisher)

The Backyard Homestead

If you have a small property, you will be amazed to see all that you can produce on an ¼ acre plot by reading this book!

I hope these gardening activities for kids help you get started incorporating this practical life skill into your family life. Don’t miss the great opportunity right outside your front door!  

You may also enjoy reading these similar posts.

7 Easy foods for Kids to Preserve in Summer

How to Make a Simple Nature Study Notebook

50 Life Skills that Should Be Taught at Home

Valuable Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Summer

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Easy Honey Strawberry Jam Recipe for a Large Family https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2023/05/31/preserving-honey-sweetened-strawberry-jam-for-a-large-family/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=preserving-honey-sweetened-strawberry-jam-for-a-large-family https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2023/05/31/preserving-honey-sweetened-strawberry-jam-for-a-large-family/#respond Wed, 31 May 2023 17:44:21 +0000 https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/?p=5377 One of my favorite parts of spring is seeing sweet strawberries ripen like jewels in the early summer in the little patch beside our house. Preserving strawberry honey jam for a large family is a task that has taken more than a few years to perfect. For the first time this year, I finally have...

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One of my favorite parts of spring is seeing sweet strawberries ripen like jewels in the early summer in the little patch beside our house. Preserving strawberry honey jam for a large family is a task that has taken more than a few years to perfect. For the first time this year, I finally have mastered this delicious recipe and I am happy to share it with you!

Video: Honey Strawberry Jam Recipe for a Large Family

Previous attempts at Making Strawberry Jam

When I first started making homemade strawberry jam several years ago, I made it with a full-sugar recipe, but over the years, it bothered me how much white sugar we were consuming, so I switched to a recipe with less sugar (Low Sugar Sure Jell). This worked for a while.

One year, I attempted to nix the granulated sugar by using a natural sweetener like honey. The problem, however, was that I couldn’t get the honey jam to set, so I went back to the safer low-sugar recipe that I knew would set without difficulty.

Finally, this year, I decided to try the honey-sweetened strawberry jam once more and I love how it turned out!

Preserving Jam for a Large Family

To feed our family of twelve last year, we made 50 pints of strawberry jam. This lasted us until March, so ideally, we should probably do about 60 this year if we want it to last until next May. The recipe in this post yields 5 pints.

How can you determine the amount of jam you should make to feed your family for a year?

  1. Count approximately how many pints you use per month.
  2. Multiply this number by 12 months in a year.
  3. Divide by 5 (the pint yield from one batch) to see how many batches you need to make.

Problem Solving: Breaking Jars

Over the years I have sometimes had a problem of jars breaking when I put them in the canner to process. I have learned that this is indirectly related to having a larger family.

Because I usually have some children underfoot and others helping when we are making jam, the process sometimes takes longer. I often have random interruptions as I work on the jam throughout the day.

Sometimes the finished jam will sit in the pint jars long enough to cool down to room temperature. When I place these room-temperature jam jars into the canner of boiling water, the change in temperature causes the jars to crack. The solution is to either process the hot jars of hot jam in the canner immediately or, if there is a time-lapse, put the room-temperature jars in the canner when it is warm, but not boiling.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Easy Jam Recipe

Here are a few things you should know before making this homemade jam recipe. If you are used to store-bought traditional jam, this may not taste quite as sweet as your normal preference.

Additionally, honey sweetened jam does not yield as much as a full or low-sugar recipe. In my opinion, however, the smaller yield is worth it because you can be confident that your family is consuming healthy food.

Ingredients

  • 8 cups crushed fresh strawberries, pureed with a potato masher (kids are great for this job!) or in a food processer
  • 1 cup water (or fruit juice if you prefer it a little sweeter)
  • 9 tablespoons Low or No Sugar Sure Jell or Fruit Pectin
  • 1 cup honey ( I prefer raw honey.)

Canning Tools

Instructions

  1. Pour 8 cups of crushed fresh berries and 1 cup of water (or fruit juice) into a large saucepan. Heat on the stovetop, slowly whisking in the 9 TB Sure Jell. Bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.
  2. Add 1 cup of honey. Bring to a rolling boil again. When the boil cannot be stirred down, set a timer for 1 minute. Stir constantly to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Turn off heat after the minute timer is complete.
  3. Use a funnel and ladle to pour hot strawberry jam into clean jars (pint-size.) Leave a 1/4 inch of headspace. Wipe the top of the filled jars with a hot, clean cloth to remove any strawberry residue.
  4. Boil lids and rings in a small pot of water for 1 minute.
  5. Use a canning magnet to pull lids and rings out of the boiling water. Place lid on the jar. Screw on the ring. It should be screwed all the way, but not too tight. (Too loose and it may not seal, too tight and the jar lid may buckle.)
  6. Use a jar lifter to gently place the pint jar into a canner filled with hot water. Seven pint jars will fill a standard canning kettle.
  7. When the kettle comes to a boil, process the jam for 10 minutes.
  8. Use a jar lifter to remove the jars from the boiling water bath canner. Set on a tea towel to let the jam cool. Do not move for 24 hours to allow the jam to set and the jars to seal. Test the seals on each jar by tapping in the center or gently pressing down.

Preserving Food Teaches Kids Life Skills

One good reason to preserve food for your family is because it teaches kids valuable life skills. Getting them involved in growing and making their own food helps them fully understand how they contribute to the family.

There are many jobs that kids can do to be a part of when preserving food. With jam, they can pick the fresh fruit in strawberry season, wash them, cut off the tops, mash them to a puree with a potato masher, and measure the berries, honey, and sure jell.

When they see this process year after year, even if they aren’t actively doing the work, they can step in and out in any part of it because they watched it all several times.

It’s also good for them to see how we respond to failures (like jars breaking and jam not setting.)

Besides all this, the memories made and smells of delicious jam are worth making this a regular family tradition in your home.

Find More Ways to Preserve Food For Your Family

How to Can Applesauce and Pass Down a Family Tradition

7 Easy Foods to Preserve with Kids this Summer

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What Are Homeschoolers Learning in Summer Break? (Life Skills!) https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2023/05/17/what-are-homeschoolers-learning-in-summer-break-life-skills/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-are-homeschoolers-learning-in-summer-break-life-skills https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2023/05/17/what-are-homeschoolers-learning-in-summer-break-life-skills/#respond Wed, 17 May 2023 19:43:52 +0000 https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/?p=5326 We are finishing up our last few days of school this week and it feels so, so good! We are all looking forward to lazy summer days, and yes, we take a complete break! The learning, however, does not stop once we close our books. Kids are always learning! During summer it just shifts and...

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What Are Homeschoolers Learning in Summer Break? (Life Skills!)

We are finishing up our last few days of school this week and it feels so, so good! We are all looking forward to lazy summer days, and yes, we take a complete break! The learning, however, does not stop once we close our books. Kids are always learning! During summer it just shifts and looks different. What Are Homeschoolers Learning in Summer Break? (Life Skills!)

Learning is a lifestyle. Sometimes it includes books. Other times, it looks a whole lot like real life! In our home, it meshes so much with life, it can sometimes be hard to tell the two apart!

You may also enjoy these posts about life skills.

50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

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Video: What Are Homeschoolers Learning in Summer Break? (Life Skills!)

Changes in our rhythms often spur creative thinking. Even the changing of seasons is exciting to us as we live and learn a little differently in each of them. After all, variety is the spice of life! As we move through the homeschool year, we can focus on different things at different times.

In fall we finish up preserving our harvest and spend time on the soccer field watching our kids compete. In winter, we stoke the fire in the wood stove and cozy up on the sofa with our books in hand to do a lot of reading, writing, and bookwork during the season of rest. In spring, we are drawn outdoors again to watch in awe as the birds come back and new life springs up everywhere around us. Just as each season has its own unique attributes, summer break is brimming with learning opportunities.

Life Skills for Summer Break

While it is true that as homeschoolers our kids have lots of time during the school year to pursue their interests, summer break provides even more time to do this unhindered by their academic studies. Here are some of the life skills our kids learn in their summer break.

Projects

Our second son is building a tree house. For him, this has meant getting advice from my husband, watching YouTube videos, and searching for plans online. He is really excited about building this treehouse this summer. He has even enlisted siblings to help him with the small jobs involved! I love seeing them all out there, running into problems, making mistakes, and trying to find solutions. The platform looks bigger than they imagined, but maybe it will still work if they want to have a front porch? Details like these challenge their thinking!

Cooking

Although the kids help me cook throughout the year, we have more free time in summer to try new recipes. So much chemistry is involved in cooking. Through cooking, our kids have learned about density, mixtures, and measuring… to name a few. We have learned how to can fruits and vegetables, ferment with sourdough and water kefir, dehydrate foods, and water glass eggs.

girl kneading dough

Shopping and Other Trips

Of course we don’t call them field trips, but nicer weather makes it easier (than during colder months) to go out and explore local events and attractions. We like to find out what parades, festivals, and markets are scheduled so we can see some of these places. Vacations are incentives to also take a day to see nearby museums, parks, or historical sites.

Now that we have some teenage girls in the house, we spend more time shopping. (It’s so fun to do this with my girls!) Sometimes they shop for clothes or personal items, but often they will also shop for materials for hobbies they want to try like a sewing or craft project.

Home Organization

During summer, we spend some time fine tuning our chores and cleaning out cabinets, drawers, and bedrooms. I also am a little more particular about checking the small details of their chores, things that often get neglected in the busyness of our year, for example, wiping baseboards, dusting, and vacuuming the corners along the ceilings for cobwebs, etc.

This summer, my recipe cards need to be organized, so I will buy a new photo album and the kids will help me organize the recipe cards in a new book. We also work on updating photos in frames around the house and in albums, which also gives us a chance to delete pictures on my phone…a never ending job!

What Are Homeschoolers Learning in Summer Break? (Life Skills!)

Nature Study

While not necessarily a life skill, learning to identify local birds, plants, trees, and mammals is fun! No we don’t have formal lessons on this, but it just comes up a lot when we walk outside and see new flora popping up every other day! Spending a lot of time outside helps kids to be more aware of the habits of animals around them and when certain flowers are in season in their environment.

Entrepreneurship

Kids relish the chance to make money! Over the years our kids have hosted lemonade stands, neighborhood bake sales, and yard sales. Some have sold items on Ebay. Others have made money walking neighborhood dogs or doing landscaping for neighbors.

Reading

While reading is usually categorized as an academic skill, it is also a life skill! Our kids are still reading a lot in the summer, even if it is not a part of their “school” work. Most often they are reading fictional chapter books for fun, but many other areas of natural life involve reading. Reading is required for following a recipe, understanding the instructions to a new board game, learning how to assemble various construction projects, and more!

Reading aloud is also part of our family lifestyle. We read a passage of Scripture at breakfast and dinner. Often when our littles are down for naps, I love to read fun chapter books poolside or on the front porch. On rainy days, we might listen to an audio book curled up on the sofa together. As part of our bedtime routine, we sing a hymn, the kids following the words from a hymnbook.

Homesteading skills

If you want to find ways to keep kids busy and curious, surround them with living things like plants and animals. Adding some homesteading skills to our life has done this for us. Living things need regular care. It is also interesting to see them change and grow from day to day.

Gardening

Every year we have a garden. Our kids help plant, water, weed, and harvest. A garden gives them something to go out and see every day. They love to watch for the first cucumber and the first red tomato. When an unusual bug is invading the zucchini squash, it becomes a problem to solve. Through gardening our kids have learned many things about science. Here are a few of them.

  • Identify cultivated plants.
  • How far apart to plant different seeds.
  • Which plants can be started from seed and which need to be started indoors ahead of time.
  • Perennial and annual plants.
  • Preservation of food: canning, blanching and freezing, dehydrating.
What Are Homeschoolers Learning in Summer Break? (Life Skills!)

Animal Care

Over time we have added animals to our property. This also gives kids something every day to go out and observe. Animals can be very entertaining! We have laying hens year round, but in summer we raise broiler hens and pigs. These animals are butchered in fall and provide meat for our family year round.

Since the kids are involved in all of the care of our animals, they are able to see how their work with them is a valuable contribution to the whole family. Forgetting to fill the pig’s water barrel on a hot summer day can be a devastating loss! Having kids care for animals encourages compassion and helps them see that even as kids, a living being is depending on them for sustenance. Their work matters!

Entertainment and Games

Often our kids will play board or card games on the front porch. I love watching the siblings interact together. Without realizing it’s happening, the kids are learning so many math and strategy skills through these games. Sometimes, I think our seven year old learned more about adding and subtracting from playing Five Crowns and Dutch Blitz than she has from her daily math lessons! I love some of the ideas in this post about Game School.

Physical Fitness and Sports

This summer, our fifteen year old son has pulled out our old P90X workout DVD’s and has started working through them. He has been talking about how many weeks he is into the program and ways that he wants to eat healthier to build muscle.

Another thing all the kids will be doing this summer is swimming. We are blessed to have a pool. The kids spend almost every day in it. We have a 5 and 6 year old who hopefully will learn to swim this summer. Knowing how to swim is an important life skill!

Our older boys will sometimes drive to a park for pick up basketball games and the whole family enjoys playing soccer in the yard.

How to Promote an Atmosphere of Learning

Of course none of us wants to see our kids wasting precious time laying around or playing video games all summer. So, how can we create an atmosphere that promotes curiosity and learning? Here are a few ways we make it work in our home.

  1. Have a plan for screens. Create limits and enforce them consistently. This eliminates kids from constantly asking for screen time. Discuss the different the difference between using screens for entertainment versus for productivity. We want to enjoy entertainment type screens in moderation, but we liberally encourage them to use screens for productive means.
  2. Provide them with raw materials and surround them with living things. Collect scrap fabric, wood blocks, legos, dress up costumes, art supplies, clay and sand, etc. Bring house plant into your home or try a garden.
  3. Model it yourself! If you want your kids to be lifelong learners, be a curious person yourself! Find a hobby that you enjoy. You are not neglecting your kids by stepping away to work on personal projects for pleasure. Rather, you are modeling what it looks like to be someone who loves to learn. Your pursuits may inspire them to try new endeavors on their own!

Leave a Comment!

What will your homeschoolers be learning this summer? Leave a comment and share the ideas and inspiration with others!

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50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2023/01/24/50-life-skills-that-should-be-taught-at-home/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=50-life-skills-that-should-be-taught-at-home https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2023/01/24/50-life-skills-that-should-be-taught-at-home/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2023 02:32:57 +0000 https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/?p=4774 What real-life skills do you want to pass down to your kids? This will look different in each home. Since every family is unique, parents will value some practical skills over others. Here is a comprehensive list to help you get started: 50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home. My purpose for this...

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50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

What real-life skills do you want to pass down to your kids? This will look different in each home. Since every family is unique, parents will value some practical skills over others. Here is a comprehensive list to help you get started: 50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home.

My purpose for this post is to give you ideas for basic skills that you would like your kids to confidently perform before they leave your home. Homeschooling is not only about academic work. It should be preparation for real life! And since each family has its own flavor and preferences, zero in on the practical life skills that are most important to YOU and your spouse! Let these life skills activities be a launching point for you to determine the types of values you want to pass down to your kids.

Video: What Life Skills Should Be Taught At Home?

Cooking

1. Meal preparation and making a grocery list. Show kids a list of meals you make often. Allow them to meal plan. They can also make a grocery list of all the items they will need to buy. Remind them to look in the refrigerator and pantry to see which items you already have.

2. Grocery shop. Take your kids with you when you go grocery shopping. Let this be a regular part of life for them. They should learn how to make change from $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. Challenge them to round to the next dollar and estimate the total amount of all the items in your basket. This can be like a game to them. Show them how to comparison shop. Give them a calculator and show them how to figure the price per unit and compare.

3. Follow a recipe. Help your kids understand specific terms when following a recipe. Following a recipe is a great way for them to learn about measurements. Teach them the difference between measuring capacity and weight. Show them the differences in measuring in metric vs. U.S. Customary.

4. Make a meal from start to finish and clean up afterward! The only way to get good at this important skill is with lots of practice! So give them the chance to try a lot of different dishes. Cooking is chemistry! They will learn so much from observing how different mixtures interact with each other and what happens when substances are heated a certain way.

5. Basic kitchen skills. Model for them how to peel vegetables, use a can opener, crack an egg, thicken a soup, make rice and oatmeal, brown ground beef, soften butter, make simple eggs, and check the temperature of meat.

50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

Cleaning and Organizational Skills

Cleaning up after yourself is an essential skill for everyday life.

6. Wash dishes. When you teach them to wash dishes, include hand washing, drying dishes, loading/unloading a dishwasher, and putting the dishes away.

7. Follow a cleaning schedule. I feel that this is especially important for kids who tend to be too immature to understand the regular maintenance necessary for keeping order.

8. Clean Floors. Kids should be able to vacuum a room well, including using a handle for corners. They should be able to sweep and mop a floor satisfactorily.

9. Clean the bathroom. Teach kids how to clean a toilet (top to bottom), use a plunger, wash countertops, clean out a shower, change hand towels, stock up toilet paper, throw away empty shampoo and conditioner bottles, empty the trash.

10. Polish windows and glass surfaces. Give them some good old-fashioned vinegar/water spray and newspaper and tell them to scrub until the fingerprints disappear.

11. Dust. Show your kids what is involved in keeping a home dust-free. Dust surfaces, baseboards, cobwebs on ceiling, wipe down walls/door knobs, and use a broom for outdoor cobwebs in crevices.

12. Organize a closet or drawer. For some children, this will come more naturally than others. I have found the best way to organize is to take everything out and start with a clean slate. Model for them how to sort items into categories and how to decide what to keep and what to give away.

Hygiene

13. Make the bed every day. Teach your child to make the bed at an early age. If the bed is made, it automatically makes the room look a little less messy. It is one thing you can do every day to start the day on the right foot.

14. Keep a room clean. No explanation is needed, just practice!

15. Personal Hygiene. Shower, dress, deodorant, brush and floss teeth. This seems obvious, but it still surprises me how we have been teaching our kids since they were three years old to get dressed, brush their teeth, and make the bed before breakfast, yet there are still some days when they come down in the morning as if they have never heard this before! Let’s face it, it takes some kids a while to appreciate cleanliness.

16. Do their laundry. Can your kids wash, dry, and fold their clothes? Show them how to hang dress clothes facing one way in a closet, iron a shirt, and organize clothes in their dresser drawers. Do they know how to hang clothes on a line if necessary? Have them switch out their clothes by season, sorting according to category: give away, throw away, too big/too small.

17. Wash and change bed linens.

18. Natural health and sickness prevention. It was Benjamin Franklin who taught us that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Instill in kids the importance of taking care of their health. Here are some ideas to give them a start: take vitamins, wash hands, eat a healthy diet, brush and floss teeth, exercise, and spend time outside getting fresh air and sunshine.

Time Management

19. Use a personal planner. Around middle school, kids’ schedules tend to pick up as they become more involved in sports, hanging out with friends, community events, performances, work, etc. At this age, it can be a great thing to give them a planner and help them learn to write things down.

20 Schedule routine appointments. Before they graduate, young adults should learn to schedule their own dentist and doctor appointments. Remind them to show courtesy to businesses by showing up early!

50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

Finance

21. Budgeting and money management. Once kids begin to make some money, teach them how to set aside money to save, tithe, spend, and give. Provide real world opportunities for them to invest their money so they can see the return after a given amount of time. Teach them about compound interest. A good example would be to show them the cost of a house with a 30-year mortgage compared to how much you actually pay after the loan is complete. Dave Ramsey’s Foundations in Personal Finance for Homeschoolers is a great place to start!

22. File Income taxes. Once they have a job, it is a great idea to have them file their income taxes.

23. Manage a bank account. Help them open a savings or checking account at a local bank. This is a fun way to give them experience keeping a ledger, writing checks, depositing, and withdrawing from their account. Help them manage their account with online banking. This is especially helpful when they have to start paying their bills.

24. Calculate a tip. Show kids how to calculate a tip for a service. Include a lesson about the importance of being generous!

25. Entrepreneurship. In our home, I have found that our kids love to make money! Even from the time they are very little, they ask to help with small jobs. It gives them a sense of power and confidence. We have paid them to make beds, match socks, and many other odd jobs. When they get older, encourage them to come up with ideas of ways to make money: mow lawns, neighborhood yard work, snow shovel, lemonade stand, bake sale, yard sale, sell items online, walk a neighbor’s dog.

26. Pay bills. One good way to begin learning to budget is to have the responsibility of actually paying a monthly bill. A teenager with a job can start by paying (or contributing) to the car insurance and phone bills.

Pin it for later! 50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

Communication Skills

27. Look someone in the eye when talking to them. This may seem like a very obvious thing, but try having a conversation with kids these days and it’s not hard to see that this is a skill that is sadly lacking! Encourage them to look someone in the eye then they are talking to them. This is something that can be understood even from a very young age. Effective communication is a valuable life skill.

28. Talking on the phone. In our age of technology, kids take naturally to writing via text or email, but many of them are intimidated by making a phone call. Encourage them to make phone calls, stating their name and the reason for their call. Show them how to answer a phone. Have them order from a restaurant or call in an order from a menu.

29. Writing letters. Letter writing is a lost art it seems, but who doesn’t get excited to see a personalized hand-written letter in the mail from a friend? Letter writing is a great way to maintain long-distance friendships, not to mention sending sympathy and birthday cards to friends. Writing letters also helps kids to learn the proper form for writing a friendly letter.

30. Complete and return job applications. Learning how to write a professional resume will be beneficial for them as they pursue future careers.

31. Prepare for a job interview. Role-play the questions and answers that are typically discussed in an interview. A simple Google search will give the top job interview questions. Remind them of the importance of dressing well and showing up early for an interview.

Safety

32. Fire safety. Have a family discussion about a fire escape plan for your home. Give them specifics about what to do in the event of a fire, including how to use a fire extinguisher. Show them how to check the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and change batteries.

33. Internet safety. Talk with kids about the dangers of pornography, the signs of online predators, proper online etiquette, and other safety measures that are important to your family.

34. Swimming. This is an essential life skill that every child should master.

35. Basic First Aid. Teach older students critical life skills like how to clean an open wound, what to do if a person is unresponsive, how to apply pressure to a bleeding injury, and what to do if a person is choking.

Home Maintenance

36. Appliance care. Taking care of appliances will help them last longer. Kids are unlikely to realize this unless you show them. Here are some ideas: add salt to the water softener, empty the dehumidifier, change the furnace filter, change the water filter, empty the vacuum, clean an oven, and replace light bulbs.

37. Unclog a drain and use a plunger. These are dirty jobs, but important when needed!

38. Use YouTube to fix broken things around the house. Rather than buying a new item every time something breaks, learning how to do simple repairs teaches kids problem-solving skills. They can learn how to replace seat covers on dining room chairs, tighten knobs on hardware, hang a picture, paint a room, and use hot glue or super glue for repairs. Kids should become familiar with common tools such as a wrench, screwdriver, and hammer.

Outdoor Maintenance

39. Basic Lawn Care. What regular work needs to be done outside in your yard? Involve your kids in the job! Younger kids can help pick up sticks, rake leaves, sweep the sidewalk and front porch, and weed the garden. Older kids can mow the lawn, trim shrubs and bushes, weed wack, and mulch flower beds.

40. Snow Care. In the event of inclement weather, take the kids out with you to shovel snow, brush off the car, and salt the driveway!

50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

Vehicle Maintenance

41. Basic Car Maintenance. As soon as teenagers get their driver’s license, show them how to change a tire, fill the car with gas, change the oil, and jumpstart a car with jumper cables.

42. Keep a Car Clean. If they are using the car, they can help keep it clean by vacuuming it out, emptying any trash, and hand washing it or taking it to a car wash.

43. Bike Care. It is really handy for kids to know how to pump a bike tire and fix a bike chain.

Survival or Homesteading

44. Sewing. Not every child will take to sewing, but it can be very helpful to know, at the very least, how to hand sew a basic running stitch and how to sew a button on a shirt. Additionally, simple sewing techniques like threading a machine, hemming a seam, and easy sewing projects are fun to try.

45. Growing and Preserving Their Own Food. Do your kids know where their food comes from? One excellent way to give them an appreciation for the convenience of the food they eat is by starting a garden. Include them in every step of the process from hoeing, planting, and weeding, to harvesting. They can also help preserve food by learning to can, freeze, or dehydrate it.

46. Read a map and follow a GPS. Additionally, find the four points of direction by using a compass or the sun.

47. Building a Fire. It is not easy to start a fire! Giving them practice will help them build confidence if they would ever need to use this valuable skill.

Service/Others

48. How to be a good neighbor. Simply being friendly with neighbors and initiating conversations goes a long way. Check in with elderly neighbors to see if they need help with yard work or shoveling snow.

49. Recycling. The habit of recycling helps kids learn to care for the environment and be a good steward of what God has given them.

50. Serving. It is human nature to think only of ourselves and our own immediate needs. Teach your kids to look outside themselves and consider the needs of others. Prepare a meal for a sick friend or new mother. Take your kids to the nursing home. Serve at your church or a local food bank. Finding ways for kids to do things for others will go a long way in teaching them sympathy and kindness.

I hope these 50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home inspires you as you are teaching basic life skills in your home. You may also enjoy reading these other posts about important life skills.

Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter

Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Spring

Important Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Summer

Valuable Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Fall

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Valuable Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Fall https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2022/09/30/valuable-life-skills-for-kids-to-learn-in-fall/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=valuable-life-skills-for-kids-to-learn-in-fall https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2022/09/30/valuable-life-skills-for-kids-to-learn-in-fall/#comments Sat, 01 Oct 2022 03:26:47 +0000 https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/?p=4122 It’s hard for me to accept, but summer really is coming to an end. It will soon be time for hot chocolate, mornings by the fire, and cozy evenings of reading. What life skills are applicable to teach kids this time of year? Here are some Valuable Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Fall....

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Valuable Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Fall

It’s hard for me to accept, but summer really is coming to an end. It will soon be time for hot chocolate, mornings by the fire, and cozy evenings of reading. What life skills are applicable to teach kids this time of year? Here are some Valuable Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Fall.

As we homeschool our kids, so much of our energy goes into the academic side of learning. But have you spent some time planning the kind of life skills you want to pass down to your kids to help prepare them for life? Some valuable life skills might be keeping a schedule, doing laundry, cooking meals from scratch, home and car maintenance, communicating well with others, and money management.

50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

Video: Valuable Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Fall

Here are some life skills that target the kinds of work we do during the fall seasons when our focus shifts from being out and about to coming home and getting ready for winter. I have broken these down into two categories: Life Skills for Everyone and Life Skills by Age.

As with any skill, I have found that kids learn by doing something over and over again, year after year. These things take practice to improve. If you include your kids regularly in the home, outdoor, and personal work you do, you will be passing down to them all the important skills that they will need to know as an adult.

Fall Life Skills for Everyone

Cooking in the Fall

Every season is a good time to teach kids how to cook. Take the time to teach kids the kinds of food we cook in the fall. Get out the apples and pumpkins, and all your favorite fall recipes. Make a pot of chili or try baking a pie. Show them how to make their own hot chocolate or hot tea. Think of all the lessons that you learn the more you cook: thickening a soup, cracking/whisking an egg, making rice, why sweet desserts need salt. This list could go on. Cooking is chemistry!

How have you learned all that you know about cooking? By doing it over and over again! Kids will naturally learn more about these processes the more they do them!

Valuable Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Fall

Raking Fall Leaves

There’s not a lot of skill that needs to be learned in raking leaves, just muscle. Having kids rake the leaves alongside you helps them see it as a part of regular lawn care that we need to do every fall.

Fall Outdoor Clean Up

Kids can help to cut down the perennial beds. This is a favorite job for many kids since they love cutting almost anything. Give them a pair of garden shears (age appropriate) and show them how to clip the plants down to the base of the plant.

Kids can also help put away summer toys, pick up trash in the yard, sweep the front porch areas, cover the grill, clean out the garden, bring plants in for the winter.

Valuable Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Fall

Keeping a Clean Bedroom

Since summer can be a busy time of year, bedrooms may be neglected. As fall brings us back inside more often, this is a great time to really clean out our bedrooms. Have kids tidy their bedrooms. Show them how to declutter so they can start with a clean slate. This may mean deciding which toys they really love and which they would like to donate.

Review and Revisit Indoor Chore Responsibilities

With the shift from outdoor activities to more time indoors, take a look at your household chore plan. Does the system in place still work for you? For the kids? As kids grow, they are able to do more work to contribute to the needs of the family. In our family, we do chores by zones.

Canning and Preserving Food

The last of the harvest comes in the fall. If you are still preserving food, involve your kids in your work. We can applesauce as a family every fall. The whole family participates in this. If you dehydrate or freeze food, there are even more opportunities for kids to help. For our family, this a regular fall event. We want them to know how to preserve their own food, so involving them in this kind of work is very important to us.

Vote

Discuss the voting process to your kids. Show them how to read a voter guide. Have conversations about the issues that are on the ballot. Most importantly, take them WITH YOU when you vote!

Natural Health and Preventing Sickness

As cold and flu season comes around, remind the kids of the importance of eating healthy foods and washing hands. Discuss natural ways to build immunity like fresh air and adequate sleep. We encourage our kids to take vitamins and drink probiotics especially this time of year.

Valuable Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Fall

Life Skills for Older Children

  • Laundry– Give older kids their own laundry basket and turn the responsibility of washing, drying, and folding their laundry completely to them. Show them how to iron a shirt.
  • Switch Out Seasonal Clothes-Have teenagers switch their wardrobe from summer to winter. Encourage them to organize their clothing by category: give away, too big, too small, etc. Have them to make a list of what clothing items they need for the next season.
  • Time Management– Many teenagers get their first job when they are 14-16. This requires a new level of responsibility. Encourage them to use a planner to keep track of their work hours, sports schedule, volunteer responsibilities, school assignments, and other items on their schedule.
  • Consumer Math-Along with the higher level math your child may be learning, don’t forget to include consumer math skills that they will practically use throughout life: balancing a checkbook, tipping a server, how to do your taxes, compound interest, and general money management.

Middle Kids

Make their own breakfast or lunch. One of my favorite benefits of homeschooling is regular home cooked meals! This doesn’t mean that mom should have to do all the work though! Encourage your middle kids to either make their own breakfast/lunch or occasionally make meal for the family. They will feel pride as their repertoire of dishes grows.

Laundry-Middle kids may not be ready to do their own laundry, but they can help with sorting and folding. They are also old enough to keep their clothes drawers organized. Regularly checking their closets will be an incentive for them to keep their drawers neat.

Practical Math– Practice math skills that they will use every day at home and out in the community.

  • Figuring measurements in a recipe, doubling a recipe.
  • Making change for a $1, $10, $20.
  • Rounding prices in the grocery store to mentally tabulate items in your cart.

Younger kids

Laundry– Younger kids can match socks. We pay our younger kids to match socks. They can put their shoes in closet or tub/basket when they come in the house. They can help switch laundry from the washer to the dryer. Have them clean out the lint for you when you are putting clothes in the dryer.

Vacuum-Have you ever seen a young child vacuum? One time I saw one of our younger kids vacuuming. She was vacuuming in random circles much like a preschooler would do with a crayon to a blank page. I realized she needed a little more instruction on how the process works! Teach your younger child how to vacuum row by row so that they cover the whole area. Help show them how to wrap the cord and put the vacuum away.

Dust Young children love to wipe things down. I give my littles a damp cloth or a baby wipe and tell them to wipe the baseboards or the cabinets. Of course, they don’t get it all, but it makes them feel useful and when their cloth is dirty, they can see the progress they made.

Looking for More Life Skills Ideas?

Check out these seasonal posts with more ideas of practical skills to teach your kids.

Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter

Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Spring

Important Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Summer

50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

Our Life Homeschooling’s Pinterest Life Skills Board

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How to Can Applesauce and Pass Down a Family Tradition https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2022/08/30/how-to-can-applesauce-and-pass-down-a-family-tradition/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-can-applesauce-and-pass-down-a-family-tradition https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2022/08/30/how-to-can-applesauce-and-pass-down-a-family-tradition/#comments Wed, 31 Aug 2022 04:12:28 +0000 https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/?p=3999 As homeschoolers, we spend a lot of time choosing curriculum and planning our school year, but what about some of the life skills and family traditions that you want your kids to learn? Have you allowed time in your year for these important learning opportunities? Have you ever thought about what family traditions you want...

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As homeschoolers, we spend a lot of time choosing curriculum and planning our school year, but what about some of the life skills and family traditions that you want your kids to learn? Have you allowed time in your year for these important learning opportunities? Have you ever thought about what family traditions you want to pass down to the next generation? Canning applesauce as a whole family is one tradition that we value in our family. Follow along as I show our step-by-step applesauce process and get a sneak peek into our family’s annual Applesauce Extravaganza. Here’s how to can applesauce and pass down a family tradition!

Video: How to Can Applesauce and Pass Down a Family Tradition

Our Applesauce Canning Tradition

When my husband and I got married, we became a part of his family’s applesauce canning tradition. Every year around late August or early September, the family gathers to make and can applesauce. Everyone is involved in this process. It’s a big event and a lot of work, but working together makes the job more enjoyable! (Not to mention all the yummy applesauce we get to take home with us!) It is a great feeling to fill your pantry with delicious applesauce to eat during the long winter months.

Over the years siblings, family friends, and now our children have joined in this yearly tradition. Everyone takes part in the work. There is a job for everyone to do. Our kids have observed this process so many times, it has become a part of their childhood.

We have always used Rambo apples. They are an heirloom apple. They are rather tart and we do not add sugar, but this is the kind of applesauce our family loves. If you like a sweeter sauce, you can choose a sweeter apple or add sugar.

How to Can Applesauce

Canning Supplies Needed:

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Paring knives

Several large kettles and bowls

Saucer: Kitchen Aid Mixer with Saucer Attachment, hand crank Victorio Strainer, or any other kind of saucer

Quart or Half Gallon Sized Mason jars

Small mouth and/or large mouth jar lids and rings, depending on the size of your jar mouths

Canning Funnel

Canning magnetic Lit Lifter

Jar lifter

Canner

#1 Prepare the Kitchen

When you make applesauce, you need a lot of counter space. We start by washing all the dishes and clearing the counters. If you are working in a smaller kitchen, you may need to set up an extra table to give more space. We thoroughly clean our kitchen sink because we fill it with apples and water to clean our apples.

The kids help us the night before by bringing up jars from the basement where we store our canned goods. We either wash the jars in hop soapy water or sterilize them in the dishwasher. It is important to have clean jars so that no bacteria gets into the applesauce.

The stovetop can get really caked with drippings of applesauce that spill out as it is cooking, so we prepare the stove by covering our burners with foil to catch the drippings. This way, when we finish at the end of the day, we can take the foil off and the stovetop. is mostly clean.

We make our applesauce inside on the stove top, but we have bought a separate camp stove that we set up outside to can the jars. This needs to be set up as well.

We have a few stations in our kitchen so we like to have these set up beforehand. They are:

  • Cutting (dining room table)
  • Cooking (stove top)
  • Saucing (counter top)
  • Pouring sauce into jars (counter top)
  • Canning Station (outside camp stoves)

#2 Wash and Cut the Apples

To wash the apples, dump out enough apples to fill the sink. Turn on the water to fill the sink and rinse the apples well.

Using a paring knife, we cut the apples into quarters and core them with the paring knife as we go. Fill large bowls with the cut apples ready to go into kettles to be cooked. We typically have 2-3 people cutting at a time. You won’t need to worry about peeling because the peels will come off in the saucer. Also, although it is helpful to take out the cores, they will also come out in the saucer.

For the first time this year, we purchased a commercial french fry cutter to cut our apples. We weren’t sure how it would work, but it was a huge time saver! We pushed the apples through the cutter and hand-picked out the cores as best as we could. The smaller size of apples from the french fry cutter saved time cooking on the stove. It also made less applesauce drippings boiling over the tops of the kettles.

#3 Cook the Apples

Next we fill large kettles with the cut apples. We add a few cups of water (approximately 6-8 cups) to the kettle. You will have to experiment with the first kettle to know how much water to add. If the sauce is to runny, use less. If it is too thick, add more water.

Cook the apples until they are very soft and mushy, like applesauce. They will need to boil for 10-15 minutes to become soft. Make sure to stir the applesauce regularly to keep them from burning on the bottom. Keep a lid on the kettle because the applesauce will easily pop and boil over, making a mess. When you stir the sauce, it is helpful to have a long handled metal spoon and oven mitts. The mitts protect your skin from any applesauce popping out when you lift the lid to stir it.

#4 Run the Apples through a Saucer

Carry the hot kettle full of mushy apples to the saucer. Turn on the saucer and slowly pour the mushy apples in the top funnel. The apple saucer will sift out the peels and any cores or seeds. These will come out the side so you will need a bowl to catch the waste. You will need a second large bowl to catch the sauce coming down the saucer. The applesauce will pour from the front shoot.

For many years we used a Kitchen Aid Mixer with a Saucer Attachment. This works very well. You may have to clean out the saucer a little mid way through if you find it is running louder or if the sauce is coming out more slowly.

Over time and since we process quite a bit of apples every year, we invested in a larger commercial style saucer.

#5 Fill Jars With Applesauce

Fill the sterilized jars with the hot applesauce. We use a canning funnel to help keep from spilling the sauce. It can get messy without one. Fill the jars leaving a 1/2 inch head space at the top.

Use a clean cloth or damp paper towel to wipe off the mouth of each jar.

#6 Prepare Lids and Rings

Wash the jar rings before hand in hot soapy water. You will also want to boil the lids for about a minute on the stove top. This will sterilize them. It will also help soften the rubber gasket to help it seal.

Using a canning magnetic lid lifter, take the lids from the boiling water and place on the top of your jar. Screw the ring on the jar. It is important not to screw the lids on too loosely or tightly. Too loose and they may not seal. Too tight and the lids may buckle.

#7 Process Jars in Canner

Using canning tongs, lift your jars and place into a canner filled with very hot, but not boiling water. Fill the canner. Most canners will hold 7 quart jars or 4 half gallon jars. Turn the heat to a boil. As soon as the water starts boiling, you can start the timer. We process quart jars for 15 minutes and half gallon jars for 20 minutes.

#8 Remove Jars to Cool

When the applesauce is done processing in the canner, use the jar lifter to take your jars out of the canner. Place on a dry towel on the counter and allow them to cool for 24 hours before moving them. After 24 hours, you can remove the rings. Check to see that each of the jars sealed properly.

And that sums up how to can applesauce and pass down a family tradition!

What life skills and family traditions do you want pass down to your kids?

If you are looking for a family tradition to start with your kids, give applesauce a try! This has been a yearly event that we all look forward to.

You can also read about more foods to preserve with kids in 7 Easy Foods To Preserve With Kids This Summer.

You may also enjoy reading….

50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

Useful Life Skills Suitable To Teach in Winter

Useful Life Skills Suitable To Teach in Spring

Important Life Skills to Teach Kids in Summer

Valuable Life Skills For Kids To Learn in Fall

What types of life skills and family traditions to you want your kids to learn? Consider not just the curriculum or the academic work you want to teach them, but also the tools you are giving them to help prepare them for life. What legacy you are leaving to your children?

Pin It How to Make Applesauce and Pass Down a Family Tradition!

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Important Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Summer https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2022/06/27/important-life-skills-for-kids-to-learn-in-summer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=important-life-skills-for-kids-to-learn-in-summer https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2022/06/27/important-life-skills-for-kids-to-learn-in-summer/#comments Tue, 28 Jun 2022 02:40:14 +0000 https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/?p=3429 Summer is here! Welcome to the hot days of swimming in the sunshine and kids running barefoot at dusk catching fireflies. This is my favorite time of year. We love working in our garden during our summer vacation watching things grow. Each day brings something new to observe. Summer is a perfect time to work...

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Summer is here! Welcome to the hot days of swimming in the sunshine and kids running barefoot at dusk catching fireflies.

This is my favorite time of year. We love working in our garden during our summer vacation watching things grow. Each day brings something new to observe. Summer is a perfect time to work alongside our kids modeling for them the kinds of work we do in daily life this time of year.

Here are some ideas for important life skills for kids to learn in summer break. I have broken these down into two categories: basic skills to teach everyone and skills to teach kids according to age.

For more ideas and an overall list, see 50 Essential Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home. What new skills will you be teaching your kids this summer?

Video: Important Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Summer

Life Skills to Teach to Everyone

I don’t know about you, but when the warmer weather comes, I want to be outside as much as possible! Of course, we still have inside work that needs to be done, but whether inside or outside, everyone learns more when we do it together!

Swimming

Even if you have limited access to a pool, it is worth the effort to teach your kids how to swim. The more they are in the water, the more comfortable they will be with it and the more quickly they can learn this important skill at an early age.

Since we live at a house with a pool, our younger children have learned to swim quickly because they are in the water all the time. But even before we had a pool, we tried to take them to a pool as much as possible so they could learn.

Weeding

Ok, so nobody is going to volunteer for this job! BUT it is a regular adult skill that needs to be done in summer. Unless you pay someone for your yard work, you will have to a little bit of time weeding if you care about the look of your property. If you have a vegetable or flower garden, you probably weed quite a bit.

It’s a good bet that my kids will likely complain when they have to weed. Even so, I have found that if we all go out together and set a timer (15 minutes or so), it seems less daunting to them. Even if they are not excited initially about weeding, by the time we are done, everyone is proud of how much better it looks! The visual reward itself is a great motivator.

Empty Dehumidifier

Once the humidity sets in, we need to start up the dehumidifier in the basement. It needs to be changed every day. It is a small job, but an important chore in our daily routine because it inhibits mold growth.

Cooking

What kinds of foods do you enjoy in summer? Involving your kids in the cooking preparation is a great way to equip kids with the necessary skills to cook for themselves.

Show them how to cut a watermelon or mango. Let them make their own popsicles trying out different recipes. If you make a pasta salad, they can help cut the vegetables, cheeses or meat, pour the dressing, and stir. Have smoothies for snack and let them decide what to put in it.

If you preserve food from your garden or local market, include them in the work. Here are ideas for 7 Easy Foods to Preserve With Kids in Summer.

Gardening

Have you tried gardening with your kids? Gardening not only teaches them where their food comes from, it helps them to see the discipline and care involved in nurturing plants. They learn what different plants need.

Tomatoes need stakes, cucumbers grow up a trellis, basil needs to be picked or it will go to seed. When kids grow up around gardens, they quickly learn to identify many different vegetables, fruits, and herbs.

Life Skills For Summer by Age

Older Kids(Teens) and Young Adults

Read a map

Last year our oldest son took a week’s vacation from his phone. During this time, he had no alternative but to use a map whenever he needed to go somewhere. Admittedly, he ended up looking up Google Maps at home and figuring it out, but it is still helpful to follow a route on a map.

When you always follow a GPS, you only think in terms of the next step. Looking at a physical map helps you see places and routes in relation to each other. You can learn a lot from observing a good old-fashioned map!

Money Management

It’s always a good idea to teach older children how to budget, pay bills, and manage personal finances. In our digital world, most jobs offer direct deposit into your bank account, but it can be helpful for young people to physically go into a bank to make a deposit or withdrawal just to observe the process.

More Ideas…

  • Teach time management by giving them a planner so they can be responsible for their schedule, especially once they start a summer job.
  • Calculate a tip.
  • Do their own laundry.
  • Fill car with gas.

Middle Kids

Entrepreneurship

Our kids get excited to think of ways that they can earn money. They have tried many new things including a lemonade stand, a neighborhood bake sale, selling firewood, selling items on Ebay, and others.

If they are interested, this is a good opportunity to challenge them to try a new way to make money this summer. Our kids are always so proud of themselves when they earn money for the first time.

Hang Clothes on Line

This is one on my to-do list. We do not currently have a clothes line. With a big family, I love my clothes dryer! Recently one of my kids asked me, “Can we get one of those ropes that you put across two poles and put your clothes on?” Embarrassed, I responded, “It’s called a clothesline and yes, we can get one of those!” Hanging clothes on a line is an old-fashioned skill, but it’s one kids might enjoy. And nothing smells fresher than clothes on the line!

Mow Lawn

As soon as you feel your kids are old enough and responsible enough, mowing the lawn not only teaches them a valuable skill, it’s also a huge help with the yard work!

Flower Arranging

Have your middle-aged kids experiment with arranging flowers. They can pick flowers around the house and choose their own way to display them. Pinterest can give lots of ideas for this!

More Ideas …

  • Set up a tent.
  • Trim shrubs.
  • Care for animals, learning how often and how much to feed them.

Young Children

Water flowers and garden.

Little kids love to play with water, so why not give them a bucket and cups or a watering can and let them go to town!

Use a peeler to peel fresh vegetables or a can opener to open cans.

When my youngest kids are in the kitchen, they are always asking me, “Can I help?” My initial thought is always that it will be so much more work to include them, BUT now that a few of my kids are older, I am SO glad I let them help me in the kitchen when they were little! They love to make food AND they can bake and cook meals from start to finish! It pays off to let your littles help you in the kitchen!

Line shoes up when they come in the house.

In summer, kids are always in and out, in and out. This is a great time to teach them where to put their shoes every time they walk in the house. Encourage them to line them up or put them in a basket and to keep it organized so that they will know where they are when they need them next!

Leave a Comment!

What new life skills will you be teaching your kids this summer? You can also check out my other life skills posts for more ideas.

50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Spring

7 Easy Foods to Preserve with Kids this Summer

Valuable Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Fall

Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter

Pin It! Basic Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Summer

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7 Easy Foods to Preserve with Kids this Summer https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2022/05/23/7-easy-foods-to-preserve-with-kids-this-summer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=7-easy-foods-to-preserve-with-kids-this-summer https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2022/05/23/7-easy-foods-to-preserve-with-kids-this-summer/#comments Tue, 24 May 2022 04:28:59 +0000 https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/?p=3421 Preserving food is a project that will both keep your kids busy all summer long AND teach them valuable life skills! With gas and grocery prices climbing, this is a great time to stock up your pantry. Here are 7 easy foods to preserve with kids this summer! For more ideas and a complete list...

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Preserving food is a project that will both keep your kids busy all summer long AND teach them valuable life skills! With gas and grocery prices climbing, this is a great time to stock up your pantry. Here are 7 easy foods to preserve with kids this summer!

For more ideas and a complete list of life skill, see 50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home.

When I am in the kitchen, my kids are always asking, “Mommy, can I help you?” It’s usually easier to just do it myself, but preserving these foods is a task where kids of every age can help! Additionally, kids love feeling like they are contributing to the family. Making food that the whole family will actually eat gives them a sense of accomplishment.

Maybe you don’t have a garden. Or, if you do have a garden, maybe you don’t grow enough to preserve a bunch at one time. We have both used food from our garden and bought these fruits and vegetables at a grocery store or market. Why don’t you pick one or two of these and give it a try with your kids?! When they experience the productivity and accomplishment of contributing to the family’s pantry, they will feel pride in their work!

Video: 7 Easy Foods To Preserve With Kids This Summer

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Tools You May Need:

Below are several foods to preserve with kids. I have listed the ways that kids can help with each of them, but the level of help depends on their age. The preservation methods I use below are canning and freezing. Kids can help with most of the work below with the exception of operating the canner. That part I have to finish on my own. Follow normal instructions for canning according to each food.

I have listed the fruits and vegetables in order as they come in season in our area.

#1 Strawberries

We like to make strawberry jam every year. Most years we have strawberries in our garden, but some years we buy them at a local market. The kids love to pick the strawberries everyday and see how many we get! There is just nothing like homemade strawberry jam! Also, it looks so pretty in the jars. Once we have made the jam, we put it in mason jars, but do not process in a canner. We leave a little room at the top of the jars for the jam to expand and put our jars in the freezer.

How we make strawberry jam: We use this sure jell recipe for low or no sugar jam. The recipes can be found inside the sure gel box as well. Here is the kind we buy.

The kids clean the berries and cut off the tops. Then they use a potato masher to mash it into a puree. I follow instructions on the sure jell box for adding jell and sugar and cook the jam over the stovetop. Finally, I pour the hot jam into jars. Once it cools, kids can help put on the lids and store them in the deep freezer.

Kids can:

  • Pick berries
  • Wash
  • Cut tops off berries.
  • Mash them with a potato masher to prepare for cooking.
  • Add sugar and sure gel.

#2 Blueberries

We like to freeze our blueberries in quart freezer bags. These are great to eat semi-frozen as a winter snack or to put in yogurt or cereal.

This is a very simple process and kids can do most of it on their own. We have tried growing our own blueberries, but so far have been unsuccessful. For us, preserving blueberries means buying them at market seasonally or finding them on sale at discount grocery stores.

How we preserve our blueberries: Wash blueberries in a colander. Pick off any stems. Spread them out on a cookie sheet and put in freezer. (Freezing them on a tray keeps them from freezing in bunches in the bag.) Once blueberries are semi-frozen, pull them out of the freezer. Use a spatula to loosen them from the cookie sheet. Scoop into freezer bags and put in the freezer right away.

Kids can:

  • Pick blueberries.
  • Wash and pick off stems.
  • Arrange on a cookie sheet and put in freezer.
  • Pull out of freezer and use a spatula scrape semi-frozen blueberries loose from pan.
  • Cup into freezer bags.
  • Put bags in freezer.

#3 Pickled Cucumbers

Who doesn’t love a juicy, sweet and sour pickle to go with that turkey and cheese sandwich? We love setting pickled cucumbers with our lunches. The kids go through a jar in one meal!

Ingredients needed:

  • cucumbers
  • dill seed
  • garlic powder
  • vinegar
  • sugar
  • salt

How we make pickled cucumbers: Wash and slice cucumbers. Put 1 tsp. dill seed and 1/8 tsp. of garlic powder in bottom of a quart mason jar. Fill with sliced cucumbers. Cover with 1/4 tsp. dill seed and 1/8 tsp. garlic powder on top. Make a brine separately in a pot: 2 cups water, 2 cups vinegar, 3 cups sugar, 2 TB salt. Mix brine on stovetop until hot and dissolved. Pour in jars over the cucumbers until near the top. Process in a canner for 5-10 minutes. They will be ready to eat 3 weeks after processed.

Kids can:

  • Wash cucumbers
  • Cut cucumbers (age appropriate)
  • Put spices in the bottom and top of the jars
  • Pour cooled brine into jars

#4 Green Beans

Green beans are one of the vegetables that we eat regularly with our dinner meals. If you have tasted the difference between store bought canned/frozen beans versus homegrown canned/frozen beans, then you know there is NO comparison! Home grown green beans are simply delicious! Additionally, store bought green beans are sprayed with more pesticides than most vegetables. According to Consumer Reports, green beans are the #1 green vegetable to buy organic.

Because green beans is a staple side veggie for us for dinner, we continually plant more and more of them in our garden. The important thing with beans is to pick them when they are still fairly small and before the seeds develop inside the pod. If they are too big, it completely changes the crispiness. You can also buy them in bulk in season at a local market. We freeze our green beans in quart bags.

How we preserve our green beans:

Cut or pick off the ends of the bean. Cut in half. Rinse in a colander. Scald beans in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and let cool. Lastly, scoop in freezer bags and put in a deep freezer.

Kids can:

  • Cut or pick off the ends of the bean. Cut in half.
  • Wash beans.
  • Scoop cooled beans into freezer bags.

#5 Diced Tomatoes

I canned diced tomatoes for the first time last year. The first batch I did on my own without the kids’ help. It really was so much work that I wasn’t sure if it was worth it when you can buy a can of diced tomatoes for less than $2 at a grocery store. When I made the second batch, however, I had the kids help. It was much more efficient and taught them a valuable skill. Additionally, I found that I LOVED having these jars of diced tomatoes all winter. I dislike the stringy BPA lining that I can feel and see when I open the jars. Though it was a little bit of work, I definitely prefer them to store bought cans.

*Important note: One mason jar quart of diced tomatoes is the equivalent of about two 15 oz. jars, so it is nice for feeding a large family or doubling a recipe.

How we can diced tomatoes: Wash tomatoes. Cut off tops. Scald in boiling water for 30-60 seconds. This helps the skins to pull off easily. I put a bunch of tomatoes in a mesh bag and dip them in the boiling water. When you pull the tomatoes out of the boiling water, put them in a bowl of cold water. Peel off the skins. Cut the tomatoes and put in jars. Fill jars to the top. You may have to keep mashing them down. Add salt and a little lemon juice or citric acid. The citric acid in the lemon juice helps the tomatoes keep their red color and lowers the ph level which aids in safer processing. Finally, follow canning instructions for tomatoes. Grandma’s Canned Tomatoes is the recipe I use.

Kids can:

  • Wash tomatoes
  • Cut off tops
  • Pull off skins
  • Dice (age appropriate)
  • Fill jars
  • Sprinkle salt and citric acid on the top.

#6 Creamed Corn

This kind of creamed corn is something you CAN NOT find in any grocery store! Creamed corn from summer corn is a family favorite! In the past we have bought our corn from a market or a local farm stand. Last year, however, we attempted to grow it in our garden for the first time. We had a decent yield, but not enough for what our family needs. This year we are planting twice as much and hoping to use all our own corn for freezing. I’ll let you know how it goes!

**Note: You will need a corn creamer for this recipe.

How we make Creamed Corn:

Husk the corn. This is a great family bonding activity! Wash and pick off the silk. Boil corn in large kettles for 10 minutes. Use tongs to take out of the kettle. Put the corn in a tub of very cold water. (If you skip this step, it takes a LONG time to cool.) Lay on a towel to cool. Put the corn creamer over a large bowl to catch the dripping corn. Slide the corn across the creamer, turning the cob with each stroke until the cob has no more corn on it. The creamed corn will drip into the bowl. Scoop the corn into quart sized bags and freeze.

Kids can:

  • Husk corn
  • Wash
  • Clean off the silk
  • Cream the corn
  • Scoop into bags

#7 Applesauce

When my husband and I first got married, his mom helped us can our first batch of applesauce. Consequently, every year since then, she and the rest of the family join together to help make enough applesauce to feed our crew! We love having shelves filled with jars of applesauce to enjoy all winter.

How we make applesauce: Wash apples. We use Rambo apples, but you can use any type of apple. Cut in quarters and cut out the core. Fill a stock pot and add 4-6 cups of water. You have to experiment a little with how much water to add. Too much water will be runny, too little will be too thick. Heat to a boil with lid on (to prevent splashing) and stir regularly. When apples are soft and soupy, they are ready to be run through a saucer. You can use a Kitchen-Aid saucer attachment. The saucer will strain out the skins and any remaining core. Last but not least, after the sauce has been strained, we pour the sauce into jars, ready to be processed in a canner.

Kids can:

  • Wash apples
  • Cut and quarter (as appropriate by age)
  • Pour cooked applesauce through strained, with assistance
  • Pour strained applesauce into mason jars

Important Last Step

Don’t forget the last and most important step! Show them the rows of jars or stacks of frozen food that they have helped to preserve. Let them take pride in the beautiful display of their hard work!

You can read a more detailed description of our applesauce making process in How To Can Applesauce and Pass Down a Family Tradition.

Would you like to try one of these 7 easy foods to preserve with kids this summer? Give it a go and let me know how it turns out!

You may also enjoy reading these posts about life skills.

50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

Useful Life Skills Suitable To Teach in Winter

Useful Life Skills Suitable To Teach in Spring

Important Life Skills To Teach Kids in Summer

Valuable Life Skills For Kids To Learn in Fall

PIn it! 7 Easy Foods For Kids to Preserve This Summer

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Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Spring https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2022/03/29/useful-life-skills-suitable-to-teach-in-spring/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=useful-life-skills-suitable-to-teach-in-spring https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2022/03/29/useful-life-skills-suitable-to-teach-in-spring/#comments Tue, 29 Mar 2022 17:47:10 +0000 https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/?p=3089 Can you smell spring in the air? We are loving these warmer days! Going outside without the baggage of mittens, hats, coats, and boots is wonderful! With nicer weather, we often take our school work outside! We also take advantage of the freedom to teach life skills based on some of the spring work we...

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Can you smell spring in the air? We are loving these warmer days! Going outside without the baggage of mittens, hats, coats, and boots is wonderful! With nicer weather, we often take our school work outside! We also take advantage of the freedom to teach life skills based on some of the spring work we need to catch up on around the house as we enter a new season. Here are some useful life skills suitable to teach in spring.

I am amazed when I talk to friends or family who work in supervisory positions when I hear them talk about the young adults who are entering the work force. Many of them don’t know how to do even the most basic skills: washing laundry, grocery shopping, paying bills, personal hygiene. It has reminded me that life skills should have a priority in our homeschool.

For more ideas an overall list, see 50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home.

Video: Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Spring

Here are some ideas of life skills that are suitable to teach in spring. Now when I say “teach” I am not thinking of taking kids by the hand and leading them step by step through these tasks. Rather, these are things that we as a family typically do in spring and we like bring our kids alongside to learn with us…and sometimes, to figure it out themselves! Kids don’t always need us to hand feed them everything. it’s also good for them to see what needs to be done and learn how to do it by problem solving.

Gardening

One of my favorite times of the year is when we can get out in our garden and plan where everything will go. We feel a sense of pride and satisfaction in growing our own food! And the older I get, the more I want to grow more flowers and herbs as well. Gardening is a skill that know matter how much you already know about it, you can always learn more and expand your knowledge. Here are some ways our kids help with outside work and in our garden.

  • Pick up sticks.
  • Hoe the garden.
  • Use the wheel barrow to dump weeds and compost.
  • Furrow a row for planting seeds.
  • Plant seeds.
  • Water the garden every day and watch the sprouts come up.
  • Identify different garden plants by leaf or flower.
  • Pull weeds.
girl with a rake standing by a wheel barrow

Vehicles

After winter, our vehicles need some maintenance. Use this time to teach the kids how to give the car a complete wash. Give them a bucket of soapy water and some rags and let them go to town. Show them how to use a shop vac and vacuum it out too!

Sure, they probably won’t do it as well as you would, but they are learning and hopefully, having fun doing it! Do it along with them. Encourage them to take pride in their work. It might help them to keep the inside of the car cleaner if they take part in the work of cleaning it out!

Middle Kids-It’s a really handy skill to be able to pump a bike tire and fix a chain that comes off. You can teach this to the kids or encourage them to figure it out on their own either by trial and error or by checking YouTube.

Older Kids-As teens enter driving age, teach them how to use a jack and change a car tire. They should also know how to jump a car with jumper cables in case they would ever be out somewhere with a disabled car.

boy vacuuming out a car

Around Town

As we come out of our homes from our winter hibernation to go out and about more, let’s involve our kids in our errands around town.

It always bugs me when I walk past a young kid or teenager on the street and they don’t even look at me or say hello. With our high tech culture, it can be easy for everyone to hide in our own little worlds and have no human interactions.

Encourage your kids to be courteous to people they see when they are out. Look people in the eye, say hello. When appropriate, model for them how you introduce yourself and greet someone on the street.

Have you involved your kids in your shopping experience? Spring is a great time to show them how you make a grocery list, compare prices for items, and make change.

When we are at the check out counter, before the register shows how much change we will get, we make a game to see who can guess the change first. It’s a quick way to help them think about how much they need and to mentally tabulate how much change would take them up to the next dollar on any purchase.

Older Kids– This is the time of year to be looking for a summer job and filling out applications. Role play interview questions with your teenager and discuss ways to perform well in a job interview.

girl washing windows

Spring Cleaning

What type of spring cleaning do you have on your list? Involve your kids in the work! Help them understand that every spring, we need to spruce things up a bit and these are the typical maintenance jobs we do around the house this time of year. Here are some spring cleaning items on my list.

  • Wash windows
  • Dust cobwebs in ceiling corners
  • Clear, organize and wipe down shelves in refrigerator and pantry
  • Use screwdriver to tighten knob on hardware
  • Wipe down baseboards
  • Organize bookshelves
  • Wipe down walls
  • Organize drawers and cabinets
mom and girl sorting clothes by a closet

Clothing

Warmer weather means it is time to switch out our winter clothes. This can sometimes be a dreaded job for moms with lots of littles because it takes SO much work.

As my kids get older, they want to switch out their own clothes at a younger and younger age. Maybe it’s because they have older siblings? I usually hesitate to allow them to switch their own clothes, because I am afraid of the mess they might leave behind for me. Surprisingly, though, my 7 year old switched his clothes over this year and although I still had to come after and finish up, he saved me a ton of work!

So, even if you have to follow up with their clothes, and get rid of things or make a list of what they need, it is a great decision making skill for them to decide if something is too small, too big or what they should give away or keep. They can also make a list of what they need.

Since they are switching over clothes, it might be a good time to brush up on the job of washing your own laundry. Show them how to run the washer and dryer. Teach them how to hang clothes on the line. If they already do their own laundry, remind them to regularly wash sheets and pillowcases.

someone making a fruit salad

Cooking

It’s always a good time of year to teach kids to cook. Cooking is and will always be a daily part of life, so it is such an important skill to learn.

Kids can always be learning the basics: how to crack an egg, use a vegetable peeler or can opener, slice vegetables, follow a recipe, pour and measure.

Additionally, this is a nice time of year for them to try to put together some salads. Put together a tossed salad or pasta salad. After the pasta and the Italian dressing, let them choose what they like to eat in their pasta salad.

Younger kids might enjoy slicing fruit for a fruit salad. If they are too young for a sharp knife, many fruits can still be cut with a butter knife. The fun thing for kids in making salads is the color. All the colorful fruits in a fruit salad are fun and pretty for them to make.

Or, how about a smoothie? Have them find a recipe or better yet, pick out their own fruit, yogurt and ingredients and experiment!

two girls doing the dishes

For more ideas of life skills, I did a post on 50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home which you may also enjoy.

Also…

Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter

Important Life Skills to Teach Kids in Summer

Valuable Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Fall

I hope this has helped give you inspiration for useful life skills suitable to teach in spring. What would you add to this list? Leave a comment and let me know what kinds of skills you are learning in your home. I love hearing from other homeschoolers!

Pin it for Later! Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Spring

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Useful Life Skills to Teach in Winter https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2022/02/14/useful-life-skills-suitable-to-teach-in-winter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=useful-life-skills-suitable-to-teach-in-winter https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2022/02/14/useful-life-skills-suitable-to-teach-in-winter/#respond Mon, 14 Feb 2022 22:28:58 +0000 https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/?p=2671 With winter comes the colder, blustery days where we find comfort in the warmth of home. Winter can be a great opportunity to teach our kids some of the life skills that are more applicable for the months when we spend more time indoors. Here are some ideas for useful life skills suitable to teach...

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Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter

With winter comes the colder, blustery days where we find comfort in the warmth of home. Winter can be a great opportunity to teach our kids some of the life skills that are more applicable for the months when we spend more time indoors. Here are some ideas for useful life skills suitable to teach in winter.

I have broken these down into two categories: skills to teach everyone and skills to teach kids according to age.

For more ideas an overall list, see 50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home.

Video: Useful Life Skills Suitable To Teach in Winter

Life Skills to Teach to Everyone

I don’t know about you, but when warmer weather comes, I want to be outside ALL DAY LONG. That’s why when it’s cold and we have to be indoors more, I like to make the most of it by teaching our kids all the skills that have to do with being inside.

Cooking

Winter is a wonderful time to teach kids to cook. Since we are indoors more anyway, why not spend it teaching them how to prepare food for the family?

What kinds of food do we tend to cook in winter? This is an opportunity to teach them what kinds of foods we make in each season. In summer, we like fresh fruit and vegetables, cold salads, and grilled food. However, in winter, we like stews and bread or a maybe a pot roast or meatloaf. In winter, we want comfort food!

Explain to them how you plan meals. Teach them how to follow a recipe showing them how to measure and pour. Show them how to crack an egg, how to use a can opener, how to thicken a soup. Let them do the work. The one doing the most work is the one learning!

Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter

Home Maintenance

What are some indoor maintenance issues that you have to regularly check in the house? Use this time indoors to teach these things to your kids. One thing that we have encouraged our older kids to do is to use YouTube to figure out how to fix broken things around our house.

Recently, we have had quite a bit of wear and tear to some of our kitchen chairs. They needed to be re-covered, but it was a project that always got pushed to the bottom of my list. Finally, I realized that this would be a great task to assign to an older child. Think about the projects and up keep that are waiting to get done around your house. Is there a project that an older child can tackle? It will be a great chance for them to learn something new AND to help contribute the the family as well!

Ideas

Here are some other home maintenance skills for kids to learn.

  • Fill the water softener with salt.
  • Unclog a drain.
  • Check smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and change batteries.
  • Change furnace filter.
  • Check that flashlights have batteries in case of power outages due to snow.
Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter
Our dining room chairs are all torn like this and needed to be replaced. I kept pushing this project off because I never could get to it. Finally, I realized that this was a great job for one of the kids to try!
Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter
Taking apart our dining room chair to replace the torn cover.
Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter
Using an air compressor to operate the staple gun.
Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter
It’s so nice when kids can really contribute like this!

Organizing

Organizing can be a hard task for some kids to learn, but as they learn, they can get better and better at it!

When I don’t have time for random organization places like the tupperware drawer or my bathroom drawer or a section of the pantry, I love to offer to pay kids for projects like this. We keep the pay fairly modest, but we’ve learned how much is enough to be an incentive. And when they learn to do it well, it is more than worth the cost!

Ideas

Here are some ideas for things kids can organize.

  • Sock basket. (I have given up trying to keep everyone’s socks together.) When laundry comes out of the wash, all the socks go into a bin on our laundry shelf and we pay volunteers (usually a preschool age kid) a certain amount per match. In a family of our size, that adds up to a nice little bit of cash for a youngster!
  • Kitchen cabinets or drawers. Tupperware drawer.
  • Linen closet or foyer closet.
  • Toy wardrobes.
  • Game drawer or shelf.
  • Bookshelves. Take all the books off the shelves and have them organize by genre, author, or kind.
  • Fold and organize the clothes in their dresser drawers.
Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter

Outdoor Maintenance

Do your kids know how to care for the outside needs of your home in wintry weather? Here are some basics.

  • How to shovel snow.
  • Proper way to brush and scrape snow off a car.
  • How to salt a driveway or sidewalk.
  • Clear gutters of icicles and check for any damage to spouts.
Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter

Life Skills By Age

Below are some more useful life skills suitable to teach in winter broken down by age. Most of these activities are inside tasks so they are perfect for winter months.

Older Kids

As our kids get closer and closer to adulthood, we want to make sure they are ready for the adult world. How many young adults entering the workforce for the first time don’t know how to do their own laundry, grocery shop, prepare food, pay bills, and all the other important skills needed to function in the adult world?

While I don’t want to undermine the value of higher math and science education, I believe we do our kids a disservice when we put so much emphasis on things like solving algebraic equations and calculating theorems, yet many kids are leaving the house without knowing how to cook or do their own laundry.

Ideas

Here are some important life skills for older kids.

  • Teach them how to file income tax.
  • Order from a restaurant or call in an order from a menu.
  • Prepare and make meals from start to finish.
  • Pay bills.
  • Manage dental and doctor appointments.
  • Write a resume, prepare for an interview.
  • Manage their bank account, write checks, and keep a ledger.
Useful Life Skill: boy doing taxes

Middle Kids

One long lost skill that kids are not learning in our age of technology is how to make a phone call. Although they are familiar with many apps and games, many of them are unfamiliar with answering and making phone calls.

In our world of texting and emailing, I didn’t think twice about teaching our kids how to talk on the phone until I listened in one day as one of our kids had to answer a phone call. I could tell from the get-go that she had no idea how to answer, what to say or how to respond. I had never taught her.

So, I took the time to show her how to how to answer a call by stating her name and reason for calling. I showed her where the speaker was and the microphone so that she knew where to listen and what to speak into. We role played how to talk with someone and then I showed her how to end the phone call. Then we practiced it a few times.

Ideas

Here are some other helpful skills to teach middle-aged kids.

  • Care of indoor houseplants. When and how often to water.
  • Fire Safety, using a fire extinguisher, fire escape plan.
  • Washing and drying their laundry.
  • How to iron a shirt.
  • Using needle and thread to sew on a button.
Life skills: boy doing laundry

Young Children

Winter is the most likely time for kids to wear shoes with laces. This a great time to teach them how to tie their shoes since it is the one time of year when they will often wear shoes with laces.

There are also so many skills in the kitchen for young children that are perfect for their developmental levels. Here are some ideas.

  • Peel vegetables.
  • Grate carrots.
  • Empty the dishwasher.
  • Sort silverware by kind.
  • Hand dry large dishes and either 1. stack neatly on the counter or 2. learn where they belong and put them away.
useful life skills: girl peeling a carrot
Learning to peel carrots.
life skills: sketch. of a girl peeling a carrot
While Julia was learning to peel carrots, Jenna happened to be sitting at the bar stool sketching.
life skills boy hammering nails into a board

What life skills are you teaching your kids? Can you think of other things to teach your kids in the winter months? I’d love to hear from you!

You may also enjoy reading…

50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Spring

Important Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Summer

Valuable Life Skills for Kids to Learn in Fall

Also find inspiration for your homeschool by checking out my gallery of MOM INTERVIEWS!

Classical Conversations with Liz

Homeschooling On the Farm: An Interview with Leah

Pin It! Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter

You may also get inspiration from my Life Skills Pinterest board.

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