10 Life Skills to Teach Your Kids Before They Turn 18

We all want our kids to be safe and prepared for whatever life throws their way. As a parent, it can feel overwhelming at times as we try to teach them what they need to know to navigate the complex world we live in. Today I’ll cover what I feel are the 10 essential areas to focus on in order to make sure your children enter adulthood with the skills they need to be safe, independent and confident individuals.

What’s Inside:

• Learn why teaching life skills is vital for your children’s development, helping them build confidence and independence as they navigate various challenges in life.
• Discover the “Essential 10” allowing you to streamline your focus and ensure that you cover the most critical skills without becoming overwhelmed.
• By instilling these important skills early on, you can set your kids up for long-term success, equipping them to handle both everyday situations and unexpected hurdles with confidence.

Wait a minute…
Before you get to the list, you might be wondering why you should listen to me, when I don’t even have any grown children.
How would I know what kids need to learn to be successful adults?
Well, for 15 years I worked as a high school advisor helping seniors make plans for life after high school. Not only did I watch the process of these teens heading off into adulthood, many of them have kept in touch over the years. The list below is based on what they and their parents have told me that they wish they had known before they moved out or went away to college.

1) Grocery Shopping

There are so many life skills that can be learned from grocery shopping. Not just as they wander the aisles of the grocery store, but before and after the visit too. I’ve also found this is an easy thing to get the kids interested in because it helps to give them control over what they eat too. 

Here are just a few of the life-long skills that kids can learn when you teach them how to grocery shop:

Budgeting

Grocery shopping and sticking to a budget go hand-in-hand. Especially with the constantly increasing price of groceries these days.

When you involve kids in the process of shopping, you can teach them the value of a dollar.

Even small kids can get started by choosing their snacks for the week given a certain dollar amount. If they buy name-brand snacks or splurge on fancy treats, they might realize just how quickly that snack budget runs out and the next week make different choices. 

As the kids get older or and show they have mastered handling smaller amounts, you can evenallow them to plan a whole week’s worth of dinners and sticking to the budget.

If you still get the weekly sales paper from your local store, you can turn that into a great budgeting activity too. Let them peruse the paper in advance and search for deals that will make their money go a bit further. 

Meal Planning

Meal Planning helps save money, time and reduces food waste.

Get your kids involved by making a list of their favorite meals or allow them to look up new recipes and plug them into a weekly menu.

If they can master this skill now, they will head into adulthood prepared to cook for themselves and their future families.

Healthy Eating

Healthy eating is an important skill for all kids to understand and grocery shopping is the perfect way to introduce it.

Challenge them to include a vegetable in every meal or discuss what items in the cart are protein, starches, and sweets. Teach them how to read labels and understand what the numbers mean as well as identifying hidden ingredients. Show them how to plan out a balanced meal that includes all the food groups – not just the ones they enjoy!

2) Cooking

After grocery shopping, it’s time to head to the kitchen. Traditionally, cooking was a skill passed down from generation to generation. Somehow, this has been lost in our modern families leaving young people to rely on unhealthy fast food and to-go meals.

To set your children up for a lifetime of healthy homemade meals, teach them basic cooking skills such as chopping vegetables, measuring ingredients, and following recipes.

They will feel so proud when they are able to prepare a meal on their own.

Measuring Ingredients

One of the first ways my kids helped in the kitchen was by measuring ingredients while I was baking. Teach them how to properly measure both wet and dry ingredients and how to use a kitchen scale. You can also teach them common kitchen conversions such as tablespoons to cups.

Cutting & Chopping

Once the kids are a little older, teach them proper knife safety and how to cut, dice, and slice (without slicing their fingers). Then have them help prepare ingredients for meal prep or dinner.

Basic Recipes & Skills

Being able to carefully read and follow written directions is a skill that they will use for the rest of their lives, but can be learned in a fun and delicious way in the kitchen. Learning how to read and follow a recipe teaches why paying attention to details and doing things precisely and in order is essential to success.

Once the basics are down, move on to other skills and basic recipes, like how to cook pasta (and safely drain it), how to boil an egg, and how to bake cookies.

3) Money Management

Money skills are SO important for every single person and I bet you can think of at least a few people who have no clue how to handle their money, even as an adult. Don’t let that be your kid! Set them up for success by teaching them essential money skills now.

Saving

The natural instinct for most kids is to want to spend money as soon as it reaches their hands. There are many adults who do the same thing. This is why it’s important to give kids guidance and help them understand WHY they need to save money.

One of the easiest ways to teach this skill is to help them save for a big toy or experience they’d like. For example, if they want a $50 video game and received $20 for their birthday, that’s a great opportunity to explain why they should save that $20 towards the video game instead of spending it immediately.

As adults, having money saved for emergencies is essential. You can teach this skill to children by requiring they use their own money to replace items they have lost or not taken good care of.

Budgeting

Even adults struggle with budgeting, so it’s important to start teaching kids this skill early on.

To make it more relatable to children, help them create a simple budget for their allowance or any money they earn from chores or odd jobs. This can include categories like saving, spending, and donating. By teaching them to allocate their money towards different purposes, they will understand the value of budgeting and being mindful of their spending habits.

Investing

Good money management means teaching kids how to let their money grow for the future. 

A high yield savings account is a great place to start teaching kids about investing. They can see their money grow over time with interest and learn the concept of compound interest.

This is a nice way to learn without the risk of losing any of their hard earned money.

Debt Avoidance

Debt can be an abstract concept for kids, but there’s a simple way to help them understand.

Give them the opportunity to “borrow” money from you for an item they want or need. Set terms for repayment, including any interest that they will have to pay. Even just a flat fee charged for fronting the money will help them to understand it’s better to avoid debt since the total cost increases anytime money is borrowed.

4) Household Chores

I’ve shared my secret tips for getting kids to do their chores but today I want to reiterate why it’s important for kids to take responsibility when it comes to keeping a home clean and organized. Chores aren’t just about teaching kids responsibility – the chores themselves are essential life skills all kids should know for their future.

Cleaning

Start with age-appropriate cleaning, such as their rooms, and expand to other rooms in the house. Teach skills like vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, washing dishes, and doing laundry. Don’t just assume they will become adults and instantly know how. Plus, creating these habits when they are young will make sure they are prepared for living on their own in the future.

Organizing & Clutter

Organization goes a long way toward keeping a home clean and learning the skills now helps with other areas of life later too. Some areas to work on organizing include toys, bookshelves, and clothes.

Additionally, teaching children how to de-clutter will prevent them from becoming overwhelmed by too many items and prevent hoarding as an adult.

Maintenance

There are a lot of basic household maintenance items that may seem obvious to you but are less obvious to kids. Involve them in the process or vocalize what they’re doing and why, so they begin to see how regular maintenance can prevent larger issues (or at least more time-consuming ones down the road). 

Washing the windows, changing lightbulbs, unclogging drains – these are all tasks that kids can learn to do and not dread as adults. Plus, by learning how to take care of their living space and belongings now, they will have more respect for it in the future and maintain a cleaner home on their own.

5) Communication