What It Means
Life skills are the abilities that help a child cope with the demands of everyday life, and the phrase is used in two ways. (1) The World Health Organization (WHO) uses it for thinking, emotional and social skills, such as making decisions, solving problems, communicating and coping with stress. (2) Parents often use it for practical skills, such as cooking a simple meal, doing laundry or handling money. Children build both kinds over years, with plenty of practice at home.
Try It: Tick the Life Skills Your Child Practiced This Week
WHO lists ten core life skills. Tick each one your child practiced this week. The home examples are Buhata's.
Pick one unticked skill and look for a chance to practice it next week.
How Parents Say It
- "She needs to learn to do her own laundry before college."
- "We're teaching him to make his own breakfast."
- "Let her figure it out; it's a life skill."
The Breakdown
WHO's ten core life skills
| Skill | What it means for a child |
|---|---|
| Decision making | Weighing options and choosing |
| Problem solving | Working through a problem step by step |
| Creative thinking | Coming up with new ideas |
| Critical thinking | Looking at information and asking questions |
| Effective communication | Saying what they think and need |
| Interpersonal relationship skills | Getting along, making and keeping friends |
| Self-awareness | Knowing their strengths, likes and limits |
| Empathy | Understanding how others feel |
| Coping with emotions | Handling big feelings |
| Coping with stress | Managing pressure and hard days |
Practical life skills by stage (examples)
| Stage | Examples to practice |
|---|---|
| Preschool | Dressing, washing hands, helping in the kitchen |
| Early grade school | Making a simple snack, packing a bag, saving coins toward something |
| Later grade school | Following a recipe, doing a load of laundry, comparing prices |
| Teens | Planning and cooking a meal, keeping a budgetBudgetA plan for a set period, usually a month, that lists the money you expect to receive and how you'll spend or save it. See more, booking their own appointment |
These practical examples are Buhata's, built on MSU Extension's point that children of all ages can help in the kitchen and learn self-careSelf-careTaking time to do things that help you live well and look after your physical and mental health, such as moving, sleeping, resting and staying in touch. See more routines. Go at your child's pace.
When to talk to the doctor or school. If your child has much more trouble than peers with self-care, managing feelings or getting along with others, raise it with the pediatrician or the school.
Where It Comes From
WHO set out its core life skills in a document on life skills education for children and adolescents in schools, a guide for school programs around the world. It notes that which skills matter, and how they're described, differs across cultures and settings.
Good to Know
WHO and UNICEF write about life skills mainly for schools and adolescents, so the home examples here are one way to practice the same skills in daily family life. Supervise practical skills like cooking and cleaning until your child shows they can do them safely.
FAQ
What are life skills for kids?
The abilities children need to handle everyday life. WHO's core list covers decision making, problem solving, creative and critical thinking, communication, relationships, self-awareness, empathy, and coping with emotions and stress; parents also mean practical skills like cooking and laundry.
How many life skills does WHO list?
Ten core skills, in its guide to life skills education for children and adolescents in schools. WHO notes the exact skills and their names vary with culture and setting.
At what age should kids start learning life skills?
Early. MSU Extension notes children of all ages can help in the kitchen and learn self-care routines, starting with small steps and adding more as they grow.
Do It in Buhata
Household Rewards and Tasks
Add one practical life skill a month to Household Rewards in a Household Space in Buhata, like "make your own lunch," and give your child ownership of it.
Open BuhataRelated Terms and Categories
- Age-appropriate chores
Household jobs matched to what a child can safely and realistically do at their age, growing in difficulty as they get older.
- Financial literacy for kids
The money skills, habits and knowledge children build over time, from waiting for something they want to budgeting, saving and weighing choices.
- Executive function
The mental skills that let a person plan, focus, remember instructions and control impulses: working memory, mental flexibility and self-control.
- Emotional regulation
The growing ability to notice a feeling and manage how strongly it shows and how long it lasts, so a child can calm down and carry on.
- Resilience
The capacity to adapt and keep developing well in the face of hardship. In children it's built above all through a stable, supportive relationship with an adult.
Sources
World Health Organization, "Life Skills Education for Children and Adolescents in Schools" (WHO/MNH/PSF/93.7A.Rev.2); World Health Organization, "Life skills education for children and adolescents in schools: introduction and guidelines to facilitate the development and implementation of life skills programmes"; UNICEF, "Guide: Adolescents and life skills education"; Michigan State University Extension, "Children of all ages can help in the kitchen"; Michigan State University Extension, "Teaching children self-care routines"
- iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/87fe5602-fd22-4d61-8605-26aa6a21f4c8/content
- iris.who.int/items/5d053e73-4b67-4456-9e9a-f3ae402863f2
- www.unicef.org/adolescentkit/reports/guide-adolescents-and-life-skills-education
- www.canr.msu.edu/news/children_of_all_ages_can_help_in_the_kitchen
- www.canr.msu.edu/news/teaching_children_self_care_routines
Last updated .