First, let me say that unscheduled stretches of time for kids are great. Not all free time should be filled. But sometimes during longer stretches of breaks from school I’ll declare a week in our house “Life Skills Camp.” This means I give my kids daily tasks to learn new life skills or practice existing ones. And theoretically these are all things they should be learning while under my roof anyway, but this gives us the opportunity to go deeper and be more intentional.
Plus, there’s less grumbling when I designate tasks for “Life Skills Camp” than when I just assign chores. Go figure.
“Life Skills Camp” doesn’t have to run all day every day. I recommend picking an area of focus for each day and assigning tasks related to that each day. Here’s a sample schedule:
Monday: Cooking/Shopping
- Kiddo is in charge of dinner tonight!
- Find a recipe on Pinterest or in a cookbook that you want to make.
- Create a shopping list of the things you’ll need.
- Look in the kitchen to see if you already have any of the ingredients.
- Go shopping for the ingredients you still need.
- Mom lets the kid/kids shop on their own (hanging back to keep an eye on things) -OR- Mom steps in every once in awhile to guide them on comparison shopping/looking for price-per-ounce/etc.
- Kid/kids guess the total price prior to checkout.
- Kid/kids cook dinner.
- Kid/kids clean up after dinner.
Tuesday: Cleaning/Organizing
- Kiddo is going to learn how to properly clean a common room of the house.
- Mom assigns (or child chooses) a room to clean (bathroom/kitchen/laundry room/mud room).
- If there’s an area of the room that requires deep cleaning (oven/toilet/shower/floors), have them watch YouTube videos to learn how to clean it well.
- Mom assigns (or child chooses) an area that needs organizing (kids’ toys, front hall closet, shoe shelf, video game cabinet).
- Kid comes up with an organizing system and organizes/declutters the area.
- Take before & after photos of both tasks so they can see the value of their work!
Wednesday: Career Planning/Budgeting
- Start thinking about the future! Make a list of 5 jobs you might like to have as an adult.
- Research those jobs online or at the library. Learn what type of education you need, jobs in the field, and expected salary.
- Don’t have a clue what you want to do? Take a free career assessment, or get suggestions based on things you like. (Look up things like, “Jobs for people who like math” or “What careers can you have if you like fixing things?”)
- Share your results with mom.
- Make a pretend budget. List all the expenses you think you’ll have as an adult, and how much you think each item will cost.
- Mom & child go over the budget to review things they may have left out or over/underestimated.
- There’s no right or wrong final product here; just an exercise to help kids think ahead and develop skills for the future.
Thursday: “Travel” Planning
- Tomorrow you’re going on a fun outing, but it takes planning! Your child will learn all that’s involved in a fun day out.
- Your child chooses a destination with your approval (zoo/beach/picnic/Children’s Museum/sporting event/go-kart racing/etc).
- Your child researches and plans the outing. How much does it cost? What time are they open? Do you need reservations? Will you need to pack lunch? If you’re going to eat at a restaurant, where can you eat nearby?
- Is it possible to get their on public transit? If so, have your child plot the route and figure out costs (riding public transit is an important skill!).
- If you have to drive, have your child map the route (map-reading is an important skill, too!).
Friday: Go on your outing!
- Life isn’t all work and no play. After a long week it’s time to live a life of balance and have fun!
- Have your child take the lead. Pack lunches (if applicable), the diaper bag if you’ve got a little one, or the supplies/snacks/toys you’ll need for the trip.
- Your child helps you navigate. If you’re making it an adventure on public transportation, have them take the lead on which bus/train to take and where to get off. If you’re driving, they pay attention to street signs and help you figure out where to turn (no GPS today!).
- Buying tickets? Have your child interact with the person in the sales kiosk to make the correct transaction.
- Back at home, kiddo also gets to help unload the car and unpack after a day of fun.
“Life Skills Camp” can be anything you want it to be. It can be two days. It can be two weeks. It can focus on social/emotional skills your kids need to develop. It can be super structured. It can be child-driven. It can run all day, or you can have them do a couple of tasks every morning for an hour or so. You can be super involved, or mostly hands-off. I’ve found it’s just a fun framework to help engage my kiddos in more focused life skill development – AND it helps keep them occupied during school breaks.
OTHER TASK IDEAS:
- List 50 non-screen activities to do when you’re bored.
- “Mom’s not here” day. (Have the kids pretend you’re not there. They have to fend for themselves and you’ll see how they do. Debrief after about what was hard, when they most wanted your help, etc.)
- Make a daily schedule for before and after school.
- Develop a plan to keep your room clean regularly.
- Screen-free day. (Solving boredom productively is an important life skill!)
- Make a list of 20 foods you want to learn how to cook with mom or dad.
- Come up with 10 things you can do when your little brother annoys you.
- Think of 10 ways you can respond when you’re mad/afraid/frustrated/etc.
- Emotional awareness: Print an outline of the human body and have your child color where they feel certain emotions (happy/sad/nervous/angry/etc.)
- Laundry Day: Has your child never done laundry? They can learn during life skills camp!
- Phone calls: Have them call to schedule their next doctor/dentist/orthodontist appointment. Phone skills are a lost art! Prompt them to state their name, brief reason for calling, etc. Kids never do this so they get really flustered when they have to.
What life skills would you add to this list?
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