9 Essential Life Skills Every Child Should Have by Age 12 - Colour My  Learning

Kids are naturally curious, always on the lookout for new things. They will go out of their way to do things that interest them. This may lead to them coming across certain skills and learning about them without you having to be involved in it at all.

Imagine your child’s delight when he first figures out how to solve simple math problems independently, learns some new computer coding skills, or discovers that he can play a musical instrument! There are numerous ways your child can pick up new skills independently. Here are 10 of them:

Socializing

Kids socialize with people around them to figure out certain things about the world. If they have siblings, they will learn how to communicate with them. If they have a cousin who is a few years older, he will look up to them and learn from their behavior. Kids also socialize with peers at school or in the neighborhood. This exposure opens them up to new skills and knowledge.

Reading

Kids naturally love books because you can get lost in an entire world of your own while reading one. You can learn about places you have never seen, meet people who are way cooler than the ones around you, and read stories that make your life seem dull in comparison. This exposure to new worlds through stories will help your child pick up new skills faster.

Working with tools

You may find that your child is constantly trying to learn the skills of people around him. He may try to fix something with tools or observe how others use them and memorize them later. This exposure to new things will help your child pick up new skills faster.

Musical instruments

Kids enjoy music, and if they come across someone playing an instrument, they will do everything in their power to play along with them. The more exposure your child gets to music, the better his chances of learning how to play a guitar or drums are. You can enroll your child in private guitar lessons or piano lessons with vocal coaching.

Computers

Kids love surfing the Internet because you can learn so much about anything in this world just by looking it up online. This exposure to new things will help your child pick up new skills faster.

Sports

You may want to encourage your child to join a sports team where he can learn new skills and enjoy himself at the same time. The exposure to different kinds of people is a bonus because he is exposed to new kinds of people with different skills.

Creative arts

Everyone is born creative, but not everyone chooses to explore it. If you want your child to pick up new skills, encourage him to indulge in the arts at an early age so that he can discover things about himself that he never knew before. You may have a young Picasso on your hands!

Survival skills

If you want your child to develop the skills he needs to survive in this world, you have to teach him yourself. Teach him how to cook so that he can fend for himself when you are not around. Teach him other basic survival skills, such as tying his shoelaces or brushing his teeth on his own. This will go a long way towards giving him the confidence he needs to survive independently.

Planning and organizing

You might not notice it, but your child is learning to plan and organize as you speak. He absorbs all of this information through osmosis as he plays with other children, watches television, or listens to people around him talk. You can give him some simple tasks, such as organizing his room or picking out his clothes for the day.

Time management

Your child may not manage his time properly yet, but he is learning through osmosis as you speak. He will see how other people behave and learn from their mistakes. You can help him by giving him a few basic tasks to do each day so that he gets used to the idea of finishing what he has started before moving on to the next.

Attention to detail

You might not realize this, but your child is learning to pay attention to detail through osmosis as he plays with other children, watches television, or listens to people around him talk. You can give him some basic simple tasks, such as folding his clothes in the right places or putting away his toys in the right places.

Flexibility

You may not realize this, but your child is learning to be flexible through osmosis as he plays with other children, watches television, or listens to people around him talk. He will hear about different kinds of problems and learn from them as he tries to solve those problems.

By exposing your child to new things, you allow him to pick up different kinds of skills. He may not pick them up right away but will gradually get better at it as he practices more. The exposure to new things helps open his eyes so that he can learn new things on his own when given a chance.

Meta title: Skills Your Child Should Learn
meta desc: Children are naturally observant and curious, and they are eager to learn new things. Read on to find out which skills are necessary for your child’s overall development.