Today's children navigate complicated situations which need more than numeracy and literacy skills, notes the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The agency describes life skills as psycho-social and interpersonal skills, which can help children evaluate and respond to personal and global situations. Life skills can also help children contribute to and improve their environment.
Improve Health
Life skills can help children make decisions that support and even improve their health, notes UNICEF. For example, children may learn about communicable diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and responsible behavior to prevent contracting such illnesses.
Enhance Safety
Life skills can teach children about personal safety and risks, including how to ask to help, states education.com. Most crimes against children are not committed by strangers, warns the website. Children need to learn to assess and protect their own safety in all settings, not only in the home, but also online.
Reduce Need for Discipline
Life skills can help children learn to behave appropriately, thus reducing the need for discipline, notes Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics Online. The site mentions that life skills can be age-appropriate, and taught and learned early on. For example, toddlers who learn to self-calm and preschoolers who learn anger management skills may need less parent intervention.
Financial Knowledge
Life skills can help children learn to manage their money. According to the website OneStepAhead, children who practice and understand financial skills are less likely to develop financial problems, such as unpaid debts later in life. The site recommends using a piggy bank with four different compartments for spending, saving, investing and sharing.
