Mumsnet users tell IKEA which life skills they'd like to teach their children

[JustineBMumsnet]

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Summer is often a time parents spend more time with their children and it can be a great opportunity to teach life skills: whether that’s cooking, reading, drawing, gardening, or maybe even playing a sport. But, with parents spending more time with their children than ever and home education due to lockdown, many have taken to teaching their children life skills as well as their academic learning. IKEA would like to hear about the life skills you’ve taught - or would like to teach - your children.

Here’s what Marie Tenglund, Interior Design Leader at IKEA has to say: “The ‘Wonderful everyday’ has never been more in focus than it is in our homes today. With so many of us having to support our children with school education at home, try also using this time to broaden the spectrum of learning.

At IKEA we believe teaching children life skills is really important. Sustainable living tops the list for us, so with summer arriving early – try growing produce, outside or inside whilst having fun, experimenting and learning. Harvest your crop together, use it to cook together and finally teach them how to sustainably get rid of waste as you complete the full circle.

Changing your lightbulbs to energy efficient ones, encourage the use or re-usable water bottles, labelling your leftovers in see-through containers for less waste are all simple life skills to share with your children.

Often it’s the smaller things that are easy to do but will have a large impact if we all do it together.”

Would you like to ensure your children have an impressive repertoire of meals they can cook? Perhaps you’d like them to have a healthy understanding of how to budget? Maybe you’re keen for them to learn how to make the perfect cup of tea for very non-selfish reasons? How does your children’s age affect the life skills you’d like to teach them?

Whatever life skills you’ve taught or would like to teach your children, share with IKEA in the thread below and you’ll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £200 IKEA voucher.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

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I'm going to teach my teens how to decorate - gloss paint work, hang wall paper and the accessorise, also choosing furniture for the space.

How to read the instructions!!! Very important lesson when assembling certain flat packed furniture !!

Decorate, change plugs,sew,garden,fix household things like a leaky tap etc, be able to use basic tools competently.
To know how to clean and cook to a standard.
Be able to converse with people even on subjects they don’t already know about, knowledge is never ending.
Religion,the basic fundamentals of all beliefs.
How to make the most from what you have.

Definitely teach budgeting and prioritising. How to eat cheaply. How to decorate and DIY.

I'm an avid gardener so I'm teaching my children how to cook using home grown produce. They don't usually get time to come to the allotment with me but the lockdown has given us all some time to spend being reflective with nature. We've completed the whole cycle of digging the soil, feeding it with organic matter and showing it respect and nurture. Then planted seeds that we collected last year and watched them grow into little seedlings, transferred them to the ground and then watched them grow amazingly into strong plants. Carrots, potatoes, spinach and herbs are all easy growers and we've already harvested some.
It teaches them not only to love and respect nature but also to value the time and effort it takes to make things.

Cooking
Laundry
DIY
Decorating

Don't think you can go wrong with any of those!

My son started university last year and thanked me for teaching him how to do laundry and iron. He has flat mates who buy new clothes when they run out or have their parents pick up and deliver laundry.

My younger son is usually quiet and overlooked but it gave him a big boost when they went on the school residential and was one of the few who knew how to put on a duvet cover.

Definitely growing vegetables and trying to use sustainable alternatives wherever possible!

To be able to cook, change plugs and bulbs, DIY and how to find out how to do small tech repairs. Low grade plumbing would be useful. It would save them a fortune in the end.

I think the art of resilience is the most useful skill to pass on, things do go wrong, sometimes on a really large scale, and this doesn't mean things they will always stay wrong. This, coupled with the ability to laugh at ourselves, are really useful in learning to 'bounce back' from whatever life throws our way.

Cooking is a big one for me. Not just following a recipe but being able to improvise with whatever is in the fridge, use up leftovers and meal plan to ensure (reasonably) healthy and balanced meals.

I'd love DC to be able to make the usual family meals - roasts, chilli, pasta, curry etc. but also be able to turn their hand to something a bit more complicated.

We've been trying to let our primary age DC be more independent during lockdown, so letting them make meals by themselves, plant things in the garden, put washing on. Nothing ground breaking, just trying to foster an ability to get stuff done on their own, which I think is a life skill in itself

Cooking and budgeting for me. DD is going to uni in September, so there will be a whistle stop refresher of all essential life skills before she goes.

I didn't get taught any so I'm determined that my children will. I intend on, at a minimum, teach them how to: budget finances, cook simple meals (at least), how to do their own washing, how to set up bills, how to read instructions and how to change a car tyre.

I want to teach them how to knit a wooly blanket from secondhand wool, make porridge for cold winter mornings, wash up properly, so everything is clean and shiny, make elderflower cordial, make a bed like it's done in an upmarket hotel, use a washing machine, meal plan a week with all plant based meals, write a letter to a friend and enjoy the little things in life. A cup of tea, a piece of music, a hot bath. I want to teach them that they don't need lots of material possessions to be happy, you can find it in other ways.

Resilience, developing your own opinions. Then cooking and doing DIY.

Cooking, washing clothes, cleaning.

It's all about food! Growing it, cooking it, understanding it. Oh, and the joy of a lie in once in a while!

The big lesson I want to teach is the important things that add the most to our lives don't cost a whole lot. Family, kindness, love, friendship, play. I think lockdown has proven that more than anything else. Doing simple things with those you love - it's what's gotten us through - scavenger hunts through the fields and woods, painting or collaging at home, baking cookies, water play with food colouring. At the same time it's also the biggest stuff we've missed - seeing our friends and family. Sunday lunches and play dates. Hugs and cuddles. It's something I don't want either me or my daughter to forget.

Planting and growing fruit and vegetables. My sons love doing this anyway as we can appeal to their interests like digging and watering.
I want them to learn about wild plants and foraging do this lockdown we have made elderflower cordial and hawthorn pesto.
My DP is getting DS1 (6) to start to use power tools safely and I'm teaching him sewing.
We make sure we get our kids cooking whenever possible as I think that's one of the most important life skills there is.

Budgeting is crucial, how not to end up in debt. Prioritising needs over wants.
DIY skills, patience, do a job right, not quickly.
Shop around, always get three quotes, word of mouth recommendations for workmen etc.

Constructing furniture! We bought a load of Kallax units the other day to do the play room and the children helped build them! It’s like grown up Lego instructions 😁

Cooking - starting very simple with chopping veg but intend to move on to planning and making themselves.

Life skills are so important.
Before my kids leave the nest I would like them to be able to:
Cook
Clean
Budget
Have basic DIY and gardening skills

A very important life skill is to shut the loo lid before you flush. (I read it on Mumsnet so it must be true )

For my benefit TIDYING.

Others, making simple meals, laundry, shopping, simple houshold maintenance