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

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

Cooking!

Well I’m about to teach her what a happy healthy normal home looks like and walk away from ex abusive partner so we could really use this!!! Would love to enter please x

As a priority: how to make/cook basic staple meals safely and do a load of washing! Thinking about how we’d cope if I was laid up in bed with Covid barely able to move has made me want to prioritise this!

Otherwise, in general, how to do dangerous tasks safely! Like using an electric drill, a saw, mowing the lawn.

How to:

Turn on the dishwasher
Sort laundry ready to wash in colour/type
Ride a bike (for the youngest!)

Cooking (including food safety/hygiene, reducing food waste, meal planning and batch cooking)

Running a home - cleaning, laundry, lightbulb changing etc

Managing money — budgeting and saving

Time management and organisational skills

Assertiveness techniques

Environmental awareness - recycling, not wasting electricity/water etc

Manners, kindness, charitable giving, being community minded...

I’d like to teach DC to build a fire, use tools like saws and drills, forage, etc. The problem is I am not confident at doing those kinds of things myself. I need more devil-may-care people around us.

I haven't really thought about this, I haven't purposely'taught' my child any life skills. But they enjoy belong in the kitchen and we tidy up their toys together. Hopefully they'll have learnt that these things don't just magically happen and appreciate things more.

The girls are learning to cook, we have recently got them all aprons. Also they are learning to plant seeds and look after what they are growing. My middle girl loves to flood the planters with water haha

The girls are learning to cook, we have recently got them all aprons. Also they are learning to plant seeds and look after what they are growing. My middle girl loves to flood the planters with water haha

The girls are learning to cook, we have recently got them all aprons. Also they are learning to plant seeds and look after what they are growing. My middle girl loves to flood the planters with water haha

Cooking, washing, growing fruit and veg, budgeting and being able to communicate.

As I have made so many bad financial decisions in my life (payday loans, buying things on the never never) It would definitely be to have financial and budgeting skills, be able to save for the things they want.

Definitely financial stuff.
It's the key to everything else. Once your financially steady, everything else is doable. People struggling have less time to worry about sustainability etc.

I've tried to show investing, interest rates, how we save bit by bit. Funds, stocks etc. How covid has impacted investments, we have watched them going up and down.

We did grow some stuff and it didn't take seed!!

But we grow, recycle have energy light bulbs etc already...

How to tie his shoe laces

We’ve been teaching the eldest to cook, and they are currently cooking a roast in their own for the first time!

Also budgeting and money in general- no one ever talked about this growing up.

Using their initiative - ie not waiting for someone else to tell them what to do. Seeing something that needs doing and having the impetus to get on with it without being told! Using their initiative to find out how to do something if they don't know how.

How to not waste money when shopping. Food and general stuff. Use codes, offers etc. And to use charity shops
To check on MSE.
They have a fairly prudent mindset

I want mine to be clued up with solid DIY skills, know how to set a budget and be able to cook a solid set of meals. DD 10 has mastered cake baking in lockdown, so we're making a good start.

Cooking nutritious meals
Washing up
Money management
Discussion and debate skills
Organisation skills

It’s been lovely having more time than usual to spend on all this!

I've started teaching my children to recognise the species of trees that we see on walks.

They're teaching me how to improve my dire chess skills!

Cook & Eat healthy quick meals
To enjoy and appreciate the natural world
DIY & gardening - especially the joy of planting seeds etc and growing things we can eat!

I'd love to teach my children to think for themselves. My husband is willing to do jobs, but can't see them. Anything from stacking the dishwasher to fixing a broken door. He'll do it but needs telling to do it. So I'm trying to teach my children to notice what needs to be done and then to do it. It's hit and miss at the minute, but we're getting there.
My 16 year old son is even starting to offer to cook some nights (though I'm not sure if this is boredom or not 😀).

My wee one is still little but I'll be teaching her:

How to cook healthy, quick meals
How to budget
How to make simple home repairs
How to sew on a button

For everything else, I want to teach her how to teach herself how to do something and that sometimes you need try, try, try again

How to manage with grown up life situations. Basic home maintenance, unblocking a sink and a loo, to use a drill, hang a picture, change a fuse and wire a plug and take apart a hoover. Self care like sewing buttons and using a sewing machine, fixing a hem, managing money, cooking. The skills to launch herself into life.
Shes teaching me patience and wonder in return.

I have taught my 2 sons (9 and 13) budgeting skills, they both have a childrens bank account with a 'debit' card - however one saves up for what he want (the 9 year old) and the 13 year old just seems to fritter his away on cheap toys and sweets - no matter how I incentivise the benefits of saving for a item- it goes on deaf ears.
So proud of my 9 year old when he bought a nintendo switch (2nd hand) after 4 months of saving