In my first grade classroom, I love when children get so excited because they tied their shoes for the first time independently or they zipped their own coat. Children love when they are able to do something by themselves without help! Encouraging children to do essential everyday skills on their own is a great way to enhance their confidence, independence, cognitive abilities, and foster a growth mindset. It also helps make life a bit easier! By introducing fun and relaxed ways to practice at home, your child can build confidence and independence without feeling overwhelmed. As a teacher, I have a list of 3 everyday skills that children can practice at home to make life easier, and gain confidence and independence.
1. Cutting with scissors
Scissors can be tricky, especially when students are cutting challenging shapes like snowflakes or pointy leaves. Take a piece of paper and draw different pattern lines on it (zig zags, straight, swirls) and have your child practice cutting them out as neatly as possible. You can then draw different shapes and figures to have your child practice cutting. You can also check our our free download of scissor practice!
P.S.: If you need to cut anything out, recruit your child to help you!
2. Tying Shoes
Children are so proud when they can not only tie their own shoes, but tie the shoes of their friends. Start with the shoe off of the child (or create a shoe cut out with cardboard and yarn) and demonstrate shoe tying. You can even pull up a video or song that the child can practice along to, like this one.
3. Zipping and Buttoning a coat
The end of the school day is always hectic with packing up and getting ready to leave. It is even more hectic when it is winter coat season. Students try to zip their own coat and then get frustrated when it is almost time to walk out the door. Students are always relieved when they can zip their coat on their own. You can start by laying the coat down on a surface like a bed, couch, or floor so your child can practice. Put a coat on a stuffed animal or sibling to have them try it a different way. Finally, you can move to have them put on the coat and zip it. Always save this part for last, it is the most challenging. You might even want to consider adding a piece of string to the zipper to make it more visible and easier to grab.
Take on the challenge of practicing these everyday skills throughout the week with your child, and share your progress with me in the comments below!