Teaching Kids Job and Life Skills: Fixing Things
Content Written/Updated on April 5, 2007
We often assume that we, the parents, are supposed to fix everything for our children. If we do fix everything for them, they'll start thinking that they should ask us for help whenever they have a problem rather than trying to fix the problem themselves first. Certainly, we want children to come to us if there is a problem they can't fix or don't know how to fix, but little problems they can handle themselves, and we need to give them confidence and skills to get the job done.
Teach your child to:
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Tape a ripped paper
Show your child how to line up the pieces of paper, so they match, and then teach how to place the tape on both sides of the tear, so they pieces of paper stick together. You may also want to demonstrate how
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Sew rips and tears
Children will first need to learn how to sew, which is easily practiced with sewing cards, simple sewing projects (e.g. pillows, bags, etc.). Sewing is also fun for kids, so your mending pile will seem to shrink by itself.
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Glue broken items back together
This takes special care if you're using industrial strength glue, so try to use glues that don't dry very quickly and wash off easily.
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Fix basic electronics and computer errors
Most adults seem to have a hard time doing this, but kids learn these skills quickly. Show them how to close out error windows on the computer, restart video games that freeze up, handle problems with the DVD player, hang up a buzzing phone, etc. Learning these skills will help them be more self-reliant with electronic and computers as technology continues to become a major part of our lives.
...by Feed