Christmas is a special time of year. It’s a time that lends itself to learning, growing, and maturing as a family. Here are some like skills that can be taught during Christmas:
I was pondering the other day… how full the Christmas season can be. Full of events, full of family time, and full of opportunities to learn things.
Here are some life skills that kids pick up during Christmas. I mean, they’ll pick these up anytime really, but especially during the holidays.
What's in this post...
There are six main categories of life skills:
- Finances
- Personal Care
- Health & Safety
- Self-Management
- Chores
- Relationships & Community
Each of these life skills that kids can learn during Christmas falls into one of these categories.
Thinking of Others
Christmas is a great time to work on compassion skills. Any life skills that fall under the category of relationships and community are those types of skills that benefit kids for a lifetime.
I believe this is because the relationships we form with our friends, family, and community define who we are as a person. I’m not saying that we are who people say we are, but I am saying that relationships matter.
Read: New Year Life Skills That Matter For Kids
Check off critical household, social, and hygiene skills for your child so they’re prepared (not petrified) of growing up!
How we show compassion and love towards each other matter.
It takes thinking about others and self-awarness to develop compassion towards the world around you. Kids benefit from not always being the center of attention. They benefit from doing things that show kindness to others.
Christmas is a great time to do this. Some examples are:
- Donating to a worthy cause such as food bank, children’s organization, or outreach program.
- Volunteer time at a nursing home visiting elders with no family, etc.
- Writing “thank you” cards to a service organization such as the police department or fire station.
- Learning how to deal with difficult family members.
Help prepare your kids for life, one skill at a time. Simple, easy skills every month!
Learn MoreBudgeting & Buying Gifts for Others
Money skills… this is always a good life skill to work on. Understanding principles of finances can start at an early age.
It’s good to talk with the kids about making smart money choices. Showing them how to save, budget, and spend within our means is a great example for them.
- Every year, we take each of our kids to buy a present for their other 4 siblings. They love this tradition and it teaches them a variety of skills.
- Talk to them about the value of work. Show them your work ethic. When you give them insight on your job, they can appreciate what is spent on Christmas more.
- Allow them to save, spend, and budget for the gifts they get for others. Teach them that money doesn’t grow on trees by having them “work” for what they get to buy.
- Don’t burden them with understanding things that over their “pay grade” but be honest about your financial limitations. It’s good to practice living within your means.
Check off critical household, social, and hygiene skills for your child so they’re prepared (not petrified) of growing up!
Communicating Gratitude & Politeness with Gifts
Ahhh, manners. Well, they matter! Nobody wants to be bombarded by children who lack general politeness. This type of behavior is exasperated with Christmas gifts.
Teach your children how to communicate gratitude. This goes beyond just saying, “Thank you.” It’s about facial expressions, tone, body language, timing, and more.
- Communicate to them your expectations for their manners.
- Give them opportunities to practice proper politeness.
- Model gratefulness by example.
Communicating gratitude and politeness when it comes to gifts can go a long way with family members, friends, and loved ones. It’s a great life skill that kids can practice during Christmas time.
What if they don’t get the exact gift they wanted? What if it’s not the right color? Well, none of that matters in the moment because it’s our job to show gratefulness first.
You can always have a do over later, where you help your child process their feelings about the gift. In fact, that’s a great idea! They don’t have to love something they don’t love, they just don’t need to say they didn’t like it in the moment.
Gratitude is a learned skill. Help avoid selfishness and entitlement by nurturing gratitude.
Learn MorePatience
Have you every heard anyone say, “Don’t pray for patience because that prayer will always be answered?” Well, I may not pray for patience in that sense.
However, I do pray that my children will be patient people.
I want them to…
- show patience when dealing with others,
- themselves,
- and of course during the holidays.
You can always tell a truly patient person based on how they act when things don’t go their way.
Have you ever experienced something not going your way on Christmas? Maybe that’s just me… but I doubt it.
When family is gathered and gifts are being given, emotions can be running high. This is the perfect opportunity for people to lose patience, etc.
It’s also the perfect opportunity for parents to train their kids on how to keep their composure through these situations.
Check off critical household, social, and hygiene skills for your child so they’re prepared (not petrified) of growing up!
Organizing, Decluttering, and Passing Toys Along
Christmas is a great time to go through and get rid of older toys. Out with the old and in with the new. Really, there’s no reason to hang onto everything.
Organization (decluttering) is a life skill that takes some practice. Especially if you’re a kid with lots of messy toys laying around.
Christmas is a great time to replace the older toys with new ones.
It’s a great opportunity to pass along toys that are still in good condition. Goodwills, friends, needy families, etc. may enjoy these toys.
Also, there’s some excitement around getting new toys during Christmas… it may be a good bet to declutter during this time.
Christmas is the perfect opportunity to get rid of toys without a fight or fuss. You can do this, all the while teaching a valuable life skill.
Help prepare your kids for life, one skill at a time. Simple, easy skills every month!
Learn MoreCulinary Skills
Every family handles Christmas feed differently. Also, it may depend on the year, who has came to visit, or other situations as to how much cooking gets done.
I like to think that there are opportunities to teach culinary skills during the holidays, no mater the situation.
- Maybe it’s making snow man sugar cooking and decorating them with their siblings.
- It could be researching traditional Christmas foods and learning how to make them as a family.
- Or, it could be learning that family recipe secrets from grandparents or other extended family members.
- It could even be as simple as compiling a shopping list and doing the grocery shopping together.
It could be easy for you to incorporate some life skill training into your Christmas food routine.
However you fund your Christmas to be, use opportunities to teach some valuable life skills to your kids along the way. It’s a great season to instill some values and life skills while they are young.
Gratitude is a learned skill. Help avoid selfishness and entitlement by nurturing gratitude.
Learn MoreFAQs
Encourage thoughtfulness in the activities that you are already doing this holiday season. For example, if your kids are going to be buying presents for their siblings, encourage them to pay attention to the things that their siblings like or have mentioned they would like to have leading up to the shopping day. Then, they are thinking of how to make other people happy while being generous and kind.
Set realistic expectations for how you want your kids to ask for things, respond to gifts, and general attitudes and communicate these things with them. Gratitude prevents entitlement – focus on finding ways to encourage your kids to be grateful by giving them perspective in finances, gifts, others less fortunate, and the time that others are spending on or with them.
Determine the things that are most important to you during this season and make them a priority. Then, figure out the things that you want to avoid and be ruthless about doing so. Focus on creating meaningful traditions that don’t revolve around material gifts. Encourage experiences and quality time together as valuable gifts. Model your values for this season for your kids and create moments that you can enjoy together as a family.
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