Explore the critical transition from childhood to teenage years, emphasizing the importance of teaching tweens essential life skills to foster independence and responsibility. It highlights key areas such as decision-making, budgeting, cooking, and mindfulness, offering practical advice for parents to introduce these skills effectively. With tools like the Levelty app, the process becomes engaging and structured, helping children understand the responsibilities of freedom while building lifelong habits. The earlier these skills are taught, the more self-sufficient and prepared children will be for future challenges.

Childhood goes by fast. In the blink of an eye, all of a sudden your kid doesn't like to play with toys anymore and demands more freedom. The transition from child to teenager is neither easy for the child nor for the parent. At the time when they are navigating these changes, you are probably busy planning on how to raise a responsible adult.

While many life skills don’t come in handy until a later age, there are a few essential ones that are worth being introduced to. This could be a great outlet for your feelings of responsibility, taking easy step-by-step actions that will become extremely useful in the long run.

For your child, this is an opportunity to take on some of the responsibility that comes with freedom. It is much better to introduce these skills at an early age, rather than your kid having to figure it out themselves at a much later stage. Plus, some of these will become great habits!

To make the process a little easier, or perhaps, more organized, there are apps such as Levelty that allow you to introduce new habits, chores, or tasks for your child in a fun, gamefied manner.

So, let’s get into it.

Decision making skills

While a full understanding of consequences doesn’t kick in until later in the teenagehood years, teaching your tween some simple decision-making skills proves to be very useful. Firstly, you have to stop making decisions for them, to allow space for your child to make decisions for themselves. Give them choices, rather than orders, and explain the consequences.

Budgeting skills

Chances are, you are already giving pocket money for lunches at school. Teach your child about saving, perhaps buy them a piggy bank! Also, donating a small amount will prompt your child to become more empathetic.

Cooking skills

Compared to the ones above, this one is easy to make fun. Start off by inviting your child to help with cooking a dinner, or embark on a baking project together. After you show them that this essential life skill can be very enjoyable, encourage them to cook simple things for themselves, may it be a sunny-side-up egg or a hot chocolate.

Mindfulness

Dealing with emotions is only going to get harder with teenagehood on the horizon, so it is better to teach your child mindfulness tools in advance. This may be a habit you would like to pick up yourself to be the best parent you can be. There are a myriad of techniques available, so you can choose the ones that suit you and your kid best.

Teaching your tween these essential life skills is going to be a huge plus in the future. The earlier children understand the responsibility that comes with freedom, the more self-sufficient and independent they will become with age.

4 essential life skills for your tween to learn

Decision making skills

Budgeting skills

Cooking skills

Mindfulness