List of Life Skills for Teens
If you’re the parent of a teen, chances are you’ve experienced at least one moment of realization that your child is completely unaware of how to do something that will be essential for them to navigate the world on their own. This huge list of life skills for teens provides a resource for thinking about the many essential life skills your child needs to prepare them for adulthood.
Use this as a reference point and incorporate learning into your daily life. Even if your child is 17 and you’re panicking about how little time you have left, you can use the time you have to thoughtfully consider which life skills they most need for the next phase of their lives.
Keep reading to download a free printable list of all 140 life skills for teens for easy reference.
Life Skills Categories
The life skills on this list are broken into eight categories.
- Household Cleaning Skills
- Car and Household Maintenance Skills
- Kitchen Skills
- Finance and Home Organization Skills
- Communication Skills
- Personal Skills
- General Skills
- BONUS: Outdoor/Survival Skills
Start reading the “Character Counts” series of 9 positive character traits to develop in your kids
Household Cleaning Skills
Obviously, if you’re reading this, you want your child to clean up after themselves! No further explanation needed here. The life skills listed in this category are able to be taught much earlier than the teen years, so if you have young kids, start now.
- Clean a bathroom
- Vacuum
- Dust
- Wash & dry dishes
- Load and start dishwasher
- Sweep & mop floor
- Make beds
- Clean appliances
- Wipe counters/cabinets
- Wash clothes
- Fold/hang clothes
- Wash towels/sheets
- Fold towels/sheets
Read: 3 Ways to Handle Laundry
- Clean windows
- Iron
- Stain removal
- Collect and empty garbage/recycling
- Decluttering
- Occasional tasks/spring cleaning: clean fan blades, window tracks, clean out freezers & fridges, clean blinds, change filters
- How often to do household cleaning tasks
Number 20 deserves a little emphasis. Knowing how to do all these cleaning tasks is great, but knowing how to create a schedule for household cleaning and chores is crucial to managing their own household.
Car and Household Maintenance Skills
Many of the life skills in this category are what traditionally come to mind when thinking about what your child needs to know before leaving home. One great way to teach these skills is to include your child each time you have to deal with these issues in your home. Use a progression of having them watch you do it, then try with your instruction, try with your supervision and minimal instruction, and then try on their own.
- Pump gas
- Change a tire
- Check oil
- Check tire pressure
- Replace wiper blades
- Wash a car
- Jumpstart a car
- Register a vehicle/renew registration (DMV, DEQ)
- Bicycle maintenance
- Unclog a toilet
- Unclog a drain
- Change a lightbulb
- Use a hammer
- Use a drill
- Fix a ripped seam/sew a button on
- Change batteries
- Test smoke alarm
- Mow the lawn
- Paint a room
- Use a grill/BBQ
- Pull weeds
- Plant seeds
- Rake leaves
- Use a caulk gun
- Turn off water and power
- Fix a leaky faucet
- Find service or repair persons
Kitchen Skills
Your child should learn how to feed themselves before leaving home. Here are important kitchen skills to teach your teen now.
- Set the table/use variety of utensils
- Make a meal plan
- Navigate the grocery store
- Safe food storage
- Make coffee/tea
- Follow a recipe
- Measure and weigh ingredients
- Cook a few breakfast items (eggs, pancakes, muffins)
Read: Best Homemade Pancake Mix
- Cook a few dinner items (i.e. spaghetti, grilled cheese sandwich, chicken and rice)
- Bake cookies
- Make a cake
- Peel vegetables
- Cut fruit
- Operate the oven
- Use the stovetop
- Operate a food processor
- Use a blender
- Check food expiration dates
- Read ingredient/nutrition labels
Finance and Organization Skills
Teaching your teen how to handle their finances, organize important papers, and schedule their time will provide them with vital life skills they will rely on throughout their lives.
- Create a paper filing system for household documents
- Pay bills
- Open and use a bank account
- Write a check
- Understand how credit cards work
- Check credit report
- Apply for a passport
- Address and send postal mail
- Ship a package
- Create a budget
- Compare prices
- Use a calendar to schedule appointments, events, and reminders
- File taxes
- Change ink in printer
- Refill paper in printer
- Basic understanding of insurance (home, car, medical)
- Create and manage passwords
- Use identity protection measures
Communication Skills
These are skills that often go overlooked, but are invaluable for developing strong personal and professional relationships.
- Schedule an appointment
- Contact customer service with a problem
- Call a business and ask for information
- Call 911 and communicate details of an emergency
- Report non-emergency situation to police
- Write a thank you note
- Send an invitation
- Introduce yourself
- Make small talk
- Small group etiquette
- Dinner party etiquette
- Host a party
- Appropriate social media usage
- Apply for a job
- Prepare a resume
- Write a cover letter
- Write a professional email
- How to vote
- Tip service providers
- Understand non-verbal cues
- Sincerely apologize
- Accept and respond to criticism
- Give a presentation
Personal Skills
Before your teen leaves home, they should have skills that help them manage their lives well, both physically and emotionally.
- Identify and manage emotions (anger, sadness, irritability)
- Habit formation skills
- Productive goal setting
- Study & learning skills (take notes, prepare for a test, research)
- Time management (creating productive routines and schedules)
- Memorize social security number
- Personal hygiene (nail trimming, washing, grooming, tooth care)
- Understand general nutrition and fitness
General Skills
These general life skills will give your teen a boost of confidence in their ability to navigate the world on their own.
- Use the library
- Use public transportation
- Book an airline flight
- Book and check in to a hotel
- Pack a suitcase
- Use an ATM
- Type proficiently
- Change a diaper
- Read and follow a prescription
- Use over-the-counter medication
- Do research using trustworthy sources
- Troubleshoot internet/technology issues
- Use standard software (word processing, spreadsheets, presentations)
Outdoor/Survival Skills
Some of these skills may not be necessary for everyday life, but in the event they are necessary, your teen will be grateful they learned these survival skills.
- Set up a tent
- Orient to north, east, south, west
- How to read a map
- Basic first aid
- Start a fire/put out a fire
- How to purify water
- How to tie knots
- Situational awareness
- How to signal for help
- Self-defense
- Preserving food (dehydrating, canning, smoking)
- How to react when encountering wildlife
Most Important Life Skills for Teens
For those with teens who will be heading off to college soon, the best way to teach important life skills is to include your child in your own decisions and tasks whenever possible. Take them with you to do your banking, have them work with you on meal plans and grocery shopping, show them how to pump gas the next time you fill up.
For tasks that aren’t as easy to teach as part of your daily life, assign them to a week or month of the year and put it on the calendar. If you normally work on tax preparation in March, create a task to show your teen how taxes work in March. Goal-setting? Most people do some type of goal-setting in January, but the beginning of any month might be a good time. Make a note to work with your teen on packing a suitcase, reading maps, and checking into a hotel the week you’re planning to take a road trip to visit family in another state.
It might not all stick, but some of that good advice is sure to surface when your teen needs to put these skills into practice on their own.
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Essential Life Skills for Teens
