• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • New? Start Here!
  • About GHOK
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and Policies
  • Blog
  • The Shop
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
Growing Hands-On Kids

Growing Hands-On Kids

Child Development Tips, Tools, and Strategies

You are here: Home / Hands-On Activities / Teaching Practical Life Skills in Your Homeschool Preschool

Teaching Practical Life Skills in Your Homeschool Preschool

July 21, 2014 By Heather Greutman 8 Comments

Like what you read? Share it!

11.7Kshares
  • Share 17
  • Tweet
  • Print
  • Email

Affiliate and Referral links are used below to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission on any purchases made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details.

I am really excited about this 5-day series I am starting on my site this week. This week we will be looking at 5 Days of Tot-School & Preschool ideas for your homeschool.

Here are the topics we will be covering this week:

  • Practical Life Skills
  • Fine Motor Skills
  • Sensory Activities
  • Handwriting/Pre-writing Skills
  • Gross Motor Skills

So before you start wondering if I am sitting my toddler down to do 2 hours of tot-school each day, let me assure you that tot-school is ANYTHING but sitting down and doing “school work”. Tot-school simply means that you are providing fun and engaging activities for your toddler to participate in that provide learning experiences, but are not “school work.”

All children under the age of 6 are in a hands-on learning phase; they do more learning through their hands than with their eyes. So that means toddlers and preschoolers need to up and MOVING and exploring their world in hands-on ways! Tot-school is simply the formal word used to describe this.

Tot-school (typically ages 1-3) can be as involved or laid back as you want it to be. I tend to be somewhere in the middle. I like things that are fun and require some set-up, but I also like things that are easy to do.

Today we are going to talk about practical life skills.

Practical Life Skills for Toddlers & Preschoolers

What are practical life skills?

Basically any type of skill your child needs in order to perform day to day skills are life skills. Some of those things could include:

  • Getting dressed
  • Brushing teeth
  • Toileting
  • Fixing their own meals or snacks (Opening containers, spreading ingredients, pouring liquids)
  • Cleaning up after themselves

The main thing to remember with practical life skills is to have things accessible for your toddler or preschooler to be able to use.  

Also remember to have as many things as you can within eye-level of your child. It may mean you need to do some rearranging, but it will help to encourage independence in your child's day to day life.

Here are some ideas of how you can do this in your home.

Bathroom 

  • Have a stool next to or close to the sink so you child can independently wash their hands.
  • Have your child's toothbrush and toothpaste within reach so they can brush their teeth.
  • Include a towel and washcloth within reach.
  • Encourage your child to wash themselves in the tub or shower.
  • Have a hairbrush or comb within reach

Bedroom

  • Have clothing that your child wears often within reach
  • Allow your child to pick out their own clothing and get dressed, only with assistance as needed
  • Have your child's favorite toys, books, within reach and accessible.
  • If your child is still in diapers, have diapers and wipes within reach so your child can get those items when they need changed.

Kitchen

  • Have a specified area where your child has their own eating utensils, plates, cups etc. where they can reach them.
  • Have snacks (either prepared ahead of time or easy to prepare) in the lower area of your fridge.
  • Include a child size broom, mop, or other cleaning items accessible for your child to assist in cleaning.
  • Include your child in as much food preparation as they are able to.

Living Room/Play Area

  • Have a space for all your child's favorite toys at eye level and attractively laid out. (We use a bookcase that is laid on it's side and all our activities are on those shelves in the living room)
Montessori Shelves for Star Themed Week
  • Have a designated play area in your house.

For us, that play area is the living room/dining room area, with our shelves in one corner of the room. She also has a small child size table and chairs that she can use when she wants.

We are also still working on the bedroom area in our house. Mommy is waiting to get her new home office, so E will be switching to the guest bedroom and my office and her future homeschool room and craft room will go in her now bedroom. So I am waiting on that to organize her bedroom when we move it.

Many of these activities and ideas are inspired by the Montessori style of learning. You can read more about Montessori style learning from Montessori from The Start on Amazon.

You can also get many more ideas from my Homeschool Preschool and All Things Montessori Pinterest boards.
Follow Heather G. | Golden Reflections Blog's board All things Montessori on Pinterest.

Follow Heather G. | Golden Reflections Blog's board Homeschool Preschool Ideas on Pinterest.

You can find all of the posts in this series here:

  • Practical Life Skills
  • Fine Motor Skills
  • Sensory Activities
  • Handwriting/Pre-writing Skills
  • Gross Motor Skills

Like what you read? Share it!

11.7Kshares
  • Share 17
  • Tweet
  • Print
  • Email

Filed Under: Hands-On Activities Tagged With: For Parents, Infants/Toddlers 0-3, Practical Life, Preschool 3-5, Tot-School

Reader Interactions

CONTENT DISCLAIMER: Heather Greutman is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant.
All information on the Website is for informational purposes only and is not a replacement for medical advice from a physician or your pediatrician. Please consult with a medical professional if you suspect any medical or developmental issues with your child. The information on the Websites does not replace the relationship between therapist and client in a one-on-one treatment session with an individualized treatment plan based on their professional evaluation. The information provided on the Website is provided “as is” without any representations or warranties, express or implied.
Do not rely on the information on the Website as an alternative to advice from your medical professional or healthcare provider. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment as a result of any information provided on the Website. All medical information on the Website is for informational purposes only.
All activities outlined on the Website are designed for completion with adult supervision. Please use your own judgment with your child and do not provide objects that could pose a choking hazard to young children. Never leave a child unattended during these activities. Please be aware of and follow all age recommendations on all products used in these activities. Growing Hands-On Kids is not liable for any injury when replicating any of the activities found on this blog.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY The Website was developed strictly for informational purposes. You understand and agree that you are fully responsible for your use of the information provided on the Website. Growing Hands-On Kids makes no representations, warranties, or guarantees. You understand that results may vary from person to person. Growing Hands-On Kids assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions that may appear on the Website.

Comments

  1. MoxiesGroovyMom says

    July 21, 2014 at 9:54 am

    All great tips! Great idea to do the bookcase sideways. We do some of these things, but I need to get better with her organizing her closet for her to access.

    Reply
    • Heather Greutman says

      July 22, 2014 at 8:56 pm

      Yes, when we switched bedrooms, I plan on totally redoing my daughter’s closet too!

      Reply
  2. Vicky @ Mess For Less says

    July 21, 2014 at 10:58 am

    Love your bathroom tips. I never thought about letting them brush their hair. Pinned and stumbled!

    Reply
  3. Jill says

    July 27, 2014 at 2:28 pm

    These are all good ways to begin teaching life skills!

    Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!

    Reply
  4. Susen @ Dabbling Momma says

    July 28, 2014 at 7:11 am

    Such great ideas for teaching life lesson!

    Reply
    • Heather Greutman says

      August 15, 2014 at 9:41 pm

      Thanks Susen and thanks for coming by to read it.

      Reply
  5. Stephanie says

    July 24, 2015 at 12:13 am

    My son is three years old, non verbal, but is high functioning all the same. I do my best to teach him the little things – it’s hard even to potty train him – but he’s now able to pour his milk, has started to pull up his clothes, and goes to the fridge to get his own snacks. Now that he is going into preschool I see that these ideas are wonderful, and I am definitely going to share and save. I found this post at http://affimity.com/#/sharedPost/6/9960, and I’d like to show other mommas in my friendship circle and family. I know he has his issues, but independence is so important!

    Reply
  6. nikki says

    June 13, 2017 at 6:58 am

    I have a 7 yr old and 4 yr old and this summer I am keeping my sisters 4 children, ages 7, 6, 4, and 2. these are some good ideas to help throughout the days and teaching all of them some life skills.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Fine Motor Skills checklists

Get This Free Fine Motor Checklist!

Sign-up for my weekly child development newsletter and receive this free fine motor checklist for ages 0-6.

Website Terms and Policies

Welcome to Growing Hands-On Kids! My name is Heather and I’m a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant with experience in school-based Occupational Therapy. I use my background to share child development tips, tools, and strategies through hands-on activities. You can read more about me by clicking here.

The 8 sensory systems printable packet.

Get This FREE 8 Sensory Systems Handout

Sign-up to receive my 9-day sensory processing email series and get this 8 sensory systems handout in English & Spanish!

Website Terms and Policies

Footer

Growing Hands-On Kids

Growing Hands-On Kids, LLC 2020. All content, photos/graphics, video, printables and ebooks written or created by Heather Greutman of https://growinghandsonkids.com are copyright of the owner. You may not alter or reuse text/content, photos/graphics, or videos in any way (print or digital use) without express written consent from Heather Greutman. For more details, please read our website terms of use and policy page.


PRIVACY POLICY

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT