20 Life Skills For Kids To Master While They're Stuck Indoors

I originally shared this post March 15, 2020, just a couple of days into pandemic shutdown. And I decided to re-up it because WOW, NEXT LEVEL PANDEMIC EXHAUSTION = perfect time to get kids helping. I also decided to create a bingo graphic because making graphics soothes me + I figured the game format might help get kids on board.

If you’ve already crushed this list and are looking for more, check out these 100 life skills you can teach your kids in 5 minutes or less. I created this printable you can tack onto the fridge: https://tinyurl.com/EYL-lifeskills. Have your kids cross out the life skills they complete and toss in some rewards here or there if you like!

Meanwhile, here are 20 top, high impact recommendations (including my personal commentary parenthetically), with the bingo below:

General Living Spaces

1. Run a floor vacuum (because if you hate this job as much as I do, offloading to your kids is a big deal)

2. Sweep the floor (because the dust bunnies are persistent)

3. Water houseplants (because teaching kids to tend to living things = good)

4. Put away shoes (because all of us hate tripping on our kids’ shoes)

5. Collect and take out trash (because nobody likes this job so why not split it up?)

Safety

6. Stow an emergency house key (because this will save you the inevitable, “I’m locked out!” call)

7. Check that stove burners are off (because OMG this is so important)

Kitchen + Dining

8. Operate the toaster (because knowing how to use the toaster unlocks a world of autonomous food prep possibilities)

9. Make a toasted cheese sandwich (because kids eat a lot of cheese sandwiches)

10. Load and start the dishwasher (because the dishes never end)

11. Clear the dining table and put away leftovers (because if your family helps put away the leftovers, they’ll know where to find them)

Bedroom

12. Make the bed (because making the bed instantly makes a bedroom look better)

13. Put away laundry (because you should not do this alone)

Bathroom

14. Replace toilet paper (because if people want to use it, they should know how to refill it)

15. Scrub toilet (because if people want to use it, they should know how to clean it)

16. Wipe down countertops (because removing toothpaste spray goes a long way)

Laundry

17. Run the washer and dryer (because the laundry never ends)

Office

18. Address and stamp an envelope (because right about now while we’re all social distancing, a letter to a loved one would be such a delight)

19. Refill paper in printer (because you will probably run out of paper after printing a million free activity printables while school is out)

Pets

20. Refresh food and water (because you can’t teach pets to do this themselves)

Here’s a Google Drive link for the printable 8.5 x 11 life skills bingo PDF.