How to Grow a Summer Salad
Salads are a very healthy way to get a great source of nutrients like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fibre and water. The fresher your ingredients are for the salad, the healthier it is. That’s because the nutrients can be lost during storage. Salads go well with a variety of meals as a side salad. And they can be a meal in themselves
Read MoreHealthy Eating for Kids – Teaching Responsibility
It’s all very well for parents to provide healthy food for their children, but is this enough to instill healthy eating for life? As a Dietitian, I believe that parents who set an example of healthy eating to their children, provides a huge advantage of their children choosing a healthy lifestyle as adults . Additionally, by enabling children to take some responsibility in choosing to eat healthy food it becomes even more beneficial.
Read MoreFREE Printable: Healthy Eating for Kids Poster
This poster relates to my post on Healthy Eating for Kids – Teaching Responsibility.
You can use this poster as a discussion prompt for your children. It lists the five food groups, explains the balance, tells you reasons why good nutrition is important, lists how many serves are needed each day, and a “Think” cloud alerting to poor choices.
Read MoreFree Printable – Questions to Ask Before Buying
Teaching kids money skills is more than learning how to save, it also involves how to spend money wisely. This FREE printable is a simple list of ten questions to ask yourself if what you are about to buy is worth it. Some of the questions are: Do I have enough toys? Is the product good value for money? Will this product live up to the advertisement?
If children learn to stop and ask questions like these before making any purchase, they learn to be discerning consumers rather than impulse buyers.
Read MoreActivity: Making a Gratitude Tree
This activity relates to my post on Helping Kids Learn the Art of Gratitude. This Gratitude Tree activity is great for the whole family to be involved in. Print out the leaves in this FREE printable and write a note of gratitude on the back of each leaf. Arrange some branches in a vase and hang each leaf on the branches. Display and enjoy!
Read MoreCooking Skills: Healthy Fried Rice
This easy recipe for kids is also healthy. The reason it is healthy is because it does not need a lot of oil, just a non-stick pan. It is also full of fresh vegetables and uses Basmati rice which has a lower Glycaemic Index (GI) carbohydrate, keeping little tummies fuller for longer. This is also an excellent meal for kids to learn because it is such a cheap meal to make.
So let’s get on with it and start cooking.
Read MoreHelping Kids Learn the Art of Gratitude
What if we could help kids to be more joyful, more forgiving, more loving, more enthusiastic, and more optimistic about life? What would it take to ensue such a bright outlook on life? I do think that generally children already have this outlook on life but somewhere along the line it changes as adulthood approaches. Is there something we as parents can do that provides our children with the tools to embrace the good in this world and not dwell on things that dampen optimism?
Read MoreFREE Printable – Journal Prompts for Kids
This FREE printable is about Gratitude for Kids. These journal prompts are ideal for the budding journal writer. There are specific questions that draw the person to think about what to be grateful for. Each prompt is written in a frame that can be cut out and pasted in a journal book.
These journal prompts are a way of teaching children how to express how they feel. These journal prompts were designed with gratitude as the subject matter, however you can help you child develop their journal writing skills by suggesting other subjects to write about in their journal like overcoming adversity.
Read MoreHome Skills: How to Grow Tomatoes
Tomatoes are one of the most satisfying vegetables to grow because firstly, they are easy to grow and secondly they are a versitile vegetable (or fruit) to cook with. Tomatoes grow easily from seed, however you can buy them as seedlings if you like. If you don’t have a plot of ground available at your place then a large pot will do brilliantly. I grew four plants in a large pot on our deck and yeilded at least 30 large tomatoes..
Read MoreMoney Skills: How to Set Financial Goals
Setting financial goals is not a skill I learned at school. As I began to earn money I also began freely spending it. However, I soon realised that setting financial goals is an important skill that is so necessary in managing money and keeping our debt under control. My husband and I were only married for a year before we took out a mortgage at 22 years of age. We had no financial goals set at this stage. When we decided to see a financial adviser in our thirties, we began to see the benefits of setting financial goals.
Read MoreCooking Skills: Tuna Patties
A quick and easy recipe just for kids. This is an absolute favourite of mine when I was a kid – and I still make them now because our family love them. These tuna patties can be a meal in themselves because they contain 3 vegetables, 2 protein sources and carbohydrate. This is a basic recipe but you can add and change the ingredients to suit your tastes. I usually lightly fry in a non-stick frypan and then place in an oven to set and cooked through. You can choose to do either or both of these steps. The idea is for children to make these patties to learn how to make such a simple meal.
Read MoreMoney Skills: What Every Child Needs to Know About Money
Money has such pull and influence in peoples lives and I think children need to be aware of this. It is incredible how influential our children can be when an advertisement promises to bring fulfillment in purchasing certain products. I remember my son saying to me in all innocence, ”Hey mum, you should buy this cream because it takes away wrinkles”! Advertisers spend over $12 billion
Read MoreWhat are Practical Skills and Do Children Need Them?
Have you ever considered how many skills you have and where you learned them? Do you wish you had learnt other skills that might have been useful to you now? I considered my upbringing and this is what it looks like: I was raised in the early 1970s and my family had a very strong work ethic. My Dad was a poultry farmer and then became a Pastor. He was very skilled with building and repairing and always had tools for everything. I learned how to raise chooks, use tools and to consider
Read MoreKids Need to be Kids
Can you remember your childhood? I think most people have had their ups and downs during their growing up years – afterall no-one really has a perfect childhood. I guess my childhood was rather average. I remember lots of playing and exploring as well as sensing the financial pressure that my parents went through. I also remember receiving quite a practical upbringing – chores and learning various skills was definitely part of it. I left home at 18 and could pretty much manage by myself.
Read MoreWelcome to Practical Skills for Kids Blog
Our children are the next generation to care for the world we live in. We want our children to not only be smart in the way they manage life but to also be well-skilled to take care of themselves and the ones they care for.
So our blog aims to provide tips and advice on how to provide these skills. Providing ways to upskill our children is intended to be fun, useful and natural.
Please leave any comments on this blog that can help us provide a great service and as well as helping others on this journey of loving and teaching our beautiful children to suceed in life.
Read MoreAbout Me
Hi, my name is Alessandra I live in Australia with my husband and two boys. I love learning new skills and I especially enjoy cooking, gardening and photography. I am a qualified Dietitian and I have private practice Ripe Nutrition. I want to provide a blog that could consolidate as many practical skills as possible for my children to refer to when they need to. Welcome to my blog I hope you enjoy it. 
