Skills Every Child Should Learn

As adults, there are many essential life skills that we use every day and take for granted. But for preschoolers, these skills don’t develop straight away: they need to be learned and perfected through practice. Here we’ll take a look at the key life skills every child should learn in their early years, with some examples of how we encourage this at our nursery. We’ll also explore lots of easy ways to incorporate these skills at home. 

What are life skills?

Life skills can be defined as the ability to do the basic tasks that we need in our daily lives. They’re building blocks that your child will use at all stages of life, from having fun in the playground to succeeding in their future career. Life skills that every preschool-aged child should develop include:

  • Focus and concentration: developing the ability to concentrate on a task without being distracted
  • Understanding others’ points of view: knowing that other people may have different likes, dislikes and feelings
  • Communication: both verbal (developing language skills)  and non-verbal (reading social cues from others)
  • Risk-taking and resilience: having the confidence to take the plunge, sometimes make mistakes but always learning from them
  • Critical thinking: exploring how things work, experimenting with different methods and results
  • Identifying patterns: making connections between different things and seeing what they have in common.

How life skills are developed at nursery 

At our nursery in Aylesbury, we work hard to encourage all children to achieve their potential, in a fun, supportive and stimulating environment. We do this through:

  • Predictable routines and quiet areas, so children can make sense of their environment and find space to focus
  • Open-ended play: letting children explore the world however they like, with a wide variety of play opportunities
  • Social interaction: children play together, make friends and learn how to communicate and cooperate
  • Support and encouragement: we know they can do it! We encourage all the children in our care to take on new challenges with confidence.

How to incorporate life skills into daily life at home

There are lots of simple ways that you can help your child to develop life skills at home. You may be doing many of these things already! Here are some tips to incorporate life skills into your daily life:

  • Read stories together and talk about how the different characters are feeling, to help them develop a deeper understanding of other people’s perspectives
  • Visit the playground and show your child you have faith that they can climb higher, run faster or jump further
  • If they fall over or get something wrong, show them they can bounce back and try again
  • Develop a routine that includes some downtime so your child can focus on quiet activities
  • Encourage free play, letting your child make the decisions without direction
  • Get out and about, spending lots of time with other people!

Contact us

At our nursery, we support every child to develop the skills they will use throughout their lives. To make an enquiry or arrange a visit, contact us today.

What Our Parents Say

Very talented and caring staff. My son really loved this nursery. He learnt a lot in all aspects from communication, relationship building, being independent, to learning maths, shapes, letters, word, sentences etc. Really pleased with the development. Thanks to all the lovely staff, you are all the best.

Vaibhav H (Father of Child)

My daughter has been in the nursery since the Baby Room. It has been an incredible journey. Now she is in the pre-school and every day she is excited to go to the nursery. She loves the staff, her key worker, the other kids, the setting (especially the garden). She really enjoys all the activities organised through the week/day. She enjoys and has fun while learning. The staff encourage and support multilingual families making the kids feel proud they can speak more than one language. Now the staff are also getting her ready to go to school this September. The staff have always been amazing, very approachable, flexible and caring.

B C (Father of Child)

The staff are so kind and caring, they all know my daughter even those in different rooms. She skips in to see them every day and they are as excited as me when she does new things. It's a home away from home.

H G (Mother of Child)

I can't thank the staff enough for giving me peace of mind when my child is with them. The number and variety of activities each day is amazing and the fact they manage to get in the garden or go on trips - even in winter is fantastic. My child's development is streets ahead of his peers who don't attend nursery.

S H (Mother of Child)

The nursery has a lovely nurturing and vibrant atmosphere which my son loves. There is plenty of space for him to explore and learn via the vast range of toys and equipment they have. I know he is well cared for. I am always well informed and I work together with the nursery staff to give my son the best possible experience.

Claire F (Mother of Child) 

The care, consideration and attention my son receives is exemplary. Staff pay attention to his strengths and weaknesses and verbalise them to us and ideas for developing them are implemented. All staff demonstrate an excellent attitude and have excellent relationships with their designated children.

A D (Father of Child)

The staff were warm, caring and professional and the facilities are great. We felt like our daughter was part of a big family. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all working there.

E S (Mother of Child)

I have been impressed by the level of care given to my son since he started. The daily warm welcome of the staff makes both children and parents alike feel at ease. Seeing the smile on my boy's face as we drive into the car park is proof enough for me that the team are doing something right.

Alexander M (Father of Child)

My little girl has recently started and is absolutely loving her time at nursery. The settling in sessions were brilliant and really helped put my mind at ease, especially with me starting back at work. The ladies in the Baby Room are super friendly and enthusiastic and I can't thank them enough for their support in what could have been quite an emotional rollercoaster.

G W (Mother of Child)

Once I drop my son off into the Baby Room, I feel he's as safe and as well looked after as I do at home.

Laura R (Mother of Child)