It’s high time that your kids learn some responsibility for themselves. Pretty soon, they are going to be all grown up and entering adulthood. One way to start is to teach them home improvement skills. There are many benefits to teaching children about home improvement. It teaches them how to save money on repairs. They can learn skills that will help secure employment in the future. Plus, your children will learn a little independence. Here are some ways to help you get started teaching children about home improvement.
Have them help when they can
The best way to teach children about home improvement is by having them do it with you. Some kids learn better with a hands-on approach. Kids up to age 1 0or 11 want to spend time with you. During this period, have them help you with all the things that you do. Whether it’s walking the dog or completing a DIY project around the house, make an effort to include your kids. If you get them involved in the simple tasks, they’ll be more likely to help you with the bigger ones when the time comes. Take kitchen renovations, for example. Homeowners remodel more than 10.2 million kitchens and 14.2 million bathrooms annually. If something needs to be repaired around the house, have your child be your assistant on the task. Start with something small like fixing a sink or painting the cabinets. From there, you can move to teaching them about more complex tasks because you have that relationship with them.
Don’t forget your daughters
It might be tempting to overlook your little girl because of deeply embedded societal expectations or because “she’s just not into that kind of thing,” but doing so is a mistake. We unconsciously create bias when we don’t put in the extra work to educate our girls the same way we educate our boys, especially when it comes to home improvement or construction. It’s important that your little girl also learn basic skills even if she doesn’t show an automatic predilection to picking up a screwdriver. Moreover, she should also know how to do basic safety steps such as finding and resetting the house circuit breaker or turning off the gas. It might be nice that you always do these things because your partner doesn’t, but avoid modeling roles that suggest there are separate male and female tasks.
Start weekend projects together
Part of parenting involves bonding with a child. How does teaching children about home improvement go with this? You and your kids can work on little projects over the weekend. Take a look around the house. What needs to be repaired? What matters to your child? If there’s a broken drawer in their dresser or their bathroom needs new faucets, make that a priority. Starting a weekend project won’t mean much to your child if the end goal is something they don’t care about. Make an effort to let your kids work on projects that they find fulfilling. Making a project fun will keep your kids interested in completing it. In addition, find projects where they can make a difference and show off their skills. Even when they are small, if you let them turn the screwdriver a few times, they can always tell your spouse that they fixed the cabinet door. Never underestimate the pride of good workmanship and a job well done.
Teach them what’s normal in appliances and features
Teaching children about home improvement is a learning experience. Fixing an appliance is just the start. They have to know when it needs to be fixed and what the exact problem is. You need to teach your kids about how things work. Do they know what tools they need to use? What about different parts of an appliance? A refrigerated container has an impressive temperature range. The range stretches -65 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius or -85 degrees Fahrenheit to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Sit down and take the time to teach them about every part of the appliance and what tools you need to use. The more they learn, the closer they will be to being independent.
Show them through working it out or watching videos
Some kids learn just by watching. Show them how to make repairs around the house. Afterward, have them do it themselves. You don’t have to hover when teaching children about home improvement. Just casually watch and help them out. Sometimes, you don’t really know how to do a DIY task yourself. That’s where videos come in. The internet has become a saving grace to everyone. You can just go on Google and type in different DIY videos. Just sit down with your kid and watch how to do everything step by step. Just make yourself that you pull up videos that are accurate and will actually show you what to do.
Tell them about your process during improvements
Part of parenting involves teaching. Turn your DIY project into a teachable moment. Walk your children through everything you do with every step that you take. Share little nuggets of knowledge and tricks that you have learned over the years. You can even have them do the improvements with you. You might even learn new upgrades to make your home that much better. For instance, you might try modular construction work. Modular construction can reduce energy use during building by almost 67% and reduce energy costs later on for occupants. You can turn a boring upgrade into a learning experience.
Learning independence is critical. Why not start with teaching children about home improvement? If done right, your kids will learn new skills to survive and how to save money on repairs. You might even find a new way to bond with your children.