From childhood, people develop useful skills to achieve a life of greater personal fulfillment, which in turn help to overcome challenges and unexpected circumstances. Some of them are empathy, confidence in one’s own abilities, being able to take on personal challenges and the ability to face fears or learn from mistakes and failures.
These faculties are popularly called “life skills” and can be divided into three stages: the fundamental ones that are consolidated in the first five years of life, the essential ones that are formed between the 6 and 11 years and the strengthening of these in adolescence.
Life skills are being formed as a chain in which it is necessary to work on what is fundamental and essential to reach applied skills. Perception, motor skills, rhythm and language skills are included in the first stage; in the second, skills to memorize, analyze, make decisions, solve problems and develop empathy, while in the third, goals are established, decision making, healthy lifestyles, stress management, leadership and entrepreneurship.
How to stimulate these skills in boys and girls
There are ways to stimulate these skills in the lives of boys and girls, especially in their early stages of development, so here is a list of five steps to achieve it:
Provoke play: Through play, children learn, model and rehearse situations that they will later face in real life. “Offer minors time and space to play freely, especially in situations that challenge them to use their imagination and creativity,” recommended the expert.
Encourage art: In these types of activities, children can express their thoughts and feelings, regardless of the chosen artistic discipline. Theater, for example, contributes to attention and concentration skills, emotional management, empathy, and creativity.
Early stimulation: Ensures the development of later essential and applied skills. Ways should be sought to stimulate cognitive, sensory, motor, and emotional skills.
Learn about favorite hobbies: Maintaining good communication with children is vital to learning about favorite hobbies and interests. Give them spaces and opportunities such as groups, clubs, or sports teams to practice their favorite activities and deepen their interests from a life skills perspective; This will allow them to explore their talent and vocation.
Staying informed: Life skills is a subject in development, so parents and caregivers of minors should learn about the subject so that they know how to strengthen good practices and how to stimulate the development of skills as much as possible these skills.
Life skills are a topic that is currently in constant evolution and few psychology and personal development professionals doubt its enormous impact on decision-making capacity, critical thinking, interpersonal relationships, empathy and the emotional handling of people.
