While we’ve already covered in our daily living skill series the developmental milestones children and teens reach when learning daily living skills, we continue to hear from parents and teachers about how helpful it is to know what DLS to prioritize first.
While there’s no right or wrong answer for your learner, we wanted to dive deeper into the daily living skills every teen should know.
Check out this list, and then look at our article on making values-based decisions for prioritizing your learner’s upcoming goals.
How We Categorize the Daily Living Skills Every Teen Should Know
DLS encompasses all the behaviors we engage in to be successful and independent in everyday life. Without these skills, we may struggle to make healthy choices and meet our basic needs. While different researchers may categorize DLS differently, in general, the daily living skills for your teen involve these core areas:
- Communication
- Executive Functioning (planning, organization, time management, etc.)
- Primary Needs (food/eating, health, household, safety)
- Secondary Needs (transportation, personal finance, vocation/work)
- Advanced Needs (leisure/recreation, stress management, self-care)
- Advanced Plus+ (citizenship, legal, advocacy, self-determination)
25 Daily Living Skills Every Teen Should Know
We suggest you read through the skills for each area below and then ask yourself the questions posed with each skill. These are designed to help you start thinking about the areas where your teen could use a boost. We’ve also included resources that others have found helpful in working with their learner on these skills when applicable.
Communication Skills
We strongly believe that communication is at the core of developing nearly all DLS areas. Without a solid base of language and a functional communication system, your learner is likely to continue to struggle with being independent with many of the other complex skills. So if there’s one place to get started with your teen’s essential daily living skills, it’s in this area.
Make appropriate requests
- Does your teen know how to ask for things from family members and friends?
- When they need help, do they know how to ask for information or assistance?
- Can your teen request something from a teacher, coach, or a stranger in the community?
Initiate conversations
- How well does your teen strike up a conversation with friends and family?
- Does your teen know topics that are good conversation starters?
- Does your teen recognize when it’s a good time to talk vs. when someone is too busy to talk?
- Is your teen motivated to talk about a variety of topics or only specific interests?
For more information on building your teen’s conversation skills, check out our Conversation Skills Video Course. It’s a step-by-step method to help your teen build social confidence and the tools needed to have meaningful conversations.
Appropriately interrupt
- Does your teen barge in on conversations? Only ask you questions while you’re on the phone?
- Does your teen recognize when someone is busy vs. when it’s a good time to interrupt?
- If it’s necessary to interrupt, does your teen know good ways to step in?
Politely refuse
- Teaching our teens good communication doesn’t mean they have to accept everything all the time. For example, does your teen know how to say “no thanks?”
- Can they politely refuse friends, especially under peer pressure?
- Can they say ‘no’ without being rude or overly negative?
- Do they know how to politely refuse someone who approaches in the community?
Executive Functioning Skills – Tasks
As your teen develops more independence, understanding the role of executive functioning becomes more important. How we manage homework, chores, and work gets more difficult as your teen becomes more independent. Build a foundation of good planning, organization, and time management skills to help your teen keep track of other areas.
Use a calendar
- Does your teen keep a calendar or planner handy?
- When an important deadline or appointment is scheduled, does your teen record it on the calendar?
- Does your teen reference their schedule often, making adjustments as needed to stay on top of tasks?
Create and prioritize a checklist
- When your teen has more than one thing on their plate, do they know how to organize and prioritize tasks?
- Can your teen create a checklist with everything they need to accomplish?
- If there’s a time crunch, does your teen know how to choose which tasks to start first?
Our blog contributor Rebekah created an entire series on schedules and routines. If your teen needs help using executive functioning tools like a calendar and checklist, check out her resources here.
Organize a space
- Does your teen keep things neat and orderly?
- Can your teen recognize when things are messy and need to be organized?
- Can your teen follow the “everything has a place” rule?
Want to know more about organization skills for teens? Use our handy 7 Organization Skills to Teach Your Teen that includes a free .pdf downloadable weekly organization checklist.
Executive Functioning Skills – Behaviors
Not all executive functioning skills involve tasks. For example, sometimes executive functioning requires our teens to demonstrate good emotional control, refrain from impulsive behavior, and pay attention for long periods.
Sustain 30 minutes of attention on a task
- Does your teen focus on school, chores, or homework to the end?
- Can your teen recognize and eliminate distractions?
- How does your teen cope with fidgety, nervous, or distracting behaviors?
Accept disappointment
- Not all things will go your teen’s way in life. So how do they cope with disappointment?
- Does your teen know how to express disappointment in productive and safe ways?
- How quickly does your teen rebound after a setback?
Accept an alternative
- Along with accepting disappointment, does your teen accept an alternative choice?
- Does your teen cope well when things don’t go according to plan?
- How quickly does your teen move past things they can’t immediately have?
Primary Daily Living Skills – Health, Safety & Household
One of the areas we think of most often for DLS is the primary skills related to health, safety, and running a household. While hundreds of behaviors fall into this category, we’ve pulled out a few key targets that parents and teachers should emphasize when teaching DLS to teens.
Eat a well-balanced diet
- Does your teen know what makes up a well-balanced diet? Will they eat foods from most or all of the essential food groups?
- Can your teen prepare a week or two of simple meals and recipes?
- How well does your teen do buying groceries and gathering ingredients to make a healthy meal?
We know that not every adult learns this skill! But we still think it’s an essential component to teaching your teen to be independent. For resources on teaching smart shopping and building meal planning into daily routines, go here.
Get 30 minutes of physical activity
- Does your teen regularly exercise outside of school physical education classes?
- What activities does your teen do for recreation that involve physical movement?
- Are there ways you can build this into your teen’s daily routine? (e.g., walking to the bus stop, biking to work, etc.)
Follow a safety plan
- In an emergency, does your teen know who to call and for what reason?
- Can your teen describe how to evacuate your home? Call for help?
- Does your teen know how and when to contact you if they’re in trouble or danger?
Use a chore list
- Rather than focus on just one task, can your teen follow a daily or weekly chore list?
- Can your teen generate a list of all the tasks it takes to maintain a neat and orderly home?
- Does your teen contribute to your family’s home or your classroom using a list?
Take medication safely
- Does your teen know how to read a medication label? How to ask for help regarding medications?
- Does your teen know how to take over-the-counter medications safely?
- Does your teen adhere to taking prescription medications as directed?
Stay safe online
- Can your teen articulate online safety concerns?
- Does your teen recognize how to keep data secure?
- What about identity theft and fraud?
- How would your teen handle online bullying from a classmate or peer?
Secondary Daily Living Skills – Career Planning, Personal Finance, Transportation
Beyond basic DLS, we think every teen should know several secondary daily living skills, including addressing vocational planning, personal finance, and transportation needs.
Set and achieve a SMART goal
- Does your teen set goals and know how to break them apart to achieve them?
- Does your teen set realistic and achievable goals?
If your teen needs help with goal-setting, we have resources for parents and teachers to learn How To Help Your Student Take Actionable Steps Towards Their Dreams & Prioritize What Matters Most in our SMART Goal Setting email course.
Navigate using a smartphone
- Does your teen know how to navigate using a maps app?
- Can they follow written or auditory instructions to arrive at a destination?
- Can they use an app to take ride-sharing services or public transportation?
Read a job description
- Does your teen know where to find job postings?
- When you read a job description, can your teen identify what skills are needed for a job and if they qualify?
- Does your teen look for job openings that are realistic and match their interests and skills?
Answer mock interview questions
- Practicing for a job interview can never start too early. Does your teen know how to answer questions about themselves?
- Does your teen understand basic interviewing norms and behaviors?
- What interview questions might your teen struggle with and why?
Even if it seems early to start thinking about job-related DLS with your teen, there are ways you can be building these life skills into your teen’s routine now. If you know your teen might take some time to learn vocational skills, check out these resources to start working on them today.
Save for a long-term purchase
- Does your teen correctly estimate the costs of saving for big-ticket items?
- How well does your teen demonstrate self-control when it comes to finances?
- What resources (bank account, financial apps, online spreadsheets) does your teen have to support their financial goals?
Does your teen need a boost in general financial literacy? Check out our guide to teaching diverse learners about banking.
Use a credit card responsibly
- It’s easy to acquire debt, but does your teen understand the consequences?
- Does your teen know how to keep credit information safe and secure?
- Does your learner know about interest, payments, and accumulating debt?
Advanced Daily Living Skills – Leisure, Recreation & Wellness
Not all DLS must be about tasks and work. We also want our teens to have a well-balanced personal life that’s full of rich experiences. Making time for leisure, recreation, and wellness activities can get placed at the back of the line behind other DLS skills. Don’t miss these essentials to teach your teen:
Make time for a hobby
- Does your teen have hobbies and interests outside of school and work?
- Is your teen’s hobby likely to be age-appropriate as an adult? Another way for them to get exercise or social time?
- Do they know how to budget time for these activities, working more efficiently to have more free time?
Use basic mindfulness and meditation techniques
- Does your teen know how to manage stress?
- Can they use mindfulness training (e.g., breathing exercises, focused attention, app-based meditation tools) to help with awareness, emotions, and stress?
Curious about the research behind mindfulness and meditation for diverse learners? Check out these resources to learn more about how these tools can be beneficial for individuals with ADHD and autism.
Advanced+: Citizenship, Legal & Personal Advocacy
Finally, as your teen gets older, there are some skills related to personal advocacy, citizenship, and managing the legal system essential for teens to know. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to teach your teen these skills.
Understand basic public safety and workplace laws, including:
- The differences between norms, rules, and laws.
- Pedestrian and traffic laws — even if they’re not driving, they should know basic conventions to navigate the community safely.
- Laws about the workplace, including what an employer can and cannot ask you to do at work.
- Laws about theft and the safety of others and their property.
- Laws about consent – how to give it, refuse it, and accept it from others.
Track Your Teen’s Progress
Want to know how many of these skills your teen already has? Track your teens progress in our free fillable .pdf checklist of all 25 Daily Living Skills Every Teen Should Know.
Contact A Life Skills Coach
Not sure how to go about teaching these skills to your teen? Would you like to learn more about DLS activities and how to build them into daily routines? Working with a trained professional with experience in helping children develop and enhance DLS means you’re taking the best steps possible to help the child succeed. To find out more about life skills coaching services, click here.
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