Teaching your children important life lessons doesn’t have to be a chore. By creating a fun learning environment, kids will not only learn the lesson, but more easily retain it in long-term memory. Get creative with the lessons you want to teach your children and watch them thrive as you make the process fun, entertaining, and most importantly, memorable. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Sewing

Sewing is a life lesson that will help your children time and time again. Teach them the sewing basics. Whether they simply save time and money by fixing their own hems and replacing their own buttons, or choose to expand upon basic skills to create full blown wardrobes, as an adult, your children will benefit from learning this skill early on.

What kid doesn't love to play dress-up? From super heroes to princess gowns, there is a whole imaginary world to explore and attire to go with it. Depending on their ages, assign them a simple portion of the outfit, such as a cape, accents pieces or detail items. If your children are a bit older, and up to the task, have them create the entire thing, from pattern to completion. Not only will they have fun creating something with you, they can also proudly show off their hard work as they trick-or-treat.

Car Repairs

Knowing the ins and outs of basic car maintenance, like changing a tire, checking the oil and jump starting a dead battery are important skills to know and have as your child becomes more independent and begins driving. Instill the importance of taking care of such items early, by demonstrating with your own vehicle.

Make it fun by challenging your teens to learn and perfect a list of maintenance items for their vehicles.Once they know how to do this, have them strut their stuff by showing you how to do it.

Organizing and Decluttering

It’s a common stereotype that teenagers are messy and unorganized. Change that perspective, starting with your teens, by giving them the tools and knowledge to create and maintain an organized and clean environment within their rooms.

Decorating a room is a great way to help them make a statement about who they are and who they want to be. Create a new room design with your teen, completely inspired by their ideas, that incorporates plenty of shelving and storage. Begin the room transformation with the organizational elements like closet sorters, drawers, sorters, etc. Ikea is a great place to start as its items are versatile and fairly inexpensive. Then, help declutter and organize their room in a way they think will be functional for them. Task them to keep it clean and organized for a month, or longer, and when they succeed, complete the room transformation with their desired accents and decor.

Managing Money

Money management can be tricky, especially as teens transition from living under their parents roof to living on their own. Teach your teens the importance of financial responsibility and avoiding excessive debt by instilling money management skills early on.

Open a savings or checking account in your teens names and let them manage the money in their accounts. Whether they hold part-time jobs, or earn an allowance, teach them how to deposit to, withdrawal from and balance their accounts. Each month, if they can keep their accounts positive, without any loans, reward them with a “bonus” or special reward. As they begin to understand the process better and succeed in managing their money, increase the bonus amount, but spread it out to be received quarterly, and then annually.