Skill boosting activities to do at home with your child
There is a strong focus on children’s development nowadays. Numerous professionals and different institutions are available to parents who wish to strengthen their child’s abilities. However, with so many options open, parents and professionals may overlook the fact that a child can improve their skills in a complex way at home as well. Activities and tasks in and around the house contribute significantly to the proper functioning of the nervous system. Of course, in cases where the child’s progress substantially differs from the average rate, it is necessary to use therapies provided by a specialist to ensure that the child’s abilities develop appropriately.
Activities at home can help to improve the following areas:
- serial thinking, or sequencing
- eye-hand coordination
- fine motor skills (dexterity)
- body awareness
- development of body dominance
- spatial perception/ability
- strengthening of task awareness
- vocabulary
- problem-solving skills
- social competences
- adaptability
From about 12-15 months of age, children experience the drive to imitate their parents in their daily routines. Giving your kid the opportunity to help with activities around the house, sometimes even independently, supports their physical, mental, and emotional development. These tasks are developmentally appropriate for all ages and can be adapted to the child’s age and abilities.
Below is a list of daily home activities that promote children’s development in a fun and non-invasive way.

Dressing up
When it comes to dressing up, it is very important that until the children can dress themselves, we always tell them which clothes we put on them. The process must always be done in the same order.
This activity can be complemented by preparing (initially together and then by themselves) the clothes in the evening that the child wants to wear the following day. You can also ask questions such as, “Where do you put your socks?” Where do you put your trousers, T-shirt, etc.?
Thanks to this exercise, in addition to developing serial thinking (putting things in order), the child’s body awareness and vocabulary also improve. You can start this activity early, and you will notice when the child feels the urge to do it independently. It takes time, so be patient, as dressing is challenging for young children.
If the clothes have a button, buckle, or zip, leave the buttoning, fastening, and pulling up to the child, as this will also develop their fine motor skills (especially their dexterity). These tasks are difficult for kids at first, so it is better if you practice them even without actually dressing the children up and, if necessary, with some help at the beginning. They will gradually acquire these skills, and dressing up will not be a problem anymore.
Pouring and filling
Sorting different objects
Around the age of two, children are happy to do these types of tasks. For this exercise, you can choose dried fruit, nuts, chestnuts, and different-shaped pasta. During the summer, you can also put raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries in a bowl and add them to your daily fruit consumption. First, select two or three different types of food and show them to your child. Tell your little one that all the fruits are now in one bowl mixed, and the task is to sort them out, put one in the first bowl, one in the second, and one in the third, etc.
The sorting should be done with responsibility, based on their previous behaviour and preferences.
Selecting and sorting certain ingredients can also be done with tweezers when the child can perform more delicate movements. Tweezers can also be used later on to help improve your child’s fine motor skills. By then, you can give your child smaller things to sort since they require finer skills to pick them up.

Kneading dough, drawing (with flour)
Sorting socks

Gardening (watering, planting, raking, collecting fallen leaves)
Hanging clothes with clothespins
Walking while talking
It is very important that parents take the time to do this since a child who has just learned to walk moves much more slowly than an adult. It is critical for the kid’s development to spend time looking at everything and, in some cases, even touching and feeling the texture of certain objects. During the walk, the parent should talk to the child, letting them know where they are going and what is around them. This will help extend their vocabulary and knowledge of the world and how it works. This activity can also develop the senses.
It is very important to involve your child in everyday activities because, up to the age of six, they absorb information about their surroundings with great efficiency. This allows them to evolve and learn about themselves and the environment through playing. In addition to the ones listed above, any activity in which you engage together will, of course, have a developmental effect. This is because, regardless of the child’s age, it allows us to spend time with the child, listen to them, and answer their questions.