What Are Preschool Self Help Skills?

Preschoolers are in training for life. Each day they are learning more about how to take care of themselves and their needs. As preschoolers get closer to kindergarten, they are expected to have certain non-academic skills mastered. Without these skills, a kindergartener will struggle in school.

What are self help skills? Self help skills are activities which preschoolers do for themselves in everyday life. Preschoolers build these skills from a very young age. Self help skills can be divided into several categories: eating and feeding skills, dressing and grooming skills, and social or socioemotional skills.

Eating And Feeding Skills

The category of eating/feeding skills is fairly self-explanatory. A preschooler entering kindergarten should be able to use utensils to eat, judge an appropriate amount of food to place in their mouths, drink out of a cup without a lid, and pour their own drinks with an appropriate sized pitcher. Giving children the opportunity to practice using utensils and pouring will help them to be more comfortable with the activity.

Dressing And Grooming Skills

Dressing and grooming proficiency includes learning quite a few self-care activities. Dressing (including buttoning and snapping), putting on socks or shoes, and putting on or taking off jacket are examples of skills in this category. Grooming includes hand-washing, teeth brushing and toileting skills. Preschoolers may be quite slow at these activities, but with practice preschoolers will become faster.

Social Skills

Preschoolers entering kindergarten should be able to interact and make friends with other children in a school setting. They should be learning to make appropriate decisions independently. One of the biggest steps preschoolers should master is separating from their parent or caregiver without difficulty. Attending preschool or a play group is a great way to build these social skills.

Kindergarten-level work will introduce many new academic topics to preschoolers. Preschoolers can focus on these academics if they are able to take care of their personal needs. Parents who allow their preschoolers to build these self-help skills will help the transition from preschool to kindergarten go smoothly.