by Lani Derrick posted in Parenting

"Mommy, I want to live with you forever," my son recently said to me. Those are some of the sweetest words I can hear, but realistically that isn't going to happen -- at least I hope not. I have big dreams for my children. I want them to get the best education possible, to have careers they're passionate about, and to be loved in a way that makes them feel secure and safe.
I know that my job as a parent is to love them, protect them, and teach them, and there's SO MUCH that I need to teach them to get them ready for life. Some of these teaching moments come naturally throughout our day while others have to be sought out. Here are 7 great ways to teach your toddlers and preschooler independence. 1. Basic kitchen skills: They need to eat, so why not start teaching them how to make their own food now" Preschoolers can do many things in the kitchen that are safe when supervised by an adult. There are even kid-friendly kitchen tools to help keep them safe. Start with simple tasks like helping pour ingredients and mixing them together. Progress to cutting fruits or vegetables with kid safe knives. We like to turn our every day cooking into a simple math lesson by matching ingredient quantities from recipes with the markings on the measuring cup.

What skills are you teaching your toddlers"

This post is sponsored by Capri Sun. All opinions are truthful and my own.

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