Teen Household Life Skills Checklist

Who this is for

Household skills for a teenager getting ready to live away from home. Each skill is ticked when it has been shown, done with help and done alone, with the date it was first managed alone. The areas run from laundry to post and simple safety.

Parents and carers of teenagers who will soon leave for college, work or a first flat, and young people who want to see for themselves what they can already do around the house.

What this helps you track

• The everyday jobs a household runs on, grouped by area
• Which skills have been shown, practised with help or done alone
• The date each skill was first done without help
• The gaps to work on before a move away from home
• Your family's own skills, added at the end

How to use it

1. Write the young person's name, who is helping and the date you started.
2. Go through the areas together and tick Shown for anything that has already been demonstrated.
3. Tick With help once they have done it alongside someone, and Alone when they have done it start to finish without reminders, writing the date.
4. Add skills that matter in your home in the last table on paper, or as extra rows in the browser version, which saves in your own browser.
5. Pick a few gaps at a time to work on, and come back to the sheet as they are done.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

At what age should a teenager manage these?

The sheet sets no ages. Young people pick up household skills at different times and families do things differently, so start where your teenager is and use the dates to show progress rather than to set a deadline.

What do the three ticks mean?

Shown means someone has demonstrated the job. With help means they have done it with someone alongside. Alone means they have done it from start to finish on their own, without reminders or rescue.

How is this different from a chore chart?

A chore chart shares out the regular jobs in a house and who does them each week. This sheet records whether a young person can do each job at all, from first being shown to managing it alone.

Can we add skills that are not listed?

Yes. The last table on paper is left blank for your own, such as caring for a pet, using the washing line or reading a meter. In the browser version you can add as many rows as you need.

Does it cover money skills in depth?

It includes a few everyday money jobs, such as keeping to a shopping budget and checking a statement. The teenager allowance and earnings log is the place to track their actual money week by week.