10 Life Skills Your Kids Can Learn Through RVing

Life skills are something we always talk about teaching our kids. From laundry to cooking, there are things that every kid should learn before they make their way off into the world.

There are some unique life skills that your kids can learn through RVing, as well. For us, that’s a big bonus to hitting the open road with the family.

10 Life Skills Learned Through RVing

RVing is about traveling and bonding, of course, but if you stop and think about what’s involved with RV trips, you’ll soon see that there are some unique life skills that can be taught to children through these trips.

How To Be Handy

When you’re on the open road, you have to learn how to do things for yourself. You’ll find that there isn’t always a handyman to call and that even if there was, it is so much cheaper if you can do it yourself.

When an RV is also your home, there are always minor repairs to be done like emptying the sink trap or clearing debris away from the air conditioning unit. When you involve your kids in minor repairs and upkeep, you are teaching them how to do things for themselves and next time sometime breaks down, you’ll be surprised that they’ll offer their help without you even needing to ask.

Managing Water Tanks

A skill unique to RVing, managing water tanks is important to the RV lifestyle. RVs have two tanks: one for clean water and one for gray water – also known as wastewater.

It’s easy to learn how to manage the clean water with the proper chemicals and how to empty the gray water. My 7 year old learned how to do this from his Dad before me. He usually checks the tanks and lets us know when it needs to be emptied.

Cleaning

When it comes to teaching children life skills, cleaning should be at the top of your list. Cleaning is one of those things that makes a place both more attractive and safe to live in. RVs aren’t incredibly large spaces, but they need regular cleaning. Full time RVing with your family is the perfect environment to teach your kids how to clean and pay attention to detail without overwhelming them.

Learning About Nature

Learning about the beauty and importance of nature is another important entry on the list of life skills your kids can learn while on an RV trip. Most children see nature second hand through TV shows and documentaries. When kids go RVing, they get the chance to experience nature first hand. It gives children a completely different perspective and appreciation for nature.

Patience

Patience is a key life skill for any human to master. From waiting in lines to waiting for documents to waiting for the right moment, life has a lot of waiting. Nothing teaches children how to be patient quite like RVing. From getting from one destination to another to activities like fishing, RVing is an excellent vehicle for teaching your children to patience.

Cooking

When you’re on the road with your family, especially in an RV that has a kitchen, you’ll be cooking most of your meals. This is the perfect opportunity to teach your children how to cook. Learning to cook in a small RV kitchen can be challenging, but it is a life skill that your kids will appreciate especially when they get older. My 7 year old loves to cook, so every once in a while he makes breakfast or dinner for the family.

Confidence

While some children are born naturally confident, others have to be taught how to be confident. RVing is an excellent way to instill confidence in children. From teaching them how to cook to letting them help you maintain the RV, you can build your children’s confidence one small action at a time.

Social Skills

It might sound counterintuitive, but you actually meet a lot of people when you go RVing. RV campsites are a place where everyone is like-minded. It’s a community. When you travel in an RV, your children will meet all kinds of people. Along the way, they’ll learn important social skills like identifying body language, how to interact, and more.

My son has made more friends from RVing than any other time in his life. Some families we bonded so well with and decided to stay longer at an RV park or meet them in another state along the way.

Independence

The RV lifestyle practically breeds independence. It’s a lifestyle that allows children to stretch their legs, their minds, and their imaginations. They’re free to roam and explore within reason and rules which allows them to learn to be alone with themselves.

When we owned a home I was very hesitant about letting my son roam around, but at RV parks everybody looks out for everybody, and I feel a lot more comfortable letting my son be independent, for example, ride his bike around the RV park unsupervised.

Riding Bike Around RV Park

Planning & Execution

Perhaps the most important of the life skills listed here, planning and execution are key to almost every aspect of life. It’s easy to teach this important combo when RVing because every trip and every stop requires research, planning, and then, of course, execution. Let the kids help plan the trip, think about things like gas and food stops, and participate in other aspects of the trip planning.

RV Trip With Cousins

So Many Life Skills To Learn From RVing

RVing on the open road is the perfect way to teach so many life skills to children. From cooking and cleaning to planning and socialization, each and every trip is overflowing with opportunities to prepare your children for the world ahead.