Community activities can give your child the chance to apply the skills they already have. For example, your child could use the cooking skills they’ve learned at home at a community sausage sizzle or at a soup kitchen.

Volunteer work and community activities are also great opportunities for your child to show initiative, build knowledge, develop problem-solving and other workplace skills, and demonstrate their work ethic. For example, the sausage sizzle could give your child experience in speaking to customers and handling cash. Volunteering for Meals on Wheels might help your child prepare for part-time work as a waiter. And helping out at an animal shelter is a good way to learn how to groom or care for animals.

Being able to manage free time while balancing leisure, work and study is an important life skill too. Being part of community activities could motivate your child to get more organised and start managing their own time.