Much of the time a student spends in school is expended through the study of academic subjects. While these subjects are vital to a student's future success, basic life skills will also be important in the years to come. Teachers can help prepare their students for the real world by engaging them in simple life skills lessons. These activities allow students to practice being an adult before reaching that final stage of development.

Resume and Job Interview
Everyone needs a job. For those entering the work force, the requisite job acquisition skills of creating a resume and interviewing can seem daunting. Provide your students practice in these all-important career building elements by engaging them in a resume writing and mock interview activity. Start by exploring the concept of a resume with your students. Present them with copies of resumes, allowing them to see what a resume looks like. Provide them with a resume template, and allow them to create a resume that represents their experience. Assign each student an interview day. On this day, sit down with the student, and, acting as the prospective employer, interview him. After the interview, along with providing the student with a grade, explain whether or not you would have hired him as a result of his interview responses.

Classroom Feast
Eating is necessary for survival. Allow students to practice the basic life skill of cooking by engaging them in the creation of a classroom feast. Start by discussing basic meal parts. Create a list of things that should be found in a meal on the classroom bulletin board. Prompt students to include health conscious components such as vegetables, fruits and proteins. After creating your meal list, tell students that they are going to work together to create a classroom feast.

Divide students into groups, assigning each group a meal component. Ask each group to create a list of things that they would need to prepare that meal component. Collect the lists from the students, and buy the necessary supplies. On feast day, allow the groups to produce their meal components using microwaves and hot plates, or a home economics kitchen, if available.

Grocery Store Budget
When students enter the real world, they will have to budget their money to ensure that they can afford the basic essentials. Allow students to practice budgeting by creating a grocery store budget. Save up grocery sale ads, or visit your local market and ask them for a stack of expired flyers. Provide each student with an ad and a sheet of paper. Tell the students that they have $20 to purchase all of their groceries for one week. Allow the students to study the ad, writing down the objects that they plan to purchase along with the price. Instruct the students to add up their total and subtract groceries as necessary to ensure that they do not pass the $20 limit.