Summer brings a lack of schedule in parenting that can be absolutely glorious, as well as extremely frustrating for me. I love that I don’t have to usher my kids out the door early every weekday morning. And I love that I have a lot of free time with my kids to play with them, talk with them and watch them interact. But I have learned that keeping them busy can be a challenge, even though we have more than enough toys, 2 play rooms and an incredible backyard playset.
A few summers ago my sister-in-law, who homeschools, suggested I make a play schedule for each of the kids and follow it. Wow! What a difference that made. I had 2 kiddos at the time, 11 months and almost 2. And scheduling even at those ages helped quite a bit.
This year our summer began with a vacation that enabled me to come home refreshed and ready to parent. (More on that place another day…)
On the flight home I worked out a weekday schedule, leaving a few time slots open, but filling most of the day in 30-minute increments. Thirty minutes is enough time to have fun with something, but not too much time to get bored with it. (Some activities do take up more than the 30-minute slot, though.)
I thought about all the toys we have and rarely use, some things I know the kids love to do and would do all day if I allowed it, some ideas for keeping their minds active and some stuff I just thought would be fun. (A few weeks before summer I asked my two older ones what types of things they wanted to do this summer, so I had some ideas there, as well.) I scheduled regular “field trip” mornings, as well as afternoons/ evenings for movies with friends and alone time for everyone.
Our schedule has only been in place for four days, but I really like it, and the kids do, too. At lunchtime today my oldest asked why were following a schedule. I explained that I wanted to make sure we were able to fit in as much fun as possible, so I put it all on a schedule. Then I asked if there was anything he wanted me to be sure to have on the schedule.
“Legos?” he asked.
“It’s on there!” I said.
“Wii time?” He asked, cautiously.
“Yep, got that, too,” I said.
And then he was sold!
Planning our summer fun is helping us to stay active and change up the routine into a new, fun routine. It’s helping us to do most of the things we say we want to do, without reaching August and wondering why we never fed the ducks in our neighborhood or forgot to visit with our school friends over the summer.
Sure, my schedule is certainly subject to change. But by using one to begin with, it doesn’t leave me lost and frustrated, wondering what to plan while yelling at my kids to stop yelling at each other. And it might even helps us to rotate through some of our older toys and determine which ones to keep and which ones to pass on to another family.
Our schedule for today included: (Sorry to not be too specific, but this IS the internet, so I’ve mixed it up a bit.)
Snack and meals (These are the easy ones to schedule.)
Reading (Everyone selects 1-2 books and we all attempt to read. I’m not sure what holds the most entertainment: the stories or my 2 year old’s version of reading. But she wants to read and I’m not going to stop her!)
Action play (yes, even including shooting each other with Nerf Guns)
30 minute TV show (Super Why on the DVR) while I prepare lunch
All Nap/ Quiet time (and my chance to check email, blog, call people, do whatever)
“Release” oldest from quiet time, His choice of play
“Release” middle from quiet time, some sort of writing with 2 oldest (letters, journal, puzzles… just putting pencil to paper in some way)
Cook/ bake treats
Swim Lessons
two older: Wii or computer
Legos and Little People
Help with dinner prep and/ or set table (Toddler to scoop and pour poopcorn kernels into bowls for fun.)
Each weekday has similar items, with a few things added and subtracted. Through the week I have a time slot for playdough, crafts, swimming, blocks, cars, music, active play, outside playset, sprinklers and other waterplay, inviting friends over, a regular lunch outing spot and day and as well as the fieldtrip time and movie night I mentioned above. I’m in the process of adding a few times for getting jobs done around the house. A friend just gave us a dollhouse so I can’t wait to add that to the list! And, don’t worry, there are even times for kid choice, so they can learn how to spend some time their own way.
I’m also keeping a list of fieldtrip ideas and asking the kids each week which they want to do and who they want to invite so I am not at a loss each week on that day.
Yes, I’ll admit, sometimes I think it would be easier to skip some things all together. But had I scrapped the zoo this week in favor of doing nothing, I don’t think we would have had nearly as much fun that day. And as much as I felt not one ounce of musical creativity was in me when I dumped out our box of ‘instruments’ for music on Tuesday and consequently thought about passing over that idea as well, we all had a great time banging away, making our own form of music. (And I noticed the kids had the music stuff out last night when they spent time with the sitter, so they must have enjoyed it, too.)
What do you think? How do you plan your summer fun? Or do you at all?
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