Daily Summer Schedule

Updated on June 04, 2010
K.W. asks from Parkville, MD
9 answers

Now that summer is approaching and my oldest will be out of school, I wanted to get some ideas for a daily schedule. My boys are 3 (turns 4 next month) and 6. Both will be home with me all day. Of course, I'll have some special fun activities, but I want to have some structure (though nothing strict) to prevent them from being bored and getting into trouble. Do any of you have a day to day schedule for kids around these ages? Please share!

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C.M.

answers from Myrtle Beach on

WE spend the summer at the pool.... If it rains we just wing it, maybe shop, or rent movies.... but my daughter loves to be outside, so the pool always works best!

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J.R.

answers from Miami on

My LO is younger, but I have a nice schedule outline that may be of help:

Bfast
Outdoor play in the morning, or in a special place ac
Brunch/Lunch at restaurant/cafe -- people watching
Nap/Rest
Snack/Early Supper at Home
Afternoon Activities
Picnic Snack or Dinner
Snack or Dinner at Home

HTH

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B.M.

answers from Dallas on

My daughter is 3 and our days resemble the following:

7:30 Breakfast
8:00 30 min of t.v. (Clifford on PBS)
8:30 get dressed for the day
9:00go to the local playground or splash park
11:30 come home and eat lunch
12:00 watch Barney
12:30 nap time until 2:30
2:30 snack
3:00 play outside in sandbox or little pool or if too hot do crafts
4:30 if we've been outside we will come in and do crafts, if we've been inside then I will read her stories and we will have indoor races
5:00 she helps me prepare dinner and watches cyberchase

We live in Texas so the heat is blazing! This makes it difficult to do a lot of outdoor things in the afternoons, so once it starts reaching the 100 degree temps we will be staying inside in the pm. Luckily my daughter LOVES crafts. She has an art table and will keep herself entertained for an hour or two with play doh, foam stickers and paper, glitter glue, etc. I keep her art supplies in stock with fun cups, hats, etc to decorate.

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

Just wanted to mention/remind in your planning process:

"Boredom breeds creativity"

:) :) :)

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Bravo Riley on her comment. So true.
------------------

No matter what your 'schedule' is in the morning..... what I do is ALWAYS have a 'quiet time' in the afternoon.
But both my kids still nap.... so in the afternoon, that is our 'schedule.' They don't battle about it.
And it is rest for me too, and I will nap too.
My kids are 3 & 7 years old.
We do all of our activities/errands/chores in the morning. Starting Bright and early and then come home for lunch. Then it is nap and quiet time.
This routine, works best for 'me.' And them.
They know the routine... and they don't argue about it.
We are active in the morning so they get all their yah-yah's out... and then they are tired by lunch time.

In fact, we are getting ready for wind-down and nap now.
In my time zone, it is still about 12:00 noon. So we all just had lunch.
Now the kids are doing quiet time and wind-down... then nap. They nap for 2 hours usually.

all the best,
Susan

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C.B.

answers from Washington DC on

A schedule will definitely make your day easier and your boys will know what to expect. Just something loose like breakfast at 8, playtime, craft at 10 with a small snack, outside or park time then lunch. After lunch they could rest and you could all read together or they could pick a quiet activity to do in their rooms for an hour to recoup for the afternoon. Fridays could be special movie afternoons with a Disney flick and popcorn. Afternoons could be more outdoors, a game and then free play.
Another fun thing to do is pick a theme of the week. You could pick the color red and your snacks that week could be apples, strawberries, cherry jello etc. Your craft could be about something red and you could even pick a Friday movie loosly based on your theme. Try websites like www.enchantedlearning.com or Everything Preschool or dltk-kids.com for ideas.

L.C.

answers from Washington DC on

I always made the kids do school work in the morning - one page of math and one page of English. Then we were free to do whatever. But the day started out the same way - get up, eat, make bed, get dressed, brush teeth and hair, do school work... then... whatever we had planned for the day.
After dinner was always the same, too... Bath, stories, bed.
YMMV
LBC

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K.K.

answers from Richmond on

Breakfast, play time, get dressed, quick pick up and head out. Either outside for playtime before it gets too hot, run errands, go to a park, etc. Home for lunch, the quiet time. This is my favorite part of the day (2 yr old naps) because my 4 year old has to play by himself without interaction from me for about 90 minutes. I'll help if he truly needs help, but otherwise he's on his own with quiet toys - he is so creative and comes up with some elaborate creations durring this time. Then we'll go to the pool, home for dinner and time with Dad. I'll let them watch up to 1 hr of tv a day if we are having a down day and I have a lot to get down around the house. And because my kids are young, they don't need a long time at the pool. After about 90 minutes they are exhausted and are ready to come home. If you can't do the pool, get some good sprinklers, buckets and other water toys and let them do that in the afternoons (or a slip n slide!).

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C.D.

answers from Washington DC on

My husband works from home and I leave the house about 7:15 and Shaun wakes up around 7ish regardless, the boy doesn't like sleeping. He is on a swim team which has practice from 9-9:45 each morning. He has practice then can play with the kids from swim team til about 10:15 or 10:30 at volleyball, dodgeball, or whatever game it is they are playing. He than does a page of math and a page of writing in the AM. The afternoons we try to keep free for an afternoon of going to the pool or just outside playing with friends. For us a strict schedule doesn't work, I just couldn't do it. My son also likes a little free time to decide what he wants to do. I think its good to have a little boredom as it does breed creativity and free time for him to make his own choices. We also live in Columbia, MD btw and can walk to the pool in our village center where a lot of his friends go in the day and are only a short drive from all the other pools too. Good luck.

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