I also have a toddler who naps during the middle of the day, somewhere in the window between 11am and 2pm.
I work best with a predictable routine – not down to the minute, but with a same-enough rhythm to my days. Block schedule your days (and know thyself before you do) Depending on your schedule, you might have more or fewer blocks. I use a Sharpie and draw straight-enough lines vertically to divide the length of the paper into seven days of the week (I start the week on Monday but that’s just a personal preference).īelow the days of the week I draw horizontal lines to separate four major blocks of time during the day (more on schedule blocking in a bit). Once you’ve made your list, you’ll need the materials you see below (or something close enough): The key is that we have a good mix of at-home and out-and-about activities, as well as a balance between Big Cool Fun stuff and more everyday entertainment. – I’ve also been filling the list with everyday, at-home activities: bake cookies, paint, play-doh, kids-make-dinner night, family movie night, etc. To balance out the big-ticket outings that the kids have no trouble dreaming up – Children’s Museum, Science Center, amusement park, etc. I can guarantee we won’t actually DO all of them this summer, and that’s okay. You might call it a bucket list, but I think of it more as a catch-all for the things we think might be fun. Every time somebody says “you know what we should do this summer? _.”, we write it down. Make two lists (at-home and out-and-about)įor the last couple of weeks we’ve had a giant piece of butcher paper taped to the wall in our kitchen. Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment at the end of the post! 1.
If you’re looking for just-enough structure this summer, here’s a step-by-step guide to how I made our summer schedule.