Daily Routine for Kids: Like most kids, my kids thrive on routine. They do best knowing what the day entails, what is expected of them and having a loose structure to their day. But keeping a daily routine gets harder with more children. Here’s the flexible yet structured daily routine that works for our family of three young kids (6,4, and almost 2)–even when you aren’t one of those always organized moms!
Note: This is our school year routine, see what our summer daily schedule for kids looks like here.
DAILY ROUTINE FOR KIDS
Whether or not you recognize it, you are probably doing some sort of daily routine with your kids already. We all fall into patterns every day whether they are good or bad–like turning on the TV when everything is melting down (guilty as charged!). But like anything else in our lives, we want our daily routines to work for our family (and weed out the bad activities).
Having these daily routines cards and printable routine charts for pre-readers has been an absolute game-changer for our kids. While they always knew what was expected of them (and none of the tasks are new,) it has given them responsibility and a sense of independence they didn’t have before.
This is a flexible family schedule for young families like ours who like some structure, giving their kids responsibility; but, still want to maintain flexibility to do spontaneous activities like biking to the beach, spending afternoons at the library, or having a pretend picnic party in the backyard. Childhood memories are made of these fun activities, but they rest on the framework of a well organized daily schedule that kids are comfortable with. It’s like a child skipping a nap. We all know it might be ok for one day; but, it will catch up to you at bedtime!
Sample Daily Routine for School-Age Kids
This is a loose example of what we do for our six-year-old. When she changes schools this year, we will have to adjust the times; but the framework remains the same. We have limited school year activities–she gets one sport in addition to her music lessons.
6:30 Wake up, go downstairs and read, snuggle with Dad, or do art
7:15 Breakfast
7:30 Get dressed, brush teeth, brush hair, and apply sunscreen
8:00 Grab backpack, shoes, and coat and leave for school
School 8:15-3:15
3:30 Return from school eat a snack
3:45 Quiet activity time or solo play
4:15 Play outside
5:00 TV Program before dinner
5:20 Eat dinner
6:00 Reading time or family movie
7:15 Start bedtime routines
8:00 Lights out* my daughter is allowed to stay up to read by herself and I’ll turn her lights out when we go to bed.
Sample Kids Daily Schedule for Preschoolers
This is a loose representation of what my four-year-old son does every day.
6:30 Wake up, go downstairs and read, snuggle with Dad, or do art
7:15 Breakfast
7:30 Get dressed, brush teeth, brush hair, and apply sunscreen (I will bring down his clothes from his bedroom and get him changed downstairs after breakfast)
8:00 Grab backpack, shoes, and coat and leave for school
School 8:30-11:30
11:45 Return from school and eat lunch
12:15 Solo playtime
1:00 Reading time with Mom or babysitter
1:30 Free play inside
2:00 Play outside
3:00 Leave to pick up sister from school
3:30 Return from school and eat a snack
3:45 Play outside
5:00 TV Program before dinner
5:20 Eat dinner
6:00 Reading time or family movie
7:15 Start bedtime routines
7:45 Bedtime
8:00 Lights out
Sample Toddler Daily Schedule
This is a loose schedule that we use for my 22-month-old daughter–she currently doesn’t go to school.
7:30 I wake her up and take her out of her crib and downstairs
7:35 Breakfast- she eats breakfast while I help the other kids get dressed and ready for school
8:00 Leave for school
8:20 Return from school drop off
8:30 Help mom unload the dishwasher, clean up the kitchen, and put away things
9:00 Read books
9:45 Play with toys
10:15 Coloring or play dough
11:15 Leave for preschool pick up
11:45 Return from school and eat lunch
12:15 Naptime
2:00 Wake up and play outside
3:00 Leave to pick up sister from school
3:30 Return from school and eat a snack
3:45 Play outside
5:00 TV Program before dinner
5:20 Eat dinner
6:00 Reading time or family movie
7:15 Start bedtime routines
7:30 Bedtime
MORNING ROUTINE FOR KIDS
The morning is one of the hardest parts of the day for parents (I’d say that, and the witching hour!) Getting kids out of the house can often feel like herding cats–especially when your kids are young and occasionally undress themselves. However, there are several ways that you can give your kids independence by giving them a predictable framework and responsibility for their morning routine–and as a result, you’ll have to nag them less!
*Now, this isn’t to say your kids will do it all perfectly! We work on it daily but it does help and it’s resulted in my no longer feeling like a broken record by 9 AM.
Depending on the age of your kids, they will be able to do these alone or with supervision. Toddlers aren’t too young to start either! Kids learn from an early age what pictures signify and combining words with pictures helps them make the connection! Put these cards up in your young toddler (or baby’s room) and they will grow to learn what they mean!
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- Make Bed
- Get dressed
- Eat breakfast
- Brush teeth
- Brush hair
- Sunscreen
- Backpack
- Shoes