How to Organize a Fun Summer Schedule for Kids

Organizing a Summer Schedule for Kids

 

While doing my own plan for summer routines I thought I’d show you how to organize a fun summer schedule for kids.  

Summer, for some moms, is cause for anxiety.  If you have kids in school and they will be home with you all summer, yes, this may send you for a loop.  What do you do with kids all day?

This is a question I’ve asked myself many times in the early days of motherhood.  This especially became concerning to me during the first few years of homeschooling because the kids are always home.  

Did I mention, they are always around me? It’s humorous to think about because that’s the point. However, keeping kids busy is very stressful for mom.

That’s okay.  

It’s still nice to direct your children’s activities to things they would thrive on.  And having a stash of ideas does allow for things to get easier.

How Can I Keep My Kids Occupied in the Summer?

 

One thing I try to keep in mind is to not fill up my kids days too much.  I’m such a creative being and so are my kids. They need time to mentally relax and reflect, even if they don’t see the sense in it.  

I believe it’s during these downtimes that kids can explore thoughts, plan, and learn to self-motivate.

All children need this.

Sometimes it’s an hour or two and other times it may be for a day or two.  Kids especially need breaks after a big event or being out of town on vacation. Time to just play, rest and think are not bad things.

So don’t be concerned about filling up every day or hour of the day with constant motion.

Another thing to keep in mind is when I say, summer schedule for kids I am not necessarily talking about an hour by hour schedule.  

If you have older kids, or you homeschool through the summer as we do, then perhaps you would create an hour of the day kind of schedule. This doesn’t mean you can’t block out 3p-5p as free time, or something like that. 

When I’m talking about a summer schedule for kids, I’m really talking about creating routines and an idea list (some say bucket list) to keep boredom at bay.  

 

Organizing Summer Routines for Kids

 

I love organizing y’all, so it’s fun for me to create routines.  At this point in my mom journey I’ve created a systematic way of forming my kid’s routines.  Each summer they are a year older, so some things do change, while others stay the same.

 

Generally, there are 3 parts to my plan:

The Summer Calendar

The Daily Routines

The Bucket List

In this plan, there could also be a chore chart, which I did last year.  However, this year our chart is staying the same (as I just revised it a couple of months ago when I created my SAHM Schedule).  And for me to keep track of this plan, I use Evernote!

Evernote is a note-taking program that keeps track of everything for you.  

Because of Evernote, I have not misplaced plans, lists or ideas nearly as much.  If I do misplace these its because I didn’t use Evernote – silly me.

Evernote has become my home management system and mom brain all in one because I can find everything whenever I want and it goes with me everywhere.  Find out how in my post, Evernote for Moms.

 

The Summer Calendar

 

So part of a summer schedule for kids is, well y’know, scheduling activities.  So first I think of things that need to have specific dates. Usually, early in Spring, our family meetings start centering around what we will do for a vacation that year.  

We don’t necessarily take extravagant vacations.  One year our plan was how to have a great staycation!  Wherever we end up going (or not going), needs to be placed on the calendar.  

As I got ideas I started plotting them into my Evernote file

After that, I try to schedule ahead a few playdates.  I’ll also look at community papers, library event schedules, and lists of kids summer camps.  

I like to pick out a few events and activities that we might attend. You can probably find every kind of camp, class or concert your family would be interested in, so really there isn’t any excuse for summer boredom. 

 

The Daily Routines

 

After you pencil in all of your calendar dates, now it’s time to consider how your week will roll.  It’s hard enough trying to come up with some type of schedule for the school year, but then to think about summertime.  

The tricky part is keeping a balance of relaxation, relating, and responsibilities.

I added a couple of lists to my file in Evernote for daily and weekly schedules.

To bring a sense of tradition and significance to our summer schedule, I began naming certain activities for each day of the week.  I’m sure you’ve seen these kinds of schedules. It’s pretty popular for creating a meal plan:

Meatless Mondays

Taco Tuesdays

One Pot Wednesdays

 

And so on.  Well, a themed schedule can easily translate to summertime activities.  After looking over our homeschool needs and what the kids enjoy doing, I came up with a weekday list.  

 

Movie and Math Monday

Language and Library Tuesday

Water & Garden Wednesday

Play & Explore Thursday

Fizzy Science Friday

 

You could definitely expand on this and add more of a general routine to the day.  Well, we kinda already have one in place. After the kids morning tasks, breakfast and Bible time, we move right into school work.  Then there is a bit of free time (which will be increased for the summer). Afternoons also are pretty set but will be more flexible for spontaneous summer fun.  

 

If Mama Ain’t Happy

 

What’s not changing in our routine?  

My morning and evening routines.  These are staples because I need downtime.  As my kids grow, I have less time mid-day but I need to keep mornings for peace, and evenings for preparation.  

If you don’t have those basic routines in place it will be hard to pull off any other type of routine successfully.  

To learn more about how to create your own Marvelous Morning or Excellent Routine, click here.

The Bucket List

 

Finally, to make the most of each summer, I like to put together a bucket list of sorts.  This list is compiled from things I’ve wanted to do, things I’ve found to do and things my kids have suggested.  

Some we’ll be exploring this year

River walking

Creating a backyard obstacle course

Setting up a Lemonade Stand

Stargazing

 

That’s just a few but if you need more activity ideas these posts were very helpful to me:

Fun and Frugal Summer Activities for Kids

Family Summer Fun at Home

50 Ways to Save Your Sanity this summer

Best Summer Family Activities

50 Free Summer Family Activities

 

And this one’s cute!  Written by a 10 or 11-year-old

Stuff to Do When You are Bored

 

I know you are thinking, that’s a lot of planning.  Well, yes, and you may not want to put so much thought into your kids summer schedule.  If not, perhaps you can take tidbits from my way of organizing a fun summer schedule and create your own.  

The main reason I’m doing all of this is so I can best utilize the time the Lord has given me with these munchkins.  

 

If you’d like to learn how to be intentional with your time as a mom at home, you’ll definitely want to download your free guide, Crush Your Goals at Home.