How to Play the Day Away and My Daily Schedule with the Kids!
Sharing tips on how I keep my kids entertained all day long at home! I’m also sharing what our daily schedule looks like now!
Filling up our days with new ways to play literally on the forefront of I would guess every mom’s mind right now. How on earth do I entertain these kiddos ALL day long without the outside world to go explore? Before the stay at home mandate going to the park, beach, play dates, My Gym and preschool were part of our regular routine.
Even though a lot of places are opening up again, a lot of the activities we once took our kids too are still closed such as school, play gym classes, swimming lessons, dance classes, movie theaters, etc. I feel so blessed to be a stay at home mom and be home all day with my kiddos while I work in between. But having those outside activities just made our days go smoother and not drag on. I’ve had to get creative with our indoor play to “play the day away” and make these activities fill up our (long) days we’ve been having! I get the majority of my play items such as toys and learning items for the kids from buybuyBABY. Currently, they offer curbside pick-up so you don’t have to enter the store and it’s safe to still shop for your little ones. You can read more here about what buybuyBABY is doing to keep you and your family safe during this time.
I like to structure our day into “blocks” or chunks of time specific to certain activities. Many studies and research shows that having your children on a predictable routine is one of the best ways you can help them feel secure, stable and grounded in their lives. I truly am a believer in this, and hope this helps you and your little’s during this time- and beyond! Here is a little snippet of how I like to block out chunks of activities in my day! I separate my days into FOUR MAJOR BLOCKS: Early Morning, Morning, Afternoon, Evening.
MORNING
Early Morning
Waking up BEFORE the kiddos wake up is so so important to get a head start on the day. This is the time that I do a simple makeup routine, take a shower and eat my breakfast. I like to get some fuel in my body before the kids wake up and do scripture study, listen to a podcast and or do a workout. If I can give any tip to a mom struggling to get any “me time” in the day, it is to go to bed earlier and then wake up early before the kids wake up! I typically wake up around 6am on the weekdays.
Wake Up Kids
I start with a consistent wakeup time and that for the kids at 7:00am! (I aim to put Dane down for bed around the 7:00-7:30 o’clock hour at night thus I like him to be up for the day at this time, so he can go to bed earlier in the day and he can fit two naps in) it’s also good to just keep both kids on the same schedule for us.
Breakfast
Feed the kiddos, get our breakfast going and this is typically when I allow the kiddos (mostly Kennedy) to watch some TV shows. We will watch TV, finish breakfast and just stay in our PJ’s until Dane’s nap which is usually around 9:30am. Then I get Kennedy’s teeth brushed, do her hair and get us both dressed!
Preschool/ Morning Activity
This is the time I get one-on-one time with just Kennedy and I LOVE it! I like to focus this time on starting with just a short and sweet learning activity or craft. For the day I’ll either focus on learning a new shape, color, letter or tracing lines, learning sight words ect. Then we’ll do crafts such as practicing cutting with scissors, playing with play doh, coloring or painting.
She doesn’t ALWAYS want to sit down with me and complete these little crafts, so I try to make it light and not force her because I want her to enjoy learning. I do bribe her with a lollipop or a jelly bean for completing the activity haha! If she wants to just go play with her toys, she has been very into magnatiles lately. They are fun and they have to use their imaginations to build castles or towers. She also loves playing with her baby doll and playing dress up with her outfits. She loves playing chef in her kitchen, and doctor with her stuffed animals! These have all been great items for her playtime and make believe!
If I need to get work done, I will let her go on her ipad and do some sort of educational app or the ABC mouse program that we love! I have been more lenient with screen time recently since we have been in quarantine. I don’t think it is bad right now as long as you’re choosing quality apps and in short periods of time.
AFTERNOON
Outdoor time
Around 11:30am is when Dane gets up from his morning nap (or I wake him up by this time). I get him dressed and we get out of the house! This is SO important to our mental well being right now. I try to get at least 30 minutes of outdoor time a day. This is the time I’ll go on a walk with them both around our neighborhood with our B.O.B. stroller that I’m OBSESSED with! It glides so well and I love how I can take them on a run with it too! It even fits a soccer balls and sand bucket and shovels. Kennedy also loves playing soccer or t-ball and also riding on her bike. While she does that, I will push Dane around in his push car or this electric car.
If it’s really hot outside, they love being in the backyard playing with their water table!! It keeps them happy and entertained for a while. I also recently got this bubble machine, and they are both obsessed!
Then we come back and we’ll either play outside while Alex and I make lunch!
Lunch
This is the time all four of us get together nowadays! Isn’t it so great how all four of us get to be together at this time- it’s something I feel so very blessed we get to do. The kids love seeing daddy during lunch time and so do I! Some products I love to use to eat during feeding time are the EZPZ mat, the 4moms high chair which we LOVE and the Munchkin weighted sippy cup
Naptime for both kids
This is typically around three hours after Dane is up from his morning nap (around 2ish), and Kennedy goes down for her nap around 1:30-2pm. This is “Sacred Time” and the time of the day I normally just sit. Sit down and do NOTHING! 😀 Since I’m go, go, go all day this is my “recharge” time. I do work sometimes and catch up on emails and DM’s, however you’ll always find me curled up on the couch under my blanket until one of them wakes up haha! During this time I will typically do a quick pick up around the house, rotate some toys and move the baskets of toys around different areas of the house so they’re more interested in them when they wake up!
Evening
During this time we get the kids up no later than 4:30pm and have dinner started around 5:45pm. It’s either Alex or I cooking dinner and it’s easier to just divide and conquer. Alex will sometimes take them both outside on a walk or talk Kennedy outside to play basketball or soccer and put Dane in his push car or the baby carrier! I’m also not opposed to allowing more TV time during the “witching hour” for the kids so we can get dinner made and ready!
Bedtime
This is the one point of the day when we all start to unwind. I will get both kids in the bath together about 30 minutes before Dane goes down for bed. They both thankfully LOOVE the bath and have so much fun during this time! It also helps get they more tired for bed. They love bath toys and will play for like 30 minutes in the bath! Kennedy will go down later around 8:30pm (since she still naps and doesn’t wake up until around 4:30pm). I will either snuggle with Kennedy before bed and watch a show or finish a Disney movie. Sometimes we’ll just play calming children music and enjoy this time together, read books or work on a puzzle. I also give them both a “bedtime” snack before bed too: Dane gets a food pouch and Kennedy something like a banana or a spoonful of peanut butter just to keep them full during the night! We’ll put Dane down and do some one-on-one time with Kennedy before she goes down. We’ll all do toy clean up during this time too. I’ve been working with Kennedy on helping mommy cleanup her mess and toys before bed. We love reading books with her and seeing her get silly tired before bed!! Some books she has been loving lately is Little Blue Truck and Love You Forever. Finally after the kids are down we typically do a quick kitchen cleanup and house reset and watch our favorite shows!
Hope this blog post helps you see how our typical days go and how we try to “play the day away” during this quarantine time! This is also true for super hot or rainy days as well. If you have any questions about our daily routine or anything I mentioned- please comment in the section below!
PRETEND PLAY:
BOOKS + PUZZLES:
OUTDOOR PLAY:
ART + INDOOR PLAY:
*Thank you buybuyBABY for sponsoring this post! As always, all opinions are my own!
