Setting a practical after school routine can help you find a sense of order. As soon as your littles walk through the door, it can feel like a tornado is ripping through your house if you don’t have a routine in check. Eliminate unnecessary stress by having a plan in place before the day even begins.
With the right after school routine, you will notice that everything runs a lot smoother. Manage your time effectively and productively with these simple tricks.
How to Set an After School Routine for Kids That Works
Unpack school bag
When most children come home home, they tend to throw off their shoes and toss their schoolbags. Don’t make this a habit because it’s very hard to break.
Instead, have your kids come home and quickly unload their backpacks onto their working station – whether that’s the dining room table or their desk.
Show them how to unpack and clear their lunchboxes. Rinse the lunchboxes and put any bento boxes and utensils into the dishwasher.
Lastly, there should be a space in your house for your children to store their schoolbags.
Have a snack
Most kids come home hungry from school! So, have some snacks ready and waiting for them. Create a little station of treats that they can choose from – whether it’s cut-up fruit in the fridge or a specific area in your pantry designated for snacking.
If they are too young to do this on their own, have it out and ready.
Go through school folders
A big part of any family’s after school routine is going through the child’s backpack. As they are unpacking the content of their school bag, go through all the papers they brought home.
Review any homework they need to do and walk through classwork they feel proud about! Sign any permission slips that require your signature and make sure to return them back into the child’s folder.
If there is a reminder or flyer for an upcoming event, note down important dates onto your weekly planner. If you have a clipboard in your kitchen, you can also place it there.
Do homework
Doing homework after school can be difficult with all the activities packed in your after school routines like, after school activities, family time, chores, relaxing, showers, and dinner. But… it’s part of life.
It depends on your families, doing homework right after school works well for some. It just doesn’t work for others.
Ensure you do the assignments at the same time every day. We like to do it right after snack because we just get it DONE and out of the way.
Set up a homework-friendly space that provides your kids with a well-lit space that is calm and has no interruptions.
Stay involved. Even if you just stay in the same room – working on your own errands. If they need you, they will ask for help.
Related: 10 Mindful Exercises For Kids You Can Do At Home
After school chores
Since homework tends to take longer time on some days than others, you can make some chores flexible. For example, 2-3 times a week, the children have to sweep the floors – but only on days that they finish up early.
Related: Free Family Contract Printable: Fill In The Blank Contract For Kids
After school activities
I’m sure your children have after-school activities that keep your driving around all over town. This is the way the new generation LIVES.
Do yourself a favor and have a drawer in their room that has everything they need for all sports and afterschool activities. This is a lifesaver for us. Gloves, socks, jerseys, karate belts – you name it! It all goes in the after school drawer. No questions asked.
But even if they have an activity, try not to skip unloading their backpacks because it will break the routine! With children, we have to try to keep them doing the same habits over and over again.
Staying Flexible
Every day is different, so is every child. As you work on implementing the extracurricular routine of your family, keep in mind that flexibility is also important. Because one routine works for one child doesn’t mean it will work for the other.
There also might be days where you try to make everything work, but you just can’t. You know what? Allow yourself some grace on those days. There will always be tomorrow to try again. We are all just human. Bottom line: enjoy the time you have with your children.