Planning a summer fun schedule for the family can be exciting. Whether you decide on a daily schedule for summer or a weekly trip for the kids, it’s important to think of creative ways to incorporate activities for everyone to enjoy together.
After all, the best things in life aren’t things. They’re people.
Summer break is near and I’m already laying out some ideas on ways to spend the upcoming months. With family and friends coming this summer, I couldn’t wait to rework the summer schedule.
One thing I’ve learned over the years is to not over plan when people come to visit. Planning one or two days outdoors is a great way to anticipate someone’s arrival.
The rest of the vacation should be up to them. After all, it’s their time away.
How Do You Plan A Schedule For Kids?
Putting together a schedule for kids can be fun for the family. It helps everyone know what to expect and can improve time management for moms.
Understanding the value in creating daily family schedule can also help kids manage their own time.
Although too much structure isn’t always the best for kids, it’s a great way to teach them how to make use of their time.
One of the first things I advise other parents looking to juggle work and family life is to not compare themselves to anyone else.
Your 24 hours are different than someone else’s.
Comparing yourself to others and thinking you can juggle the same as them isn’t going to help you. In fact, this mentality will only hurt you and your ego.
Understanding that there are 24 hours in a day and finding ways to work with YOUR 24 hours will push you to focus on the essentials.
Staying active, eating your meals, and organizing your space is part of the essentials on your list. Think of other things you’d like to add, and start planning ways to tackle these every day.
Once you’ve included the essentials, it’s time to look at your wants. These include everyday tasks that aren’t important.
Your wants can include tackling a junk drawer or taking a trip to the park, etc.
Tasks like these are nice to do in a day, but they won’t make or break your day if you don’t get to them.
After planning out your essentials and wants this summer, you’ll need to jot these down.
Write down your ideas and discuss with the kids.
Knowing what you’re thinking for the upcoming weeks will help them know what to expect. You’ll want to open the floor for them to add their own ideas as well.
Getting your kids’ feedback can help you create a family schedule that they can appreciate, too.
Test out your new family schedule and tweak it at the end of the week.
Giving yourself a week to try something will help you and your family know where there needs to be changes.
For us, Fridays make the best movie nights because the kids get to stay up late. Understand what works for you and your family, and plan accordingly.
How Do I Put My Child On A Summer Schedule?
Thinking of your summer fun schedule is one thing, but actually making it happen is another. As you begin looking at ideas around your area, it’s important to focus on what your family needs.
If there’s a fun program your kids would like to join, then do your research and see how it goes. Find out when registration opens and sign them up.
Some places open registration early in May and sometime in June. Planning ahead will help your children get into the summer programs of their choice.
Check with others in your community as well. This will help you know what other parents are doing to keep the kids active during the summer months.
This year, the kids are doing summer classes to help catch up because distance learning wasn’t the easiest on the kids (and myself).
Although school is only a couple of hours until late July this year, there’s plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the day.
From trips to the playground to mornings on the beach, I’m excited to test it out for a week to see how the kids feel about the ideas that are in place.
To make the summer months worth it for the kids, it’s best to discuss summer goals and plan ways to tackle them together.
This summer, the kids are hoping for more outdoor activities. I’m all for it because that means a mess-free home and plenty of water intake.
Most of the activities will include me and the kids since my husband will be working, but I’ll be moving my work days to nights just to keep up with the madness.
This will help the kids understand why they’ll need to be in bed by a certain time during the week as well.
How Do I Plan Summer Activities?
Simplify the time you spend planning by discussing your budget for the summer and whether or not you’d like to space your family trips.
Whether you decide on a Yes Day with the kids or not, you’ll want to focus on creating memories with them.
One thing that I’ve noticed from the time away from family and friends is how good it is to call South Florida home. With various beaches to choose from, the kids have been able to enjoy bathing in the ocean and the community pool.
Make family days memorable by spending time with the people who matter to you the most. The summer is the best season to visit family and friends, and reconnect with old ones.
Think of where you plan to visit this season and a place or two in the area that’d be great for you and the family to explore.
Create summer plans that everyone can enjoy together.
The Summer Fun Schedule Breakdown
Aside from planning a weekly schedule for the kids, I’ve reworked the daily themed schedule for the family.
Monday is Cook Together
Creating dishes from one of my favorite local food bloggers and scouting the internet for kid-friendly recipes to make. This will be a bonding and learning experience for the kids.
Tuesday is for Family Trips
Planning visits to parks, playgrounds, and making time for family walks. Tuesdays will be the day to plan trips together with the kids.
Wednesday is for Water Activities
From water balloon fights to swimming in the community pool, Wednesdays will continue to be Water Wednesdays around here. Also, the day to complete errands as well.
Thursday is Freebie Day
The kids get to spend the afternoon doing their choice of activity each week. This is a great way to “bend the rules” a bit and do something they enjoy rather than whatever was planned in advance.
Friday is still Family Movie Night
This is non-negotiable because everyone enjoys watching a new film together. Their choice and planned in advance — as usual.
Most films are from the streaming services and the kids get to choose their favorite snacks to have during the movie.
I’m also doing a Mornings on the Beach thing on Fridays. I’ll have to see how it goes. Not set in stone yet.
Saturday is still Game Night
A time to enjoy some clean competition and make use of the board games and get the mind working to create other ones along the way.
The kids love playing checkers and chess together. It helps with their critical thinking skills.
Sunday is Chore Day
Although the summer is a time to enjoy together and relax, there are tasks that need to be accomplished during the week.
As the kids get older, it’s important to teach them the value in helping out around the home. These weekly kids’ house chores include taking out the trash, organizing their clothes for the week, and cleaning their bedsheets.
Final Thoughts On A Summer Fun Schedule
If you’re looking at this list and thinking when will you be able to work from home or do anything your heart desires, then you’ll want to read on.
Working from home can be a blessing and a burden, but as parenting is a juggling act — not a balancing one!
The scale will tip, and you’ll get back to things like nothing happened.
To help you create a schedule that works for you and your family, I suggest the following 10 tips:
1) Be realistic.
Don’t force yourself to wake up an hour earlier if you’re sleeping late at night. Rest is important, so give yourself enough of it.
2) Plan according to your schedule.
If you want to make time for yourself, then you’ll need to see where it fits in your day. It’s possible.
3) Make time for the essentials.
You still need to entertain the kids, clean your home and make sure everyone is fed (multiple times a day), so be sure to pencil those times in.
4) Work when you can, not when you want to.
If you tell yourself you want to work before bed, make sure you have the energy to do so. After a long day with family, the last thing on your mind might be to pick up the computer.
5) Pencil an early bedtime.
Help the kids get enough sleep during the summer months with a designated bedtime schedule. It will train their bodies to sleep better at night.
6) Think of a reward system for the kids.
I love planning fun activities for the family, but it comes with good behavior and helping around the house. Reward your kids with fun trips to places they love this summer.
7) Reward yourself at least once a week.
Plan daily self-care in your schedule so you can refuel and feel refreshed for another day. If you feel daily self-care isn’t possible, then plan for it at least once a week.
8) Throw in independent activities for the kids to do.
On most days, the kids get to watch TV for an hour while I work on deadlines. It makes it easier to focus on tackling things before the day is through.
9) Ask family/friends to join in on the fun.
I love doing things with my family, but it’s always nice to have friends join in. Also, it keeps you accountable for when you don’t feel like leaving the house.
10) Think of what the inner-child in you would enjoy.
The ultimate secret to making every day a success for the kids is to think about the things you liked to do as a kid. It helps with planning activities for everyone.
70 responses to “Summer Fun Schedule For Multiple Kids”
We don’t have a summer schedule per se, but we do schedule some trips. Between those trips, it’s kind of a free for all.
I adore summer but it passes by so fast. I sometimes never get the chance to do stuff. I will remember this post this summer
Seems like a good idea to have a summer schedule when you have kids. Not sure it’s necessary if you don’t.
enjoyed reading you list. My fav is, reward yourself at least once a week 🙂
All the ideas and tips you gave are very essential and I love them. I could pick some activities there and try out this summer with my families.
These are all such awesome tips to make the best of summer. Especially for those with little ones. Here’s to a wonderful season 🙌
I don’t have kids, but my job require me to be with children most my time. But you have a great ideas for them. Sure it will be fun and enjoyable summer!
The inner child would have said, yeah, let’s go have tons of fun every day. Planning events or things to do/places to go for the summer was always fun.
Sounds like you have lots of fun activities planned. I like the idea of planning and scheduling it as it makes it all so much easier if everyone knows what’s happening.
This is brilliant! My kids really responded well to schedules so summer was always scary for me. Once I figured out our schedule it was a breeze!
My kids are all grown but I’ll share this schedule with my daughter. She has 4 boys and I’m sure they’d love to experience some of these activities you mentioned.
Such great tips.. Parents should read this blog, it would really be a great help.
Thanks! It’s a great list of tips for them that’s for sure.
This is such a fantastic post! I completely agree with you about bedtime. My kids are 11 and 12 now, and they still go to bed at 8:30pm. I think sleep is very important and overlooked by so many, but the right amount of rest always keeps them happy and productive!
Yes, thank you for your feedback on bedtime. I actually got some backlash from friends about that.
I don’t have kids and can’t imagine how hard it is for working mom’s to carry this out. When I was little my parents didn’t have time to keep me entertained. However I enjoyed helping my Mom do things around the house and working in the vegetable gardens.
I love that you have a theme for each day. It makes it more interesting and gives you some good ideas for each day. I might have to enact something like this over the summer.
Yes, we love having themed days.