It is almost summer vacation and I can’t wait to enjoy the warm weather, play outside, and eat dinner on patio!  But summer days can seem long and can get rather boring if you don’t have a schedule.  This summer, I decided not to over-scheduling the kids, so I am creating a loose schedule to follow to create a stress-free schedule that everyone can enjoy.

I read this amazing article from Zina at Let’s Lasso The Moon.  She suggests creating a “stress-free” schedule that will keep predictability for the kids but gives you much wiggle room to create experiences that will work for your family on the particular day.  Daily there is a theme, and within that theme you have lots of room to create many activities based on your kids moods, weather, your location, etc.

I just love this idea, because over Memorial Day weekend, we didn’t have any plans or any structure.  Besides the days being really long, both kids were looking for predictability.  Every night, the kiddos would ask what we were doing tomorrow.  I would tell him, we are playing.  But he kept asking as he wanted some clarity to know what the expectation was for tomorrow.  I feel that to get through the summer, I need some sort of structure to give him clarity for the days to come.

I decided that we are doing a theme every day, instead of just the week days, to keep the summer running smoothly for us.  I planned out each day to go along with a “theme”.  This way there would be structure, but the activities would change.

Monday- Music Day
Tuesday- Library Day
Wednesday- Art Day
Thursday- Sports Day
Friday- Recipe Day
Saturday- Field Trip Day
Sunday- Water Day

Click Here To Download: Weekly Summer Schedule

For music day, we could bust out the instruments, go to a music store to try out some instruments, make our own instruments using old bottles and beans or just listen to music while we play.  We also have so music in the park events through the park district that are on a Monday, so I thought this would be a great way to start the week!

Tuesday will be library day.  That could involve dropping off library books, reading books or checking out a new library around the area!

Wednesday is art day.  We could get really messy with paints, use chalk outside to draw on the sidewalk, color with crayons, test out some Pinterest projects, or just play with stickers.  The possibilities for art day really are endless!

Thursday will be dedicated to sports.  We could play a sports game outside, go check out a sporting event, shoot hoops in the driveway, go to the sports store, or just run around.  Seeing as Eli is incredibly energetic and loves playing sporting games, I felt this is a good day to let him explore and try new things.  Adleigh loves trying anything Eli does, so whatever sport he is playing, she wants to play too!

Friday will be all about cooking.  We could actually bake something, cook something, try a new recipe for a meal, or look through some recipe books to see what we might eat for the following week.  Both kids love looking through cook books and looking at the pictures, so that would be a great activity as well!

Saturday I am dedicating to field trips.  This really just means getting up, going out and doing something out of the house.  Our town has the farmers market on Saturdays, so if we go to the farmers market, or a park, or try a new restaurant for a meal would all count as a “field trip”.  Even making a Target run would count as a “field trip”…just anything to get us out of the house for some part of the day.

I find that if we don’t have plans, we stay inside the house, which gets old for me since I am home with the kids every day.  I like the break from being around the house and trying new things!  Plus, it’s always easier to try new things with Ben around.

Sundays will be all about the water.  I don’t feel comfortable bringing both kids to the pool by myself, so with Ben home, this would make a great day to go to the pool.  Or we could stay home and play with the water table, or kiddie pool in the back yard.  If the weather is crummy, we could play with water in the sink or in the tub.  Just anything water and the kids will love it!

This is my loose summer schedule.  I am not going to go crazy with planning out every little activity, but by having an idea of something new to try every day, I know the kids will benefit from the structure and clarity of what will happen every day.  Plus, they might come up with ideas of things to try that I might not even have thought of!

Now with the schedule set, I can’t wait for summer to get here!  I am looking forward to those warm days, sunshine and beautiful flowers.

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