Ever wonder how I do it all? I am going to share my secret with you. It is really basic but it works well. I plan my families whole day using a block schedule and planner starting from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed. A block schedule is a block of time dedicated for a certain task or tasks. Each day I give my kids tasks (things to keep them entertained and busy). Within each time block I give myself grace with an added 30 minute buffer. My day is broken down into 6 time blocks starting at 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM. That gives me three hours of grace. Which is especially helpful on those days when nothing is going right. If I am having a super productive day and don’t need my grace time. I can move on to the next set tasks.
I made a FREE block schedule printable. You can use it as is or build upon it. Either way, it will work well for you as we all transition to the new normal for American families. Click here to print my free block schedule!
Idea’s For Kids To Keep Them Busy:
While the kids are home. You want to keep them busy. The busier they are the more productive you will be able to be. Kids often times can’t think of fun things to do on their own. I find with my kids, if I give them ideas, or a few choices of what to do they get really excited, and keep themselves busy for a little while. Right now there is tons of free resources from apps, virtual rides, virtual tours of museums, music lesson’s online, drawing lessons online, virtual Disney World tours, and even free language lessons. Take some time to make a list with links of the things that would interest your kids. Then during their free time you can have them do those things.
Crafts are an inexpensive way entertain your kids while being creative. You can have them create a picture using markers, and googly eyes. Or do something more elaborate. I like to have glitter, googly eyes, construction paper, makers, glue, crayons, scissors, stickers, and paint supplies always on hand. If you don’t already have some craft supplies on hand get some. Now is a great time to stock up Amazon is having a sale where you will save $10.00/$25.00 order.
Kids get bored with toys very quickly. To combat this problem in my house we rotate toys weekly with the exception of a few things. I like to do themes. For example, this week the barn, tractors, and farm animals are out. Next week, I will put out the pirate ship, sea life toys, and boats. I store the themes in bins that way its super quick and easy to switch them out. Three new boxes appear every Monday.
Involve your kids in things that need to get done. Think of basic life skills that you can teach your child right now. Added bonus it will help you get that thing done quicker! You can make household chores into a money lesson. Younger kids can help pickup things and put them away. Older kids can help with more difficult tasks. For each chore completed you can pay and turn it into a lesson on money. With older kids you can go more in detail on personal finance skills. For little ones you can just teach them what the coins and bills are valued at. Kid’s love to cook. You can easily turn lunch or dinner time into a lesson. At first it might take a little longer to do each thing you need to do. As time goes on your child or children will get the hang of it and will be able to complete the task solo.