Are you looking for some after-school routines that will actually work for your family? 🙋🏻♀️
It seems every year we start off with good intentions in our house. We fall into a nice rhythm, do the things we need to do, and our afternoons go well.
And then…
I get busy with work, or other activities…and stop enforcing the routine. And before you know it, we’re scrambling to get all the homework and showers in before bed. Our nights are chaotic, and our mornings are even more so.
School started last week for my boys. And I was the after-school routine police! 😆 And it went well.
Until Friday rolled around.
On Friday, I was busy trying to finish up a client piece. And it was the weekend, so I didn’t worry too much. I just let the kids get right to playing.
I didn’t check their backpacks until Monday morning. 🤦🏻♀️
And I totally forgot about picture day – until Monday night, when I checked Toot’s (he had been home sick, so I didn’t even bother to check it Monday morning).
I don’t even know what the twins wore for pictures! 😬 This has happened before when I didn’t have my afternoon routine down.
One of my older boys went to school in pants that were way too short – on picture day. He looked like he was waiting for a flood! (Bad momma moment)
Why you need an after-school routine
You mean, aside from pulling our hair out as moms? 😁
There are many benefits to a daily routine. A daily routine will benefit you, as a mom, for sure, because you’ll feel more organized and in control. And you won’t send your kids to school on picture day in ketchup stains and floodwater pants. 😁
But daily routines benefit the growth and development of your child even more. Daily routines help your child with:
- study habits and learning
- time management
- following the rules
- developing a sense of responsibility
- consistency
- self-discipline
Plus, your afternoon routine will instill a sense of security in your child.
When they know what is expected of them, in what order, and when, children become more confident in who they are. And when they know what happens next, or what happens if they don’t follow the routine, then they trust you, as mom, to do what you say you are going to do.
This also makes them feel more secure.
So, you know an after-school routine will help you to manage your day better, and you know it will help your kids to learn all kinds of skills, but what exactly goes into an after-school routine?
Typical after-school activities
What you put into your after-school routine is going to depend on your family values, your responsibilities, how many kids you have, and how old they all are.
For the longest time, our after-school routine consisted of running to sporting events to watch the oldest two play ball. Once they graduated, however, our after-school routine changed.
If all your kids are younger, then you might not have extracurricular activities in your afternoon routine.
But you’ll have other things you value in your routine. Here’s a few ideas, to get you started:
- snack time
- playtime
- homework
- chores
- screen time
- outside play time, such as going for a walk or going to the park
- extracurricular activities, such as sports, music lessons, or art lessons
- time spent visiting family, such as grandma
- volunteering
- Church activities
- craft time
These are some typical activities that many families will put into their after-school routines. If you aren’t sure what should go in yours, then start by first figuring out what your family values are.
How to create an after-school routine
After you know what you want in your after-school routine, all you have to do is decide what is going to be done and when!
Oh, and you need to enforce it. 😅 That is the hard part, isn’t it, momma? It’s so easy to go astray!
The best way to decide what is going to be done and when is to chunk down the afternoon. I like to use the arrival – that time when my boys get home, snack time, and before dinner as natural transition points during the afternoon.
So, I create my “chunks” around these events. I’ll walk you through it. 😉
1. As soon as your kids get home
It makes perfect sense to have your children follow the same order of events every day when they get home from school. We don’t want them coming into the house, throwing their backpacks, coats, and boots down, and merrily skipping off to play. 😆
Sounds nice, but if we allowed that, we’d be cleaning up after them. And they’d learn nothing.
So, when my kids come home, this is what they do:
✔︎ Put their shoes in the closet and hang up their coat.
✔︎ Empty their backpacks out. Binders/folders go on the mail table, dirty water bottles in the sink, and lunch boxes on the counter. Backpacks then get hung up.
✔︎ Put their dirty masks in the laundry room.
(Yes, they still have to wear them. They don’t have to wear them in school, but they do have to wear them on the bus. 🤦🏻♀️ Makes perfect sense. Kind of like having a peeing section of the pool 😆 and that, momma, is a funny story for another day!)
Update: they no longer wear their masks. 😁 I just drive them in.
After they do all of that, they usually need to use the bathroom and get a drink. Oh, and they have to say hi to Ava, our German Shepherd. 😆 They adore her.
2. After-school snack routine
After all of that, they are STARVING. So, it’s snack time.
I’m kind of a stickler on snack time as well. They get it right when they get home, otherwise, it gets too close to supper.
I used to make a pretty substantial snack. They’d come home at 3:45, and I feel like they don’t get offered a lot at school. Healthy proportions and all, momma. 😉 Which is good, except my boys have a high metabolism, and so they burn through that awful fast.
So, we used to have a lot of protein for snack time: egg mc muffins, cheese, crackers, cheese sticks, or yogurt.
Now, however, they arrive home much later. So, it is closer to supper. Now we stick to fruit (they aren’t good veggie eaters), crackers, cookies, ice cream, or popcorn.
And except for the popcorn, I make them eat their snack at the kitchen table. If they have no homework to do, they can take their popcorn downstairs.
3. After-school homework routine
After snack time, we get the homework out of the way. Immediately.
I’m a strong believer in the power of play. I believe that it is a child’s most important job.
And so, I used to let them go play for a while, and we’d tackle homework after supper. They needed a break, after all, right? 😅
But our evenings got very busy, and getting that homework done was just one more element of chaos we didn’t need.
So, now we do it right after snack time. Sometimes the boys will even work on it while they eat their snacks.
Once their homework is done, they have free time.
4. Unstructured free time
I don’t make my boys do afternoon chores. There is so little time between school and supper, that I want them to have time to just unwind from the day and play.
But that is where our family values come in, momma. My husband and I highly value play, especially unstructured free time.
You might value teaching responsibility through chores. If so, this might be a good time to implement chores into your afternoon routine.
My boys, on the other hand, run downstairs to play. This often involves playing the Xbox or Nintendo.
But they might also play with toys, play board games, or go outside and play. My Little Toots is an avid reader, so he will often use this time to grab a book and curl up in the corner of the couch.
Whatever it is, it is their time.
5. Before dinner routine
My boys play until suppertime.
Typically, my husband and I create homemade meals. So, that means I’m in the kitchen from around four to around seven, sometimes later. That takes up a big chunk of my time!
I need my kids to leave me alone and go play during that time. 😅
But as dinner rolls nearer, I need them to get ready.
So that’s when they have chores.
They simply need to clean up whatever it is that they are playing with!
And, if their rooms are a mess from the morning, they need to go clean that up as well.
After that, supper is served!
A note on screen time
I do let my kids have screen time. They are only allowed screen time from after their homework is done until supper. After supper, they must turn it off.
But I’m still working out exactly what that screen time looks like. 😆 There’s three of them, and they all want a chance to play XBOX. Do I let them each play alone? They always want to play alone.
Or, do I make them all play together?
Or do I give one child a chance to play alone each day?
I’m really at a loss! I used to use screen time minutes. But they seem to have outgrown them. (And by outgrown, I mean outsmarted…)
So, I’m open to suggestions momma! If you have a system for screen time that works for you, leave it in the comments below! I’ll give it a try.
At the end of the day….
And that’s it! Creating your after-school routine doesn’t have to be hard. All it takes is knowing what your family values are so that you can decide what activities you want to put in there, and then chunk it down!
Use natural transitions to move from one activity to the next, such as snack time and supper time.
And then stay consistent!! That’s usually the hardest part.
I have to force myself to stop working when the kids come home. I meet them at the door, and I just hang out, in the living/dining room, until they have all moved to free time.
That way I’m available to help with snacks and homework, of course, but I’m also there to make sure everything gets done. Did they hang up their backpacks? Put their masks and lunch boxes away?
Did I sign their planners and check any teacher notes? 😁
At the end of the day, momma, it’s up to us to stay consistent with the after-school routines.
More on Sahm Schedules
How to Create The Best Morning Routine for Your Stay-at-Home Mom Schedule
Wanna Create the Best Ever Stay at Home Mom Schedule? Here’s How!
How to Create a Daily SAHM Routine Using Time Chunking