4 Ways to Simplify Your After-School Routine With Young Kids

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From the time your kids get home from school to the time you sit down to eat dinner is usually not a very long time, but somehow it can be a super stressful time! Kids are usually cranky from being hungry, tired, being “on” all day at school, or they just want some time with you. When I am not intentional about how we spend that time I usually end up with meltdowns or arguments, and it’s no fun!

Over the past couple of years of my older child being in school, I have learned a few things that help us have a smoother after-school transition.

Today I am going to share 4 ways you can simplify your own after-school routine with young children. My kids are not in after school sports yet, so I haven’t really addressed any of those considerations. However, many of these tips would apply to those situations as well.

And make sure you stick around to the end because I am sharing a super fun and super simple way to keep your kiddos engaged and hopefully avoid those meltdowns that are so common after school.

Let’s get right to it!

Four Ways to Simplify Your After-School Routine With Young Children

1. Map out a simple routine and communicate it with your family

Mapping out a routine will help you and your family to stay on track with what needs to happen next. A routine will not always go as planned, but thinking about it ahead of time will help eliminate always forgetting to take the papers out of the backpack, for example.

I also recommend communicating this routine with your kids so they know what to expect as well! There is no point planning out a routine for our kids to follow and then not telling them about it!

Here is a sample routine:

• Put away backpacks, get out school papers and review with mom, get out lunch box and put dirty containers in the dishwasher.
• Change into play clothes.
• Eat a simple snack platter (love this idea from The Lazy Genius!)
• Do a simple pre-planned activity.
• Complete homework and/or chore chart.
• Free play or TV.
• Eat dinner as a family.

2. Prep the snack ahead of time

I don’t know about you, but my kids are usually starving when they get home from school! They will often ask if I brought anything with me in the car for them to eat! Ummmm no, we only live 5 minutes away from school, you can wait! Haha! I try to always have a snack ready to go before I even leave the house. Otherwise, the kids will grab all the junk food they can find.

I love the snack platter idea from The Lazy Genius. This allows me to prep a couple healthy options plus one treat I know they love.

3. Prep a super simple activity for your kids

I try to set up some kind of activity for my kids to do when they get home. I keep these super-duper simple, for me and for them. We will do things like playdough, painting, a coloring page prompt, or a simple experiment or some way to get my kids moving.

I will even take it a step further to plan a week’s worth of activities at a time to ensure I have all the supplies I’ll need and don’t have to run to the store before pick-up.

Keep reading for more tips to incorporate activities into your routine too!

4. Take a deeeeeeeep breath, have an open mind, and have fun!

This last tip is super important to keep your cool during this sometimes stressful time of day. I try to take a few minutes before I pick up my kids to take some deep breaths. This helps me to relax and be ready to greet them with a big smile when they hop in the car!

Three Reasons I Incorporate Simple Hands-On Activities Into Our After-School routine

It may seem strange that I include a pre-planned activity for my kids since they JUST got home from school. But I have found that the days I plan out an activity for my kids go so much more smoothly than the days where I just let them do whatever they want. When I don’t plan anything I usually end up hearing a lot more fighting or the kids just end up wanting to watch TV.

Here are a few other reasons I love to incorporate these super simple activities into our routine:

• Offers a way to connect with my kids after a long day at school. I love that I can connect with my kids after their school day before the hustle and bustle of the evening starts.
• Helps minimize the after school craziness. You know what I’m talking about….the kids just spent all day holding it together at school so when they get home they just let loose! This sometimes looks like tantrums and meltdowns in our house! I have found that planning out something simple for my kids to focus on helps to eliminate these outbursts.
• Gives my kids something to do while I finish up dinner besides watching TV. Sometimes the activities don’t need a lot of interaction from me so I can set them up and then let the kids run with it. This gives me a few minutes to finish cooking dinner or cleaning up the kitchen.

Do you want to try incorporating simple activities into your day as well?

Well, I have some great news for you!! There is a FREE Learning Without Worksheets Challenge from Jamie with Hands On As We Grow that is happening the week of October 5th!

I have participated in these free challenges in the past and I LOVE them!

Here are five reasons why:

• There is an accountability FB group. You’ll meet other moms doing the challenge and get encouragement to follow through in your home.
• The activities are super duper easy and it’s all planned out for you! Plus, they don’t have to take a ton of time if you don’t want them to and many of the activities can be adapted for different ages and lengths of time.
• The activities help me to spend intentional time with my kiddos after a long day at school.
• This particular challenge has no worksheets to print out. Woohoo!
• I usually have all the supplies on hand already so no last-minute trips to the store for some weird supply.

If you’re ready to simplify your after-school routine with easy activities, this free challenge is for you!

How to sign up: Click here and enter your email address

You’ll get a supply list from Jamie right away just to make sure you’re ready to go by the 5th.  By the end of this challenge, you’ll have simple go-to activities that teach your child the basics anytime, anywhere, without them even realizing it.

I’ve done these challenges she provides in the past, and this is the PERFECT opportunity to kickstart a fresh new “school year”, get back on track with your activities if you’ve gotten sidetracked, or add a little spice to your current activities!

Are you ready to join me??

I’m super excited to do this Learning Without Worksheets Challenge this October!

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