How to Create a Fun, Flexible Summer Routine with Kids at Home

To help you be more organized this summer, I’m sharing tips on how to get ready for summer with your kids at home.

I want you to be able to stress less so you can have an intentional, enjoyable time with your children while they’re with you all day for these summer months! :) 

We’re going to start our little series with talking about how to create a fun, flexible summer routine for your days.

I’m kind-of a weird person in that I enjoy being spontaneous, but I am genuinely less stressed when I have a plan. Yet I’m never going to be one who wants every minute of my day planned out.

If you have a similar personality type, what this ends up meaning is that you probably function best with a “framework” for the day that allows for flexibility but also lays out a plan to follow so that you know what can come next.

Plus, kids thrive on routine, so it’s helpful to have some sort of rhythm to your day. I’ve been working on daily rhythms over the last few summers to figure out what works best. Hopefully this layout helps you!

Sample Summer Schedule for Kids at Home

We have multiple ages of children, so this is what our summer will look like this year:

7:00 AM-Breakfast, get ready for the day, morning chores, independent play (no screen time), Bible time, craft or some other activity if needed. We’ll also go outside early in the morning during the hottest part of the summer.

10:00 AM-Activity time, like going to the park, a free class somewhere, bike ride, play outside.

Noon – Lunch, quick clean-up, relax.

1:00 PM – Nap time for the youngest, quiet independent activities for older kids. Screen time starts at 2:00 PM and goes for an hour. During this time I’ll be working.

3:00 PM – Go to the pool! Or other outdoor time depending on the weather.

5:00 PM – Prep and eat supper. I’m hoping to have my older two (13 and 10) do a lot of the cooking this summer and my husband do the grilling!

7:00 PM – Take our evening walk or hang out with some people from church or our neighborhood. We’d love to get to know some families in our church better, and our neighbors too! We go to bed a little later in the summer, but we’ll do our devotions in the evenings too.

Normally, we have baseball in the summertime, but this summer, because we’ll be gone quite a bit on some trips, we decided to bypass any summer sports.

You can see our more detailed summer schedule for families with multiple age children in this photo:

This might seem pretty simple, but having a rhythm and framework for what your day will look like keeps you from just spending all day in front of the TV and gives you the ability to “plug in” goals and bucket list items that you want to make a part of your summer!

Take a few moments today to map out a rhythm for your summer days!

At the end of this post, you’ll find a blank daily summer rhythm download for you to use in your home!

Need some extra help with your summer?

I don’t know about you, but I always approach summer vacation with excitement mixed with some nervousness.

I love the freedom and lack of routine in some ways, and in other ways it scares me that my patience won’t be able to survive unstructured time with all my kids home 24/7.

But, just like coming up with some great activity ideas to break up the days, I’ve learned a little summer planning can go a long way.

Summer comes with it’s own set of specific “planning” challenges though.

We need a routine for us AND the kids, we want the kids to pitch in with helping around the house and our schedule will be a mix of organized events and spontaneous fun (which is good!).

We need ways to get things done, but also space for last-minute ideas. 

So to help with this, I created the Purposeful Family Summer Planner!

It’s a printable resource designed specifically for moms who are at home with their kids during the summer. (That’s my experience as a work-at-home mom, so I can only speak to that). 

Not only will it help you organize your time, but it also lays out a plan for a strong devotional life for your family as well as a guide to making a “family strategy” for the summer, so you can all discuss your priorities and make plans together too. 

I really believe that creating a “whole family” plan and not just individual plans for each person will help your summer goals, strategies and ideas to actually be accomplished, because they are a cooperative effort!

(I’ve created a video for you along with the planner explaining how to create a whole family plan for your summer!)

This summer, I want you to be ready with a plan, be a happier more patient mom and enjoy making lots of fun memories with your kids!

Want to see what’s inside the Purposeful Family Summer Planner?

Click the button below for details and get your copy for a special price!

Show me the Purposeful Family Summer Planner! 

Here’s the sample summer schedule for you to download and use with your family! Just click on the image and a blank copy will download for you to write in!