After School Schedule for Kids

How hectic is after school time at your house?

I’m guessing that it doesn’t matter if you have one kid or five, after school is almost always crazy.

Consistency with Kids

In almost all areas of parenting, when you are dealing with kids, consistency always wins. Consistency is how we keep bedtime running so smoothly in our house!

And what goes hand in hand with consistency? A schedule.

Believe it or not, kids really thrive in a structured environment. Our daughter knows that every night after dinner it is time to brush her teeth and head to bed. Now, she even goes to bed after dinner without us even telling her to!

Having that consistent schedule every night makes parenting significantly easier on us and completely eliminates the power struggle that a lot of parents go through with their kids.

Not that she doesn’t have her days, because she does. But most nights she is in bed with no complaints by 8pm.

After School Schedule for Kids

If you aren’t careful after school can be a disaster and next thing you know it is 10 pm and the kids are still running around without baths or being prepared for the next school day.

I truly believe that with enough consistency (and it will probably be hard to stick to at first) you can get your kids into an after-school routine that not only runs seamlessly, but gives you extra quality time to spend as a family before bed.

When the kids first get home, have them put away their shoes, hang up/empty their backpacks, and sit down for an after school snack. When emptying their backpacks this is where they should get out their homework, make a pile of any important papers for mom, and clean out their lunchboxes as well.

Since most of us moms are busy after school I suggest keeping easy snacks around the house that the kids can grab themselves.

After the kids finish their snack it is a good idea for them to get homework out of the way so that they don’t have to worry about it for the rest of the night and so that mom has time to check over it before the kids head to bed.

When homework time is over this is when the kids can have free time to play outside or whatever else they feel like doing to unwind.

After dinner, your kids can do baths, teeth brushing, and reading. You can also set aside a little time before bed for them to lay out their clothes for the next day so that your mornings can run more smoothly.

Obviously, a schedule like this will look different for every family and it won’t go according to plan every single day, but having a solid schedule can take a lot of stress out of your day.

Printable After School Checklist

Here is a FREE printable after school checklist that you can feel free to download and print for use in your home! Just enter your name and email address in the box below and it should send right to your email address. Then just print it from there! 🙂