Summer Schedules for the Kids

Now that we're finished with our school year, it's getting a little harder to keep the younglings happy and occupied. We have a general rhythm to our days during the school year so they're used to a basic routine. This summer I thought we'd take all the pressure off and just let them do all the things they said they didn't have time to do this past school year. Well... that lasted about half an hour.
Apparently, they still need some sort of structure to their day. So I opened up Excel and started typing. :)

I've used this basic idea the past few summers and actually included little clip art pictures so my non-readers could get the general idea of what our day looked like. This year, I just went with a totally boring format. I put our daily routine in but left out any times. That allows us to be a little more flexible (since I have a very 'stick to the rules' youngling in my house.) So now rather than asking me and not liking my answer, when they say 'what do we do?", I can say check the schedule.

I also try to mix things up by planning out of the house activities. We're blessed to live in an area where there are lots of kid events offered. In fact there's so much that I was afraid I'd miss out on some great opportunities (some of which we can count towards next year's schooling.) To get all that info together, I opened up the calendar template in Publisher. I picked a cool template option and fun summery color scheme and then typed in everything that I had info for.... library programs, $1 roller skating, craft days at Michael's, free concerts, and $1 movie days. I also added in the week the younglings will attend a local day camp and our Vacation Bible School week.
After I printed it, I realized that some of the events required pre-registration so I went back and high-lighted those. Now at a glance, I can see all the activities I was hoping to participate in and make sure we don't miss out!

So between the daily/weekly schedule and the extra events, we should be all set for some summer fun. If not, there's always the I'm Bored Jar and the sand table.

 

Or there's always more chores!!!

Linking up to these great blog parties:

Sunday: Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming; Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife;
Tuesday: One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons; Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia;
Wednesday: Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman; It's Overflowing at Overflowing with Creativity; Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts;
Home Decor & Organizing at Organize and Decorate Everything;
Thursday: Delightfully Inspiring Thursday at Delightful Order; Thrifty Thursday at Thrifty and Fabuless;  Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage;
Friday: Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest; Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring; One Creative Weekend at One Creative Mommy