Creating a Daily Schedule for an Unexpected Day at Home

When there has been an unexpected day at home (school or camp is closed last minute) one thing I've found to be super helpful is to have a Daily Schedule to follow!

This summer my kids (ages 4, 8, and 10) are doing different day camps each week. When I was working on the camp schedule for the summer my oldest son, N(10), wanted a few weeks of nothing structured so he could just hang out. I had never tried a full week of no camp for him and for some reason I was really anxious about it. Well, I’m happy to say that so far this summer has been going great! N(10) has been motivated to learn to play tennis, he’s been busy with a reading challenge at the library, he’s had fun play dates, he loves doing crafts so has been creating his own board game, and he’s been happy to run around town with me doing errands and picking up his brother and sister. During one of these weeks I was wondering why I had been so anxious about having him home so much! Then, I received an email from my other kids’ camp alerting parents that forest fire smoke was in the air and that if the air quality reached a certain level, camp would be immediately canceled. When I received that email I realized why I’d been hesitant to have N(10) at home so much - when there is an unexpected event that forces you to stay at home, things can feel really disorganized and disrupted for everyone. So when N(10) asked for some weeks off of camp instead of seeing the fun opportunities he would have, I was recalling past intense days of being forced to stay home unexpectedly and getting anxious about keeping everyone busy/entertained all day.

In the past few years, like many of you, we’ve been forced to stay at home because of snow days, torrential rains, and smoke advisories. As I think back on what I learned from those unexpected days at home, the one major thing that helped my family was creating a Daily Schedule for that day.

I love using a digital schedule that my husband and I follow that has all the kids’ activities in it, and I love having a paper wall calendar to show the kids their activities each day of the week. So, after a few times of being forced to be at home, I decided to create a simple Daily Schedule that I put together the day that we hear we are going to be at home. This schedule helps me remember things that are required (i.e. virtual lessons for school) and helps plan out activities to keep the kids busy. This paper puts meals and snacks on a schedule so the kids aren’t asking for food all day, and clearly lays out screentime for the day which helps us all! I have also really liked having it to point to when the kids ask what’s happening next.

If you have an unexpected day at home and want to try creating a daily schedule to help organize your day, then here are things to consider when creating one:

1. List All Required Events: List the activities that are required, like any virtual schooling, naps, or anything you as a parent must do.
2. Work Backwards: Once the required events are listed, the next thing to list is the final event of the day - bedtime - and then work backwards to add in bath, then dinner, then afternoon snack, then lunch, then morning snack, and then breakfast. This way you can make sure that the day’s events won’t delay the kids’ regular bedtime!
3. Make Time for You: You have things you need to get done throughout every day (zoom meetings, laundry, meal prep, etc.) so make sure those are also listed in the schedule. During those times when you are occupied, think of independent play the kids can do without you. The level of your involvement will vary depending on what your task is and how old your kids are. You may need to use screens if you have to be on a Zoom uninterrupted, or if you’re folding laundry and can oversee an activity, then add in what you feel is appropriate for your kids to do during that time.
4. Use Blocks of Time Not Specific Times: After you’ve put in all of those necessary items on the schedule you can fill in activities around the other things you’ve listed. The idea is to not list exact times because if an activity is going great, you can extend it, and alternately, if it’s not going well you can end it quickly!
5. Think of Activities to Inspire Their Play: Two of my kids do great with unstructured time and can be really imaginative and busy for a long time, and one of mine needs something to kickstart them into creating/being independent. Some ideas I’ve used to get that kid started are:
   1. Play-Doh and Color Wonder coloring pads – have the kids in a highchair with that activity set out/taped on to their tray (for younger kids)
   2. “Trash Art” – give the kids a bunch of your recycling and some glue, tape, scissors, markers, and fun extras like pipe cleaners etc. to see what they create (for older kids)
   3. Box City – gather your boxes and some scissors and Sharpies so they can create a Box City (for older kids)

1. Find Ways to Get Kids Moving: If you are able to be outside then taking time to run around and “get wiggles out” will be really helpful to you all! If you can’t go outside, then try some online workout videos from GoNoodle - they’re fun and the kids like doing them!

7. Use Screens as a Tool: You can use screens during times you need to get things done, or as a “free choice”, or as an educational tool (try a National Park Virtual Tour) - the key is that if you are offering screens then you list it on the schedule so when/if the kids ask for screens you can point to the schedule and they’ll see what you’ve decided for the day, know it’s coming (or not), and then hopefully stop asking you about screentime!
8. Find Fun Things to Make the Unexpected Day Special: Once you’ve processed that you’re home for the day then find ways to take advantage of this bonus family day! Maybe you bake something together, cook dinner together, read every other page of a book together, play board games, let them choose a show you watch together and then talk about it, challenge each other to get more steps than each other, etc.

I hope that if you’re ever given an unexpected day at home that this way of setting up a Daily Schedule can help organize your family’s day!

❤️, Amanda, your Type A Mom friend