the Best Summer Schedule for Kids + Free Printable Bundle

I have both a love and hate relationship with summers. I love that I get more time with my kids and we have more freedom with our time.

Like sleeping in later, slow mornings, and not spending hours each week hauling kids to and from school.

However, I hate that there’s very little natural structure to our daily schedule. Which, of course, can quickly lead to bored (and whiny) kids…

…and me banishing them to the backyard while counting down the days still school starts back up.

But you know what makes all the difference between a summer of frustration and a summer of fun?

A great summer schedule for kids.

And in this post, we’re going to go over in detail how to build the best summer schedule for your children. Plus you can grab free summer daily schedule template printables to help you on your way to an amazing summer.

CREATING THE PERFECT SUMMER SCHEDULE FOR YOUR KIDS

If you’re wondering “How do I put my child on a summer schedule?” this post has everything you need to create the perfect routine for your kid.

Including free printable daily and weekly summer schedules you can use to  customize the perfect schedule for you.

First off, the best daily summer schedule is structured enough to keep you and your kids busy and happy. But it also gives you enough freedom so that you don’t  feel like you’re held hostage by a rigid schedule.

Here’s what you need to keep in mind as you create your schedule this summer:

1. There’s no perfect schedule for everyone.

We all have different situations, kids, and personalities. Which means there’s no way one schedule will work well for everyone. The perfect schedule is one that works for YOU.

Everything that follows will help you build the best daily summer routine for you and your kids.

2. Don’t schedule every minute.

One of the biggest mistakes people make in creating a schedule is that they over schedule and then either feel like they’re rushing from one task to the next.

Or like they don’t have any time for spontaneity, fun, or the kind of things that inevitably pop up with kids (ex. a diaper blow out, spilled juice, or a skinned knee).

3. Involve your kids.

Generally speaking, kids thrive when they get to contribute to planning. That way, they get a sense of ownership over the schedule or plan.

So as you build the summer schedule, include your kids in the conversation.

Ask them what kinds of activities they want to do over summer break.   

Also, explain the reasoning behind some of the plan you make.

For example. if you choose to add reading and educational activities to your schedule, explain how it’s important to keep up with school progress over summer.

And chores are important to keep the household running and everyone needs to play a part.

4. Include SUMMER ACTIVITIES & OUTINGS

Outings break up the day or week by getting kids out of the house and doing something special.

These could be easy outings like hitting up a park near your house or outings that take more effort and planning like making a trek to the zoo, museum, or a water park.

There are several outing ideas on the Weekly Summer Theme Day Activity Schedule included in the free printable summer scheduling bundle you can grab at the bottom of this post.

5. Ease into your new schedule.

Don’t forget that kids need time to adjust to significant schedules changes.

Usually, kids need about a week or 2 to get the hang of it.

So don’t expect to follow it with perfection right off the bat. Gradually work your way to following the schedule or else you’ll just end up frustrated.

5. Post your schedule.

Keeping your schedule in a public area means everyone knows what’s going on.

I’ve also found that when I post schedules, my kids will keep us on schedule moving from one thing to the next. Which gives them more autonomy and independence over their day.

6. Adjust as needed

Building the right schedule usually takes a little trial and error. Don’t be afraid to tweak your schedule to work better for you.

HOW TO MAKE A DAILY SUMMER ROUTINE

With the above tips in mind, let’s now dive into all the different elements of your daily summer routine.

SUMMER SLEEP SCHEDULE

Often, summer means and adjusted sleep schedule.

Your kid may want to sleep in or perhaps you want to be able to sleep in a little since you’re not at the mercy of a school start time.

Here are some tips to ensure that everyone gets enough sleep, while still making your sleep schedule work for you.

→ Let your kids follow their natural sleep schedule.

Getting enough sleep is essential for everyone’s health. And it’s especially important for growing kids.

(Here’s a chart with recommended hours of sleep for different age groups of kids)

In addition to having a set number of hours we need to sleep to function, we also have a built-in clock for when our bodies want to sleep.

For example, my oldest and youngest kids wake up at the crack of dawn (or before) while the 2 middle kids will easily sleep for 2 more hours.   

And the beauty of summer, is we have more flexibility with sleep schedules.

Build your schedule with everyone’s sleep needs in mind.

→ Get blackout curtains.

And one of things that will help improve everyone’s sleep? Black out curtains.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that getting black out curtains for all the bedrooms changed my life.

My kids slept later without the early morning summer sun creeping in their windows.

And my husband and I got much better-quality sleep with a darker bedroom.

We got all ours at Target, which has many cute and affordable options.

MORNING ROUTINE

Mornings sets the stage for how the rest of the day goes. And starting off the days with a great morning routine will set your daily summer schedule off on the right foot.

You can also check out this great Summer Routine Chart for kids.

1. Set the daily start time.

Have time when day starts and kids need to play in their bedroom or play in designated area before day officially starts.

If you have younger kids, you can use a light alarm clock to help them know when that time is.

You can set it light up to green at a certain time to let the child know it’s okay to leave ethe bedroom.

Before the green light, it means it’s time to quietly play in your bedroom.

2. Make breakfast easy

As a mom of 4, I’ve found that making breakfast as easy as possible is one of the best ways to start the day. Everyone gets fed without taking up much time or effort.

Here’s a few tips to make breakfast easy this summer:

• Teach kids to prepare simple breakfasts. Along with black out curtains, another life changer was when my oldest kid could get herself cereal or make some toast on her own. Instead of needing to wake us up to get food, she had the power to get food on her own
• Meal prep breakfast foods. These are go-to healthy breakfast meal-prep recipes that my kids love. It’s also super easy for kids to microwave a muffin for 30 seconds and have an instant breakfast.
• Make a weekly breakfast schedule. This saves you time and mental energy. For example:
  • Monday: Breakfast cereal
  • Tuesday: Protein muffins from freezer
  • Wednesday: Scrambled eggs
  • Thursday: Pancakes or French toast
  • Friday: Breakfast cereal
  • Saturday: Muffins from freezer
  • Sunday: Pancakes or French toast

3. Have your Kids do chores.

Morning is great time for kids to get done necessary tasks (like chores) before they can play.

Firstly, they have motivation to get them done so they can get to playing. And it’s easier to get kids to do chores when everyone is refreshed and has energy after a good night’s sleep.   

To help you with summer chores, check out Age Appropriate Chores for Kids for chore ideas and also grab the Free Printable Summer Chore Chart (shown below).

4. Fit in Instrument Practice (if applicable)

If you children play an instrument, morning is also a great time for practice.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Chances are, you have some educational activities you want you kid to do over the summer so they can progress academically.

Bare minimum, it’s great to include daily reading whether you read to your child or they read to themselves.

This might be something you want to fit into your morning after chores, or perhaps after lunch when energy is naturally a little lower.  

You can use this cute summer reading log to track your kid’s reading progress.

Perhaps you’d also like to do worksheets also to keep up skills. These kid’s workbooks are great to review elementary school level skills over summer.  

DAILY SUMMER ACTIVITIES

To fight boredom, it’s also a great idea to break up the day with set times for structured activities including:Open-ended play: where kids have very beneficial un-structured play time.

Outside play: To explore, play in the sprinklers, use imaginative play etc.

Outings: Outings break up the day or week by getting kids out of the house and doing something special.

Theme day activities: Which provide structure and guidance to your daily activities. You can see the weekly summer theme-day schedule included in the bundle below for ideas.

Crafts or drawing: Open-ended crafting/drawing/creating also helps kids developmentally and creatively while keeping them busy and happy.

Here are several summer activity ideas:

• Park
• Make Giant Bubbles
• Nature Scavenger Hunt
• Swim
• Hike
• Make race track with sidewalk chalk
• Visit the library
• Play in the sprinklers
• Science Center
• Local Museum
• Make cards for someone
• Bake something & deliver it to friends or neighbors
• Pillow fort
• Play date
• Invite friend over
• Build with Lego bricks
• Bike Ride
• Go for a picnic
• Sidewalk chalk uplifting message or murals
• Kid’s science experiments
• backyard stargazing
• water balloon baseball
• hide & seek in the dark
• visit water park or splashpad
• bean bag toss
• Go to movies
• Obstacle course
• Popcorn or lemonade stand

BEDTIME ROUTINE

With the sun out later, summertime often means later bedtimes. (Especially for school-age kids).

But while the bedtime might be later, it’s still important to have a calming nighttime routine so your kids happy drift off to sleep.

(Which gives you some kid-free downtime to connect with your partner and take care of yourself)

For tips on building a great bedtime routine, check out The 5 Simple Trick to a Quick & Tear-Free Bedtime Routine for Kids.

SAMPLE DAILY SUMMER SCHEDULES

While there’s no perfect schedule, here are some sample schedules you can use as guides too building your perfect summer schedule for your kids.

Remember, at the end of the day it’s all about finding what works for you and your kid(s).

Example Schedule for Kids 3-5 (still taking an afternoon nap)

• 7:00 – Breakfast
• 8:00 – Help mom with chores
• 9:00 – Daily outing
• NOON – Lunch
• 1:00 – Nap time
• 3:00 – Independent play
• 4:00 – Color/draw
• 5:00 – Dinner & clean up
• 6:00 – Family time
• 6:30 ­– Bedtime routine (baths, reading)
• 7:00 – Bedtime

Example Schedule for Kids 6-10

• 8:00 – Breakfast
• 9:00 – Chores & instrument practice
• 10:30 – Independent play
• NOON – Lunch & clean up
• 1:00 – Read for 30 minutes
• 1:30 – Grade level workbook
• 2:00 – Play outside
• 4:00 – Screen time
• 5:00 – Help mom with dinner
• 5:30 –Dinner & clean up
• 6:30 – Family time
• 8:15 – Clean up house
• 8:30 ­– Bedtime routine
• 9:00 – Bedtime

Example Schedule for family with varying ages

• 7:00 – Free play quietly
• 8:00 – Breakfast
• 8:30 – Chores & instrument practice
• 10:30 – Play outside
• NOON – Lunch & clean up
• 1:00 – Naptime/Reading & quiet play
• 3:00 – Outing/ activity
• 5:00 – Help mom with dinner
• 5:30 –Dinner & clean up
• 6:30 – Family time
• 7:00 – Bedtime for younger kids
• 8:30 – Bedtime for older kids

FREE SUMMER SCHEDULE PRINTABLES

To help you create your perfect summer schedule, I’ve created a free printable summer schedule bundle.

The download includes 4 schedule template PDF

• 2 styles of hourly summer schedules that you can customize
• A Weekly Summer Theme Day Activity Schedule with Activity Ideas
• A blank Summer Theme Day Activity Schedule you can customize to your family

You can grab all of these at the bottom of this post.

FILLABLE DAILY & WEEKLY SUMMERTIME SCHEDULE TEMPLATES

However, if you’d like fillable schedule templates you can customize I’ve also created a Fillable Daily & Weekly Summer Schedule Bundle in the shop.

It includes:

• 2 Fillable daily summer schedule templates
• A Weekly Summer Theme Day Activity Schedule with Activity Ideas
• Fillable Theme Day Activity Schedule
• Fillable Summertime Weekly Block Schedule

Using the Adobe Reader, you can customize your schedules by typing directly into the PDF and printing them out.

This is great if you don’t like your handwriting or want more professional looking charts to display.

THE BEST SUMMER SCHEDULE FOR KIDS

With all these tools, you are 100% ready to build the perfect summer schedule for your family.

Remember to start gradually (give yourself a week or so of transition time to get the hang of it). And be sure to adjust your schedule if it feels too restrictive or hard to follow.

The best schedule is the one that works for you.

Grab the free summer schedule printables and start planning your summer!

MORE SUMMER PRINTABLES TO GET ORGANIZED:

Free Summer Chore Chart to Keep Kids Busy & Mom Happy

Summer Reading Log to Encourage Reading