While people reminisce about the lazy days of summer, those of us who spend the warmer months with kids all day often face a different reality. It may be constant bickering between siblings, a chorus of “I’m bored,” or an insatiable thirst for screen time. Or maybe the children in your care are fantastic at finding things to do with their newfound free time. (Though I would guess not since you are reading this article…) My kids thrive with some structure. That’s why I made a summer schedule template that can be tailored for kids young and old.
Pin me!
Read on to see how it works and to download your free printable version. This is great for parents, grandparents, nannies, babysitters, or anyone who takes care of kids during summer break. Also check out my summer bucket list post for other fun ideas.
Divide Your Kids’ Day Into Large Chunks
While you can certainly plan out activities hour by hour, I prefer a more flexible schedule that breaks the day into chunks. This allows for the day or routine to change without completely disrupting the summer schedule template. I have a five-year-old daughter and an eight-year-old son and I made sure that the basic outline works for both of them.
My kids are both super early risers, which is great during the school year but makes summer days long. And since the evenings vary, I don’t include them in the schedule. Therefore, the day is broken into early morning, mid-morning, midday, early afternoon, and late afternoon. I also have a section for bonus activities.
Early Morning
The early morning starts whenever my kids get up. Unfortunately for me, it is always in the six o’clock hour. My husband usually takes the morning shift so that I can get showered before he heads to the office.
Our kids are supposed to make their beds, get dressed, brush their teeth, and eat breakfast after they get up. The youngest needs a little help with this, but my older son can do this independently. Then they each get 45 minutes of screen time. This allows me to get ready and start the day without having to immediately get them on task.
Late Morning
Basically, I define this as the time after screen time and before lunch. My kids do chores, an outside activity for 30 minutes, and then free play. This also tends to be the time that we most frequently run errands, so it is intentionally flexible.
If the kids aren’t sure what to do for a particular category, I have color-coded popsicle sticks with different ideas for chores, outside activities, free play, and things to play together. They can draw these out if they can’t think of something on their own. I’ll give you examples of what I use later.
Midday
This is time for lunch and 60 minutes of quiet time. Neither kid needs a nap, but this mom can definitely use the break to work or do whatever else I’ve been putting off. The kids go to their room and play or read independently during this time. My son would literally read all day if I didn’t make him do other things, so this is a time he really enjoys.
It also allows me to stagger their quiet time for some one-on-one time with each kid if I want. Sometimes when my husband comes home for lunch, we play a game with my oldest without my daughter interrupting.
This time frame on the summer scheduled template has come to be a household favorite.
Early Afternoon
After quiet time (or nap if you have younger kids), we do a snack. Then my kids have to play together for 30 minutes. Not only do I think this is a good habit for them, but it gives me some more time to work while they are entertained.
Late Afternoon
We end the afternoon with 30 minutes of body movement and more free play. If the weather is nice, they usually go outside for this. But for rainy days, we’ve successfully found kids’ exercise videos for them to follow along with. We have a Beachbody On Demand subscription, so they like the choices in the Kids and Family section. But you can also find them on YouTube.
Bonus Activities
As I mentioned, my son would much rather read or play with something in his room than be active outside. So I built in an incentive for him to earn 15 minutes of extra screen time for every 30 minutes of outside activity he does. I also give him 15 extra minutes for every 30 minutes extra of playing nicely with his sister, and 15 minutes for each additional approved chore he does.
These will differ depending on your specific situation, but I recommend choosing things that make your life easier. You don’t want to create more work for yourself with bonus activities that require a lot of supervision or prep work on your part.
Summer Schedule Template for Younger Kids
Both my eight year old and five year old use the summer schedule template, but my daughter’s activities are more flexible than my son’s. Since he is older, he can manage his time and tasks independently. She is younger, can’t read, and needs help with many items. Therefore, I make modifications that are developmentally appropriate for her.
For example, her “chores” are usually homework from her speech, occupational, or physical therapists. We might work on an articulation worksheet, practice writing her name, or do animal walks during that time. I also have one of these magnetic alphabet tracing boards she can do without me, or I have her work on a specific skill during play. Check out my list of best developmental toys for young kids here.
My son is responsible enough to play outside with kids on the street or ride his scooter without me supervising. However, I’ll only let my daughter outside without me in the fenced backyard with the window open so that I can see and hear her.
Since my youngest always wants to play with her brother, she only needs to practice sharing and being nice when they play together. I also don’t really use the bonus activities with her because she likes to tag along with whatever he is doing anyway.
The beauty of this summer schedule template is that you can adjust it to fit your family’s situation.
Ideas for Kids’ Activities and Chores
If the kids have a difficult time thinking of ideas for a particular time on the summer schedule, I put together color-coded popsicle sticks with ideas written on them they can draw. We colored the ends with markers together, and I used a Sharpie to write the activity on the other end. Below are some of the things I suggested in their category.
My kids colored the end of popsicle sticks to make these color-coded activity ideas.
Chores for my 8-year-old son
- Clean bathroom
- Dust
- Vacuum a room
- Empty dishwasher
- Lint-roll the couch (it’s navy twill and this keeps it looking fresh)
- Take out the trash
- Water plants
- Mom’s Choice
Chores for my 5-year-old daughter
-
- Practice writing name
- Magnetic letter board
- Color
- Animal walk cards
- Speech worksheet
- Preschool workbook sheet
Outside activities
- Ride scooter
- Play in sandbox
- Hopscotch
- Ride bike
- Bubbles
- Soccer (I got these pop-up goals for them to use)
- Football (this goalpost set means my son can practice on his own)
- Archery (this foam bow and arrow set is great for kids)
- Sidewalk chalk
Ideas for Playing Together
-
- Puzzles
- Barn set
- Play-Doh
- Magnetic tiles (I got a couple of sets of Picasso Tiles from Zulily years ago and they are still going strong)
- Play food
- Cardboard blocks (these from Melissa and Doug hold up great)
- Read books
- Play a game (Zingo, Candy Land, Memory, and Sneaky Snacky Squirrel are popular with my kids)
- Hide and seek
Free Play Ideas for My 8 Year Old
- Hot Wheels
- Draw something (he loves directed drawings on YouTube)
- Snap Circuits (we first saw these at an engineering day for kids and he loves them)
- Q-Ba-Maze (these are like a marble run)
- LEGOs
- Baseball game (this MLB Slammin’ Sluggers game fits on a tabletop)
- Or any toys that he forgets about from his room
Free Play Ideas for My 5 Year Old
- Dot Markers (we love these from Do-A-Dot)
- Play kitchen
- Dolls
- Little People set
- Play toolset
- Food set (we have the pasta, pizza, felt sandwich, and cookie sets from Melissa and Doug)
- Potato Head
You can add whatever you want to these. The act of drawing something makes the task a little more exciting, especially since they tend to stick to the same things when left to make their own decisions.
Download Your Free Printable Summer Schedule Template
You can download your copy of the summer schedule template here. It’s customizable so you can alter and print for your kids. Let me know what tweaks you make in the comments below.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This post contains links to third party companies. I may receive a small commission if you purchase any of these items. Please know that I only recommend and endorse products that I think will be of value to my readers.
Hi! I'm Jessica! I help people fund adoptions, navigate parenting, save money, and enjoy the good things in life. 
