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daily rhythm with preschoolers?
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I have two children- a 4 1/2 year old boy and an almost 3 year old girl. The past summer/fall was spent primarily outside whenever possible, reading lots of good books, and lots of pretend play (with some crafts thrown in when they were interested). Now that winter has arrived and it’s much colder, we just can’t realistically spend as much time outside. So- now I’m feeling stuck in how to structure our days. Do any of you have suggestions of what a rhythm/flow of the day might look like for two preschoolers? How might you structure the day? If we just have free play all the time, I feel it’s much easier for the kids to start bickering or getting bored. Any suggestions of how to structure the day or good activities you would include if you had little ones this age? We always do a chore and then read aloud time after breakfast and then read again before naps and bedtime. So I’ll continue that, but it’s the in between times I’m looking for ideas for. 🙂 Thanks so much- you ladies always have such great ideas!
We have been doing breakfast and getting ready for the day (4 year old has a chart of get dressed, etc.), then after that we have a singing time at our organ in the living room. The 2 year old comes and goes but does like to participate. We sing through their songs from Sunday school at church and then 4 year old chooses a Christmas song (or another song at other times of the year) that we do for 3-4 days, adding a verse each day. It’s pretty low key and they “play along” on the keys and sing. You could do something similar with recorded music if you wanted: kids’ songs or hymns etc. It only takes us about 5-7 minutes but it has been a fun way to start the day. Eventually I plan to add things to that routine and it will become “school” (or part of it).
Late morning is often (but not always) a “special” toy like play-dough or markers at the table that they aren’t allowed to take out themselves.
In the afternoon if the little guy naps I spend time reading and/or doing a kitchen project like baking with the 4 year old. After that it is usually some supper prep, I let them mix or throw things that I’ve chopped into a bowl or pan.
…I’m curious to know what other people are doing too!
Well, my kiddos are getting beyond the preschool age, but that is where many of our habits began, so I will chime in ;-).
This is how our day went with primarily pre-schoolers:
Breakfast
Chores and general clean up
Bible Study/hymn/ memory work
Physical game or exercise
Desk work – at the 3-6 year old stage this is about 15-30 minutes, tops
Snack break…maybe listening to classical music during break
Math Game
Reading – could be poetry, picture books, science, etc…
Free play
Arts/Crafts
Lunch and Clean Up
More Free Play
Snuggle and Story time
Nap (which will later morph into ‘quiet, independent reading time’)
After nap, we generally had a snack and did our outdoor time when the weather permitted (from about 3-4pm). Then dinner prep, dinner, bath and bed.
This may be a little too specific for you, but maybe it will give you a general idea of how an average day is laid out. Once you have a rhythm to your day, your children will be comfortable and know what to expect. They will cooperate more when they are habitual about meals, naps, etc…
Also, many of these routines will gradually expand to include schoolwork and it is that much easier when they have already come to expect Bible time, desk time, free time, and so on.
Most of all – habit training and enjoying their ‘funnies’ at this age! They will soon be big!!
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