The Ideal Toddler Activity Schedule

After staying home with my son for the past year and a half, I have realized one thing.  As much as I want to embrace the ambiguity of the day, have a free spirit, and fly by the seat of my pants, I need SOME sort structure to our days.  

So, I came up with an ideal schedule of general daily activities to maintain my sanity.  Now, when I say schedule, I don’t mean “Monday at 9 am – gym class.  10 am – snack and playgroup.  12 pm – eat lunch.  1 pm – nap time… and so on.”  I can’t believe I am saying this, but that much structure drives me nuts!  Pre-baby Lisa would have loved an hour by hour schedule.  But, not post-baby Lisa.  Too much structure leads to serious expectations.  We all know what happens when you plan activities with a toddler and have certain expectations…haha.  If I don’t meet my daily expectations,  I am defeated and feel like a failure by the end of the day.

But, I also can’t deal with waking up to a wide-open schedule day after day.  Before I know it, it’s nap-time, we haven’t gotten out of our pajamas, and I have a toddler attached to my leg while I attempt to finish the third load of laundry.  I end up wasting the day being task-oriented since I am not great at regularly planning fun activities on a whim.

The weeks are starting to fly by and I haven’t even touched on my “bucket list” of fun things to do with Chulengo.  Before I know it, he will be heading off to school and I am going to look back, sobbing, wondering where all the time went.  I hate the idea of spending these precious years home with him, while I focus on tasks and errands.  Yes, I know I do have to get things done, but I’ve decided to come up with a different way to engage with Chulengo on a daily basis.

So, here it is!  My activity schedule:  

The actual activity schedule PDF can be printed HERE!

It’s pretty basic, which leaves a lot of wiggle room for interpretation while still providing a simple structure for parents and kiddos.  I have labeled each day of the week with a theme.  This allows for some light planning on my part and some predictability for Chulengo, while still maintaining low expectations.  Together, we can make the most of the time we spend together while focusing on fun, engaging, and educational activities. Each day of the week will have a pre-determined theme, but every day can be different from the week before.

Since my days of planning a theme party (oh hey, college!) are long gone, this activity schedule allows me to celebrate themes in a creative and entertaining way as a parent.

Math Monday

The focus for Math Monday is math-related skills like numbers, shapes, and patterns.  As I get Chulengo prepared to go to school, I want him to have a strong foundation in math.  I loved math growing up, and because of that, I did well in math classes.  I want to ignite an excitement for math in Chulengo because everyday life skills, along with many job skills require a strong foundation in math.  I am always looking for play activities that involve math concepts.

Ideas for Activities: numbers, money, counting, measuring, sorting, pairing shapes, graphing, tracing, dice, order, estimating 

Tidy Up Tuesday

As Chulengo gets older, I will recruit him to help out with household activities at home.    He is already eager to put things in the trash and empty the dishwasher.  I am sure that excitement will wear off as he gets older, but it’s adorable to watch his joy with such simple tasks.  As I have been touring preschools, many program directors have discussed basic life skills that toddlers will begin learning at a young age.  Now is the time to start teaching Chulengo how to care for our home.  Picking an activity or two each Tuesday to focus on around the house will help Chulengo’s awareness of what is done to make our house a home.

Ideas for Activities: fold laundry, empty and load the dishwasher, vacuum, sweep, mop, wash windows, make beds, put away laundry, dust, wash dishes, wipe down appliances, clean baseboards, wipe down mirrors, empty the trash, sort recycling, organize toys, wash car, organize closet

Water Wednesday

Bath time, hanging out at the pool, and playing in the water table are some of Chulengo’s favorite activities.  The kid loves water.  Therefore, I have dedicated an entire day to activities related to water.  I grew up near Lake Michigan and since I was a kid I have been at peace when near water.  I want Chulengo to feel comfortable and safe in the water. 

Ideas for Activities:  play in the water table, swim at a pool, visit the beach, run around a splash pad, run through a sprinkler, make and throw water balloons, have a squirt gun battle, play with sponges, sort colored water, wash toys, make floating objects, paint with water,  experiment with ice cubes, build something a water tunnel with tube & pipes, play in the rain, visit a local pond, take local swimming lessons, stomp in puddles

Thoughtful Thursday

It’s so easy for me to get wrapped up in our day to day activities, focusing on taking care of Chulengo.  My goal for Thoughtful Thursday is to get Chulengo out of the egocentric world he is immersed.  Obviously, as a toddler, it is developmentally normal for him to have a self-centered view of the world.  But, I want to expose Chulengo to the world around him and demonstrate he can have a positive impact on those he comes in contact with.

Ideas for Activities:  send a letter, donate goods, make baked goods, cook a meal, create a list of thankfulness, make a phone call, video chat with a loved one, send a funny video, tell a joke, take flowers to a loved one

Field Day Friday

Fridays are my last hurrah for the week.  The final day to fit in a fun activity before we get busy with the weekend.  I typically like to meet up with some friends for a playgroup.  My goal with Field Day Friday is to introduce Chulengo new places and activities.  To take him to a new park, museum, or venue that he can learn and enjoy.  Seeing Chulengo explore a new place is a pretty incredible experience.  Watching his curiosity and discovery is very therapeutic.  Field Day Friday is also a way for us to see different parts of the city and explore our town.

Ideas for Places to Visit: a new park, the zoo, science museum, beach, animal shelter, nursing home, fire station, pumpkin patch, local museum, apple orchard, Ikea, mall, aquarium, local farm, library, art museum

…of The Week

I then added a couple of ideas to focus on each week.  Before creating this chart, I would review letters, numbers, shapes, and colors with Chulengo throughout our day.  But, I felt like my lack of structure made things confusing.  Now we have one letter, one number, one shape, and one color to focus on for the week.  I write these up on the board by our front door to regularly remind me what to focus on.

Don’t get me wrong; we don’t work on ONLY the one letter, number, shape, or color of the week.  I do include others, but being able to focus on one, in particular, helps me easily remember to bring them up throughout the day.  The repetition makes it easy for me and is helpful for Chulengo.

Letter of the week

Number of the week

Shape of the week

Color of the week

I’ve initially started using this activity schedule to get us out of a rut, doing the same activities every day.  Now, it helps me look at each day with a different perspective.  I have been looking forward to my days with Chulengo! 

So, if you are looking for help with creating some sense of structure and an educational environment, please download the Activity Schedule Here!  If you have more ideas to add to the theme days, please comment below!  I would love to hear them and add them to the list.

I recommend printing out the Activity Schedule and laminating it so you can write ideas down with a wet-erase marker, making the schedule reusable.