How To Plan A School Holiday Routine For Kids

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After working hard throughout the term, your kids will be looking forward to school holidays! However, if you aren’t careful, what you envision as lazy and care-free may become exhausting and chaotic. If you want the experience to be enjoyable for everybody, we recommend planning a school holiday routine.

We’d like to suggest three strategies to choose from; one that allows you to take each day as it comes, one that involves planning the whole school holiday routine ahead of time, and one that’s somewhere in the middle. Select one strategy that works for you, or mix and match! While we certainly don’t recommend over-scheduling, there is merit to putting some plans in the calendar and jotting down some ideas to have at hand.

Select the approach that best suits your planning style and your kids’ needs. No matter which one you opt for, the ultimate goals are the same: to create a school holiday routine so that your children don’t spend all day in front of the TV when they could be getting outside, having new experiences and building on the learning momentum they’ve created during the term.

One day at a time

This approach best suits families that have lots on the go and don’t want to be tied down to rigid plans. Having a little bit of flexibility comes in handy when your work schedule is uncertain or the weather is unpredictable, impacting which activities you choose to do together.

Many families use this approach to ensure that their children stay in the habit of doing daily chores (even simple ones like making their bed) and limit their screen time by focusing on offline tasks like reading and playing outside.

Here are some daily activities we recommend you incorporate into your child’s school holiday routine:

Wake up and make breakfast together
Brush teeth, do hair and get dressed
Make your bed
Read a book or magazine (20 minutes)
Writing, colouring or drawing (20 minutes)
Play outside (30 minutes)
Make or build something (30 minutes)

Once your child has completed all the items on this list, they can spend the rest of their day doing whatever they like! Alternatively, make use of our handy list at the end of this post for holiday activities that you can plan for the afternoons.

One week at a time

Want to make sure your school holiday routine includes a balanced mix of downtime and planned activities? Having a look at each week holistically might be the best approach for your family!

In this method, each day of the week has a theme to help guide the type of tasks you do together as a family. A mix of activities is important and there are many benefits. For example, crafty activities encourage creative thinking, while hiking and physical exercise is important for allowing the child to encourage healthy growth and development. The activities listed below are fantastic ideas for bonding with your children, so find ways to include relationship building activities too! Here are some suggestions:

Make it Monday

Spend the day doing crafts, sewing, baking, building, doing DIY projects or painting!

Thinking Tuesday

Get your child’s brain working with quiet books, science experiments or refresher sessions with their Teach Me 2 Tutor. We suggested a one hour session each week of the holidays on two subjects they need to get a head start on for the next term.

Wander Wednesday

Go on an adventure, a hike or walk, or take a swim.

Take a trip Thursday

Visit your local library, take a trip to the zoo, pop into the museum, go to the park or spend the day at the playground.

Fun day Friday

Go on a family picnic, have a movie day, play board games together or schedule a playdate.

Selfless Saturday

Do something nice for a family member, volunteer, walk the dog or help a neighbour.

Spontaneous Sunday

Let the kids decide what to do!

Plan it all at once

If you like the idea of a theme for each week, then this method is right up your alley! Themed weeks allow you to bring some focus to the tasks you select for the week. Here are some ideas:

Under the Sea Week

Do “under the sea” themed word searches, learn about ocean life (different fish, dolphins, etc), make a paper plate jellyfish, paint ocean rocks, walk like a crab, make a fish mobile, and watch kid-friendly ocean-themed movies like Finding Nemo or Moana.

Disney Week

Play Disney dress-up, host a sing-along with their favourite Disney songs, make Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes, read a Disney book, make a Frozen-inspired snow globe, do a Disney-inspired workout, and of course, watch Disney movies!

No Waste Week

This theme is a little more complex and better suited to older children. Challenge your children to cook meals with minimal waste, go shopping together at a charity shop, pick up litter, plant a tree in the garden, and watch a documentary about sustainable living.

Little girl in Disney dress-up as part of her school holiday routine Credit: Unsplash

More fun holiday activities to choose from

No matter which approach you choose for planning your school holiday routine, it’s always handy to have a list of season-appropriate activities to choose from. Here’s ours: