Creating a Routine for Toddlers

Having a regular routine is important for children, especially toddlers. Trust me, I would know – because sometimes, our entire routine gets thrown to the wind and my usually happy toddler transforms into a cranky mess. When Danny was an infant, he was so easygoing and creating a general routine and flow for our day was a breeze. It remained pretty easy until first finding out I was pregnant and becoming overwhelmed with exhaustion, nausea and giving up coffee for the first trimester and the regular routine we had established started becoming more and more “flexible” until there simply wasn’t one at all. Now that I am in the second trimester and my energy has finally returned, I am drinking tea to jumpstart my mornings, and no longer feel nauseous, I am working on getting our routine back on track.

I can tell you from experience – from having a routine, and then falling off track – that toddlers thrive when they know what to expect next. I’m sure this is not the first time you have read that routines create happy and healthy kids, but the reason it is repeated over and over is because it is just so true. Now, overall I am a pretty laid back mom, so I like to follow a routine as a guide. I am not rigid and flexibility is key, but the idea is that mealtimes, snack time, activities, nap and bedtimes remain consistent for the most part. As of right now, we do generally eat our meals at the same time, but almost everything in between has been random.

One way I plan to help create a flow to our day is organize different activities for each day of the week. Ideally, I’d like to create an at-home “tot school” for him. On Mondays we will focus on one topic, such as a color or shape. Tuesdays, we will focus on a letter of the alphabet. Wednesdays will be a number, and so on and so forth. Saturdays and Sundays will be used to reinforce what we learned over the previous week. Our first week will begin this Monday and our first topic will be the color red. Tuesday we will focus our attention on triangles, Wednesdays will be the letter “A,” Thursdays will be the number 1 and Fridays we will learn all about Zebras. I think having this plan laid out will help me “fill in the blanks” in our day.

Here is a sample of what I anticipate our days to look like. I’ll focus on what our plan for Monday is, since I work Tue-Thurs. so our routine will be a little varied on those days:

7:00am: wake up, diaper change, one episode of Blue’s Clue’s while Mommy drinks tea to wake up

7:30am: Breakfast

8:00am: Morning activity on the color RED. Example activity: sensory bin using red rice and toys. The idea is to let Danny play at the kitchen table with the red colored rice as he discovers the variety of red blocks, cars, magnetic letters, etc. and hopefully I can supervise his activity, discuss the color red, the texture of the rice and toys, the names of the letters he discovers in the bin, while maybe getting some housework done in the kitchen as he explores and plays.

Note: To make red rice, mix 1 T. of vinegar per 1 C. of uncooked rice and however much food coloring to create the desired color. Simply shake it all together in a zipped Ziploc bag and let dry for an hour (see full directions here).

9:00am: Music time – dance party! This is one of our favorite activities of the day!

9:45am: Light snack

10:15am: Weather permitting, take a walk or play outside. Right now, we have 40+ inches of snow in our yard so this type of activity won’t be happening for quite some time. Until spring, this time period will be allotted for “free play.”

11:15am: Help Mom clean up toys from free play

12:00pm: Lunch

12:30pm: Naptime

3:00pm: Wake up, diaper change, art activity. Example activity: for the week we are learning about the color red, the activity I am planning is to make apple prints using red apples and red paint. (See the apple print activity, and other awesome color inspired activities for toddlers, here)

4:00pm: Free play while Mom gets dinner ready

5:00pm: Help Mom clean up toys from free play

5:15pm: Sit down for family dinner

6:15pm: Watch a TV show

7:00pm: Bath time (I love the idea of adding red food to his bath to keep with the red color theme, as I’ve seen on Pinterest – but does it stain their skin!??)

7:30pm: Jammies, story time, warm sippie cup of milk and bedtime by 8:00pm.

Right now, our major struggle is the organized/structured activities, helping Mommy clean, making sure I am not rushing around preparing dinner last minute, and we have been struggling with consistent naptimes. I feel confident if I work on the rest of the day that he will be stimulated enough to nap regularly again. I’d also like to incorporate the color red throughout the day, by maybe choosing a red t-shirt or outfit to wear for the day, pointing out different toys that are red, asking him to sort his blocks, cars, toys or blocks by color and talking about the color of the day, as well as other colors, but these less structured activities will likely take place during “free play.” Danny is only two years old so “free play” doesn’t quite mean “independent play” yet for him, so I plan to still keep whatever theme (color, shape, letter, etc.) alive during both free play time periods.

Also, there are storytimes at our local library that I would like to incorporate into our weekly schedule, but lately it has been so cold and there's been so much snow, that we have been stuck inside. Usually those activities would take place during the first "free play" time period, as they generally begin at 10:00am so we would need to be out the door by 9:30am or so. Like I said, this is intended as a guide for us - we will absolutely switch things up here and there and try to be flexible. Other activities that I'd like to circulate into Danny's regular schedule every week include swimming at my mom's (indoor pool!) and playdates.

Do you have a regular routine with your children? What does your day typically look like?