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2 Years And Younger Schedule
Those of you that watch DCK's that are 2 and under, what does your schedule look like? Do you have things planned besides meals, nap and art? I feel my kids just free play all day. I feel bad but is that what your schedule is to? Just wondering.... THanks!!
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I have one 3.5 year old and the rest of the kids are barely 2 and younger. The youngest is 3 months. I do feel that the majority of the day is taken up with meals (including spoon feeding and bottle feeding), naps (not all the kids are on the same schedule as I can't expect the under 1s to be doing what the older kids are doing) and diaper changes. I do try and find windows of opportunities for activities. There is an hour in the morning when I take all the olders outside to play, another window of time where the olders can do art and that sort of thing. Try and get as many of them on the same schedules as possible so you create those windows where no one is needing fed or napped. That will help you feel that you can actual do something with the kids. Besides that, theres nothing wrong with the kids having free playComment
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Thank you... That makes me feel better!Comment
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the biggest thing for children of this age is working on social skills. free play is a great way for childing to build these skills. Dont feel bad what you are doing is what they need. If you can fit in a activity (small art one) then great!Comment
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Most of our day is free play. It never fails, when I'm ready to go outside in between naps, diaper changes, and meals, someone is tired. Or they are so happy playing in here they say no when I ask about going outside.
I feel like I should be doing more crafts and such with them, but it's hard with the group I have. Even coloring or play-dough seems to be more of a mess than anything. I always have paper pickers or kids that want to eat EVERYTHING.
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I have the same problem, its either chalk, crayons or the paper they are eating. I have a small group of 1 to 2 year olds. Very hard... I keep saying, it'll be easy in a couple months when their older!Most of our day is free play. It never fails, when I'm ready to go outside in between naps, diaper changes, and meals, someone is tired. Or they are so happy playing in here they say no when I ask about going outside.
I feel like I should be doing more crafts and such with them, but it's hard with the group I have. Even coloring or play-dough seems to be more of a mess than anything. I always have paper pickers or kids that want to eat EVERYTHING.Comment
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that's so funny! I was thinking the exact same thing today. In September, I will have (including my 9 month old), 1 9 month old, 1 10 month old, a 1 year old, a 17 month old, a 22 month old and a 27 month old! I have the 3 younger ones on a 2 nap schedule and I was thinking that if I am doing different nap times and snack times for the 2 different groups, when am I going to find time to get outside or do any fun activities..I will have 6 in diapers! I am just planning to try to stay as organized as possible and stick to the schedule as much as I can.
Right now the schedule I try to have is:
7:30 Breakfast (in September I will have 6 kids for breakfast, including my 2 schoolagers)
8 or 8:30-9:00 free play
9:00-10:00 nap for infants and activity for older ones
9:30 snack for older ones
10:00 snack for babies
10:30-11:00 outside time
11:30 lunch
12:00-12:30 story time
12:30-2:30 nap for everybody
2:30-3:30 music or art activity
3:30 snack
4:00-5:00 or 5:30 outside time
In between there is all the diaper changes and cleaning up and sunscreen application and everything else..I have so much trouble finding the time to fit anything extra in.Comment
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I only have two kids here (both newly two) and will be adding my own newborn to the mix in October.
We have a very loose schedule and I know it's easier for me than most because there are only two of them!
7:30-8:30: Arrival/Free Play/Breakfast
8:30-9:30: Outside
9:30-10:00: Diapers/Small a.m. snack
10:00-11:00 Free play while I prep lunch and organize art activity
11:00-11:30 Art or Sensory Activity
11:30-12:00 Lunch
12:00-12:15 Diapers/They watch Barney a little while I pick up from lunch and toy mess
12:15-2:30 Rest
2:30-3:00 Diapers and Snack
3:00-4:00 Outside
4:00-4:30 Diapers/Free play/I close at 4:30
Even with two sometimes I feel like we don't do much except for free play and crafts. I do Funshine Express Curriculum with them but they are still so young that I just try to incorporate learning activities throughout the day. I hope to fine tune this schedule to get more done during the day. My 5 year old starts Kindergarten tomorrow so I'm hoping to get into a better routine.
I'm taking advantage of outdoor time too - we spend as much time outside as we can. I'm dreading winter. I live in ND so getting outside between November and March is not easy - especially when I will have a newborn here. It makes the days go on forever!Comment
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