What is a good after school routine? Do you find your child struggling, trying to get complete after school work and activities? Create a flexible after school routine that brings a balance between homework and playtime.

Following a flexible after-school routine will help your kids to get everything done on time as well as leaving some time to wind down and relax after experiencing a tiring day at school.

How To Create A Flexible After School Schedule?

 1) The first step is to create an after school schedule according to the individual children’s needs. It would be best if you include your child while designing a routine for them as they would be more likely to follow the schedule that is also made by keeping in mind their needs and perspective. To make an after-school schedule for kids, parents need to analyze the time between kids coming back home from school to going back to bed to write down an everyday general task that kids needs to do such as

• Doing their homework.
• Eating dinner
• Following their night routine (taking bath and brushing teeth)
• Completing their chores.  

 2) It is important to create an after school routine chart that works for your child even if it is different from other kids after school routine. This guide will help you to create an after-school schedule for your child.  

What should be included in Kids after school routine? 

After a full day of learning and playing at school, Kids are hungry and exhausted including snacks. Time in there after school routine is probably a good idea. Get them snacks that are rich in nutrition like fruits or vegetables which will help them to gain their energy back so that they can carry out their after school routine. Don’t forget to include basic chores like changing uniform, taking out water bottles and lunch from the school bag in the after school routine of kids as this would teach them a life-long lesson of responsibility in their life.  

1) SNACK TIME : Time for Healthy Snack.

After a full long day of learning and playing at school, Kids might be hungry and without energy. Including snacks time in their routine is important.

• While you take time to set up a table for snacks, in meanwhile kids can do a basic chorus of washing their hands, changing their uniforms, taking out their water bottles and lunch from their bag.
• Remember, to serve nutritious food like fruits (banana or apple), vegetables so that they can gain their energy back. A healthy snack would work as an energy fuel for kids.
• Try to avoid giving them candy or sweets. It might also be a good time to ask them about how their day was or what they learned today but some kids might not be interested in answering lots of questions, it would be better if you ask them when they feel like answering questions about their day. 

2) Time for homework and additional learning.

After snacks time kids would be relaxed and decompressed from their rigid school routine.

• Having a fixed time for homework would make them less cribble about their after school work as they would be consistent about doing it. Some kids also feel that completing their homework first reduces stress and they can enjoy their free time with a relaxed mind.
• In this competitive world, to make kids future-ready additional learning is becoming important. They are many kids who are doing additional learning after school. Additional learning does not have to be stressful in fact they can be fun like STEAM Learning or learning to code games. 

3) Time to get ready for extra after school activities.

Including Physical and creative activities in after-school routine are equally important for kids. Getting your kids enrolled in classes like dance, basketball, badminton, piano, football or any other classes that they are interested in doing would not only give their brain break from learning but they would also learn a lesson of why physical fitness activities are important for a balanced healthy lifestyle. 

After kids are done with their extracurricular activities after school, It is time for dinner and kids must be hungry by this time. Having a nice family dinner is also part of the after school routine.

4) Preparing themselves for the next school day.

It is good if kids prepare their school bag and uniform before going to bed for the next school day as there would be no rush in the morning routine of school. When before and after kids school routine is organised there is no rush or stress throughout the day. 

5) Free time before they got to bed.

It is important to keep aside some time in their daily routine after school in which kids are allowed to do whatever they want;

• Playing video games, watching T.V listening to music, reading a book or spending time with family this would relax their mind before they go to bed so that they can have a nice and restful sleep.
• Don’t forget to mention their night routine like taking a bath and changing their day clothes to night dress in their after school timetable.  

Don’t pressure your kids to stick to the routine. A good after-school routine would be the one that reduces the pressure instead of creating more. To create a flexible after-school timetable it is important that parents are being reasonable and realistic. 

So, What’s your kid’s after school routine look like?