Free Printable After School Routine Planners

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I hope you love these free printable after school routine planners – they really help keep things calm and organized! I’m sharing Teddy Soft Bakes in my life as part of a sponsored series for Socialstars™” #myfirstTeddy #discoverTeddy – They are a wonderful new snack that I have added to our after school routine.

When M comes home from preschool, it can be challenging to work out an after school routine that’s truly successful. He’s at that “need a nap at 4PM or will tantrum about everything” stage, but we’re (for obvious reasons) NOT putting him in for a nap at 4 PM.

I have two after school routine systems:

1. The “try to force an earlier nap” system, where I put him to bed, give it an hour, and either he falls asleep or he had some time to relax and calm down.
2. The “try to keep him so busy he won’t realize he’s overtired” system, which is harder on me, of course. I implement this one mainly on days when he woke up later than usual or seems cheerful to start.

For both of them, having a wholesome after school snack ready when he arrives is extremely important. The only thing scarier than an overtired 3 year old is an overtired and HUNGRY 3 year old. When we do the nap routine, I need him to eat ASAP so that we can get him to nap earlier (and still go to sleep before eight).

Teddy Soft Bakes are just what I was looking for! They are soft, light, filled cakes that only have wholesome ingredients, so they are the perfect balanced snack. We always try to choose better snacks to feed M, and avoid things that are loaded with too much junk. These are prepackaged (making them more exciting for him) and are a huge hit in our after school routine.

To make things easier, I created these free printable after school routine planners.

You can cut out and paste the “fixed” activities that happen daily, and add your own. This is designed to take us through the structured afternoons when M does NOT nap, since I usually give some screen time and then longer free play when he does nap.

One is geared more toward older children who already have homework, and one is good for any age child.

Download both of them by entering your email address below:

[convertkit form=5124908]

This is what you’ll be getting:

Just snip off the rectangles on the bottom and tape them where you want them!

I didn’t add times because we work our schedule by sequence not time, since young kids’ moods and attention spans can be unpredictable… The planner helps me have an activity to pull out without having to think too hard, and transition to the next thing the moment he starts acting up.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Snack time is right when he comes home on nap days and about an hour in on no-nap days
• Some of our go-to activities include lipstick art (for real!), sensory bins, coloring books, reading in the dark, coloring on the “wall”, but that’s just the beginning…
• I like to mix semi-independent activities with totally supervised ones.
• I usually give him a few minutes of free play even on no-nap days.
• On nicer days we’ll hit the park. Teddy Soft Bakes are perfect for grab-n-go snacks on park days too! The chocolate or vanilla filled cakes are always a hit, especially when M gets to choose my flavor as well as his.
• If he takes a shorter nap or no nap, I let him help me make dinner sometimes. This can be as little as sprinkling the cheese on the lasagna, or as involved as pizza and toppings.
• We love to do things together! When he doesn’t nap and I have work to do, I’ll prioritize things we can do “together”. For example, I’ll work on illustrating the next coloring page while he colors his coloring books. Or I’ll photograph something and let him take a few snapshots too.

I can’t wait to share with you M’s reaction from when he discovered Teddy Soft Bakes this past Friday! It’s truly priceless…

What does your after school routine for your preschool age child look like? Do you still do nap time? Discover Teddy and check out our new favorite snack!

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