If you are a stay at home mom you know how important it is to have a schedule for your toddler at home. Toddlers do better with a routine so they know what to expect each day!
Here is an easy way to make a stay at home mom schedule for your 3 year old with free printable toddler daily schedule to help implement the new routine.
Toddler Schedule At Home
Why is it important to create a routine for your toddler? According to melbornchildpsychology.com it creates security in the home and helps provide them with boundaries, expectations, and consistency.
By creating a routine for them you are setting them up with good habits for life and who doesn’t want to help their child be able to do this later in life.
I am going to walk you through creating a schedule that works for you and help you get your toddler used to it.
If your toddler has been having a lot of meltdowns lately as mine has, here is an article that will help: 3 Year Old Meltdowns And How To Handle Them
Without a routine, you will see some regression in skills your toddler used to have.
This can happen with speech, putting on clothes and shoes and accidents when they were potty trained but are now having problems and waking up at night crying when they used to sleep all night.
Children react to stress by regression and that is why you need to have a routine to help curb this and create a secure environment.
How to make a schedule for your toddler
Here is a very simple way to create a schedule for your toddler using their cues when they are waking up, hungry and tired.
It is much easier to make a schedule around the times your toddler wakes up, creating the steps for the morning like brushing teeth, potty time, getting dressed and breakfast time.
It is important to stay on schedule and have the activities happen at the same time each day.
In order to form a habit even for adults, you have to do something for at least twenty one days, be patient with your child.
It may take a few weeks to get into the new schedule but you will notice a change in behavior over time as they start to feel secure and have less regression and meltdowns.
- Keep the same wakeup time
- Go potty or change diapers
- Brush teeth
- Get dressed
- Have breakfast
- Learning activity
- Outside time
- Lunch
- Craft time
- Nap time
- Snack time
- Learning activity
- Outside time
- Dinner
- Quiet play
- Bedtime
You can adapt this to what you do at home already just keep the same times and make sure to have some winddown time at night so they sleep better.
If you need help creating a bedtime schedule this article can help you do that: The Best Bedtime Routine For Your 3 Year Old
Morning and Night routine
It is much easier to get them into a schedule if you first establish a set morning and night routine.
Once they are used to this you can start creating more of a daytime schedule.
Keep naptimes the same so they know when to expect them and use a schedule that works for both you and your toddler.
As moms, we have other things we need to get done as well as taking care of our children which makes it hard to get anything accomplished.
The only trick for this that I have found works is to have your toddler help you do things like vacuum and clean, even making lunch and dinner.
Side Note: If you have a picky eater they are more likely to eat a meal if they helped make it!!
Learning Activities For Your Toddler
Here are some activities you can do with your toddler to help with fine motor skills and keep them learning while staying at home.
- Coloring
- Cutting paper in straight lines
- Gluing things onto paper
- Reading books and using core vocabulary words like, go, more, open, stop, on, off, help, play, do, I, he, she, it. As you read.
- Puzzles
- Easy games
- Play with chalk outside
For more activities, you can find them here: Fun Toddler Activities You Can Do At Home
Final thoughts on your toddler schedule at home
Figure out what works for you and a routine that flows with your day. Then stick to the times for naps and meals but also allow some room for change in activities.
The most important thing is spending quality time with your toddler and helping them feel secure.
Be creative and do things you did as a kid like building forts with blankets, hide and seek, tag, playing outside.
Give your child some free play time as well, they need to be able to play alone for ten or twenty minutes. It’s great for their mental growth and imagination.
If you have any more ideas let me know and pin this post for reference!