Surprise! You get an extended stay-cation at home with your kids with little option for indoor playgrounds, public pools, or big parties! Now what? What a great opportunity to pull your kids in close and help them learn how to manage their time well. Just like eating too much junk food makes a person feel gross, laying around doing nothing also provides that bottom of the barrel, awful feeling! So what can we do about this new normal so we don’t go stir crazy while social distancing?

First…

…determine that your home is going to be a happy place! Think of the different ways you can create beauty! Beauty comes in many forms but laughter trumps all! “See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!,” Ps 133:1

The following are a few ways to create beauty: tidy a room and add freshly picked flowers from the yard, create a savory or sweet dish to show your family you care, play uplifting music that energizes the mind and soul, have a rich conversation that involves eye to eye contact! Keep adding to the list and share with me your ideas!

As the mom you get to set the tone and the schedule, so here’s a flow you and your kids will enjoy…

(I prefer to have a flow schedule versus one that starts at a certain time. That way no matter what time we start we are not behind. Make sense?) This is just a suggestion. Change it to fit your family!

Flow Chart for Kids

GOOD MORNING!

• Eat Breakfast/take vitamins

• Read the Proverb of the day in the Bible with your mom and siblings (You will find the book of Proverbs in the center of the Bible. There are 31 chapters in the book. Each chapter has about 31 versus. Look at the date on the calendar and read the corresponding Proverb. Talk about your favorite verse with someone!)

• Pray

• Quick pick up or chores to praise/worship music

• Draw/sketch (use an instructional book or YouTube video)

• Make a snack/clean up your mess

• Handwriting/typing practice (alternate from day to day)

• Run laps in the backyard/ jump on trampoline/dance

• Practice math facts: print drill-free drill sheets off internet, sing with Classical Conversations app/flashcards

• Tidy something/fold laundry/straighten books/clean up toys/unload dishwasher/clean closet

• Write a letter in your neatest handwriting

• Storytime! Have mom read aloud or listen to audible.com

• Quiet reading time

• Run laps/jump/dance

• Practice piano/recorder/guitar/your instrument

• Screen time/games

• Strength training/sit-ups/pushups/lunges

• Help mom make dinner/set the table/clear the table/

• Free time

• Bedtime routine

These suggestions are based on the way we flow in our home. You design your flow to fit your family ways! I hope this helps someone! Let me know if you use it. I’m praying for you mommas!