Daily Top Ten Family Activities

As mentioned in the March 19th posting, children find thrive on routines.  Routines provide comfort because children know what to expect each day.  They also help children to develop organizational skills as they grow.

There will be days with special events and disruptions to routines, but learning to "roll with it" is another important life skill.  For regular days, I encourage you to develop routines for your family, including:

1. Prepare and eat food together - snacks and meals can be more interesting and enjoyable when children participate in choosing and helping to prepare them 
2. Cleanup / tidying - a valuable life skill, both for keeping your home clean and organized, but also to develop the idea that we are each responsible for cleaning up after ourselves
3. Reading - both independent reading time, and reading a story together
4. Learning time - homework, learning about new topics, learning new skills, independent research, long-term projects
5. Creative time - singing, dancing, creating art, writing stories, writing and putting on a play or puppet show, practicing a musical instrument, etc.
6. Physical activity / exercise time - ending with "cooling down"/ settling down / mindfulness. GoNoodle.com is a rich resource for fun, physical activities, as well as mindfulness activities developed specifically for children. 
7. Quiet independent time - a chance for everyone to have quiet time on their own
8. Choice time - children need time to play and explore their own interests
9. Communicating with someone else outside of your home - keeping and building family and social contacts
10. Do something together as a family - play a game, work on a puzzle, try any of the activities posted in this blog.