By Holly Sosa
I received a set of Chalkola markers to facilitate this post. All thoughts, opinions, and ideas are my own.
With five kids at home during the summer, I have to keep things running as smoothly as I can around these parts. As rural desert dwellers, we have limited choices of places to visit and we have to keep our outside play to a minimum (thanks to the desert heat). A lover of organization and schedules, I tap into those strengths to help ensure my children aren’t just entertained during summer break, but also engaged, active, and studious. Creating a summer schedule for kids plays a big part in keeping everyone occupied without taking away too much of the lazy summer days they look forward to during the school year. Over the years, I’ve developed a schedule and system that keep all five of my kiddos happy and healthy during the long desert summer days.
It all starts with a chalkboard. I bought a medium sized board. I flipped it over and used some super glue to attach several strong magnet to the back. This allows me to display our summer schedule on the fridge for the kids to have easy reference to.
I mapped out our daily schedule and a list of must-do activities on a piece of paper before arranging them into time periods. This is where I took into account my family’s personal needs. For instance, all five kiddos can’t shower at one time period or we’ll run out of hot water. My solution was to give the girls time in the morning and the boys time in the evening. I also create a list of activities for us to complete each year, a sort of summer bucket list, and the kids love to do them when dad is home, so I arranged our activity of the day to be done after he returns home from work each day.
Using my favorite chalk markers from Chalkola (seriously, I’m a pen/marker addict and I’ve tried them ALL), I copied over the schedule I had created to my chalk board. I love how smooth they write and how vibrant the colors come through. We love rainbows around here (read: mama loves rainbows) and I love being able to write our schedules (yes, I create a school year one too!) in the colorful hues. These markers from Chalkola can also be used on metal, mason jars, glass, mugs, or even as dry erase markers. They’re super fun; especially for moms and teachers since they’re so versatile. Here is a (affiliate) link to the exact set I use.
I may have five kiddos home during the summer, but I believe that creating these summer schedules for kids is helpful for families with any number of children. The key is making it flexible enough to accommodate summer spontaneity, but also adding some structure to the kiddos so you can still get through your own to do list each day.
Order your own set of Chalkola markers on Amazon. Also be sure to follow @ourhollydays on Instagram where I’ll be sharing all of our summer adventures and activities here in the High Desert.
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