Daily Toddler Schedule To Try During Quarantine

Like a lot of people in this country right now, I’m starting to get more and more anxious every passing day. Being an already anxious person and pregnant during Covid-19 doesn’t help. It kind of feels like we are living in a dream, is this really happening? I’m trying to stay calm and focus on what I can control right now, be grateful for our current health and food we have access to and stay busy by pouring myself into my work. Which means coming up with things I can share with this community to make this challenging time any bit more manageable for you.

Because I’m a small business owner, and owning a blog a isn’t necessarily your typical business, I don’t know yet exactly how this health crisis will affect our income, but it’s something I’m worrying about. Which means I need to continue working as hard as I possibly can with both of my girls at home. We aren’t sure when/if my husband will be able to work remotely, hopefully soon but for now it’s just the girls and I.

Heading into the next few weeks of isolation I knew I needed a plan in order to get some work done and also keep the three of us from going crazy, so I put together a schedule we are going to try. It will be loose and fluid but if I’ve learned anything as a parent it’s that routine is the key to success. We are practicing social distancing to our best ability and not visiting with friends, avoiding places where there will be lots of people and keeping our distance. Here’s an overview of what I plan to do with the girls and I’ve also shared a bit more about each item below.

For reference, my daughters are 2 and 4 1/2 years old.

You can download the printable here!

Also wanted to share my Amazon shops for sensory play & art supplies in case you need ideas!

5-7am: I plan on getting up early as much as I possibly can so I can get in 2 solid hours of work, drink my coffee in peace and just gather myself before the day. Also planning on getting dressed and not living in PJs. *I’ll plan to be sleeping by 9/9:30pm to get enough rest.

7-8am: Hoping the girls will sleep until 7am, we are going to get out the wait-to-wake alarm clock again. I’ll stop working at 7am to get their breakfast ready, but then will probably be able to squeeze in at least another 30 minutes of work in this block. My girls are pretty good at independent play in the morning, but if your kids are younger you can set out simple activities, prompts or stations for them. Some easy, low-mess ideas that don’t require you too much: stamps, coloring books, rotate toys or games, playdough.

8-9am: First structured activity of the day. I will try to mix this up every day and have 2-3 ideas ready to occupy a full hour. During this time I’ll try to include an educational activity for Piper and sensory play. I’ll reference this blog post I put together with activity ideas but also include things like: tea parties, fort building, playing doctor with baby dolls, setting up a restaurant with our play kitchen, FaceTiming friends and family. One of the activities may just be using a toy in rotation we haven’t played with in a while like magnatiles or water blocks. Simple is best!

9-9:30am: I’m excited to set aside time for reading every day. I plan on picking a few books to read to the girls and then letting them look at books on their own in our book nook. A lot of our favorites are here.

9:30-10am: Cooking is something both of my girls love to do and now is the perfect opportunity to do it more!! I plan on picking a few recipes for the week and alternating with simple craft projects. This week we are planning to make energy balls (adding sprinkles to make them more fun), muffins and rice krispy treats for St.Patrick’s Day.

10-11:30am: Getting OUTSIDE and moving is so important during this time. I’m hoping we go outside 2x a day depending on the weather for at least an hour. We’ll go for walks, bike rides, venture out to parks and beaches nearby, take small hikes, have picnics, go on nature hunts or simply hang out in the backyard! We also have an outdoor sensory table for water play, plenty of sidewalk chalk and bubbles.

11:30-1pm: Lunch time, clean up the house from the morning and start to calm down for nap.

1-3pm: Nap time (god willing) and my second work block of the day. My challenge will be getting the girls to nap together since typically Piper is gone during the week at school. We’ll see how this goes but I’m hoping for a solid 2 hour nap/quiet time.

3-4:30pm: Snack time and more outside play, given the weather. If it’s nice we’ll be outside as we usually are during this time of the day after school. If it’s not I’ll turn to a second set of indoor activities.

4:30-5:30pm: Screen time and free play inside. Will try to stick to PBS kids, Osmo play, and some of the more educational apps we have on the iPad, but we’ll definietly be watching Frozen2 and Moana a lot too, I’m sure! I’ll use this time to make dinner, clean up, finish up any work. Austin usually gets home at 5pm and takes Piper for a run and helps out around this time too.

5:30-7:00pm: Family dinner, bath, books and bed. While Austin is giving the girls a bath I will work on getting the activities set up for the next day.

7-8pm: I work again and then I’m hoping during this time to help combat my anxiety I can get back into reading before bed and falling asleep at 9!