How to Create a Summer Schedule for Your Child with ADHD

Summertime can be a difficult time for kids with ADHD and their parents. In this blog post I’m going to teach you how to create a summer schedule for your child with ADHD.

Schools Out !! Have your kids started saying, “I’m Bored” yet? Well, don’t worry they will. Whether they have ADHD or not, most kids find themselves saying that everyday because they are so used to getting up and going to school that it’s hard for them to figure out what they are going to fill their time with.

Create a Daily Schedule

Structure is super important for kids with ADHD and even though it’s summer, structure should still be part of his/her day. So what does structure mean? Basically, it’s a day that is organized and predictable. You can also theme your days to focus on one thing a day. Whatever you choose to do, you will see that creating a daily schedule will help your child know what’s expected of him/her and there will be less arguments.

Food as Fuel is Still Important

Your kids might be sleeping in a little later than normal and if you have teenagers, they may sleep in until 10am (like my kids), but they still need to start their day with good food choices. Be sure that you stock your fridge with high quality protein and limit the junk because we all know that our kids will eat the junk first and their behavior will be junk behavior.

Involve Your Kids

It’s important to involve your kids in the planning as they have good ideas too and when you involve your kids in the planning, there will be a bigger buy in. They can plan family nights, weekend day trips, and even decide when you will go to the pool.

Ideas for those Lazy Summer days

Here’s some ideas for you to think about with your child:

1. Plan lots of outdoor activities to be sure they are getting lots of exercise to help get out that energy. So plan those trips to the zoo, the park, and the neighborhood pool.

2. Sign up for the Summer Reading program at your local library and go weekly to check out new books.

3. How about signing up your child for an art class or a woodworking class at your rec center or local craft store.

4. Kids also need time to just be kids so be sure to schedule down time too.

5. Write down all the plans you have on a giant calendar so everyone can see it.

6. Prep the night before so everyone knows what’s happening the next day.

7. Take the stress out of the day. If you kids are not early risers, then make plans to visit the zoo late morning instead of first thing.

8. Most of all, HAVE FUN !!!

Kids Still Need Their Sleep

Even though it’s summer, it’s important to be sure to keep a fairly regular bed time schedule for your kids. Why you ask? Well, too little sleep and you will have a cranky kid on your hands and that’s no fun at all. Also, kids who don’t have a regular bedtime have a harder time adjusting once school is back in session. Their circadian rhythm can get thrown off and that can be difficult to fix. So get some black out curtains, invite them to take a lavender epsom salt bath and put on that calming music.

Until next time,

Mary

About the author:  Mary is a wife of 22 years and mom to three children, one who has ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder.  She is also a Certified Health Coach and loves to serve her clients through a Free Facebook group, Online and In-Person Individual Family Coaching and Group Coaching programs.  She is also a self-published author of “Food & The Brain” a book about how food affects our brains and the creator of “Grocery Store to Table” a program with a proven approach to helping your child accept new foods into their diets.