Family routines

What is a family routine?

A routine is a plan for your family so everyone knows when things are happening, and who is involved. Your routine can be as detailed or as straightforward as you feel is appropriate. 

Perhaps you or your children have regular activities they attend, or they need to complete homework on certain days. Maybe you all have dinner together on a Friday, or you have a simple bath, book, bed routine for the end of the day - it’s these regular and repeated patterns that can help everyone to understand their role, and to plan ahead.

It is important to remember that routines are not always about chores, families may have special rituals, leisure time and fun activities that are all valuable parts of their routine. 

Your routine could simply be a written list or a calendar that can be placed somewhere for everyone to see. It can be fun to get the children involved and help create a poster with drawings of the activities for the routines. They will enjoy being a part of the planning process.

How to introduce a routine

Think about the goals you have in mind, for example:

• Getting everyone to bed by 9pm
• Ensuring all homework is completed on time
• Getting to events on time
• Turning off devices before dinner

Next you can consider who is involved and timings. For example, if you have a child who takes a long time to get ready in the morning can they get up a little earlier? Could they pack their bag the night before, and put their uniform out ready? You can list each step for your child, and a time, so they have their own routine to follow.

Encourage the whole family to work together to create the routine. Ask each family member what is most important for them so you can add this onto the list. Allow them to contribute the timings if you are adding these on. For example, brushing your teeth will be 5 mins at 7.30 am.

It can take time for the routine to work, you may need to write it down for each child if they have individual tasks, or to remind everyone to begin, until it becomes a habit. It can be easy to give up on a routine as soon as there is resistance, however it will take time for everyone to get used to the changes. 

Things to consider

It is important that the tasks and activities that you introduce are age appropriate and simple.

For younger children, it can be simple tasks such as brushing their teeth, bath time, reading together and play time.

For primary aged children, it can be little chores, device timings, bedtimes, hobbies and interests.

For teens, it can be spending offline time, doing chores, homework, getting up in the morning and bedtimes.

Our top tips

• Your child or teen may need help with the new routine, especially if they are younger and they need time to learn new skills
• Routines can and will need to change sometimes, especially as children get older
• Ensure your routine is realistic and achievable
• Routines do not have to be limited to chores and tasks. You can build time into your routine for relaxation, family time, free time, and fun