Kids Back To School Evening Routine

I posted our “Kid’s Back To School Morning Routine” here, and got many requests for our evening routine, so here it is.  It may be helpful for you to read the Morning Routine post, as I go into detail about how GREAT routines and charts have been for our family, and how we enforce them.

 I made our charts online at this great site, it was SUPER easy to just follow directions, fill in the blanks, and push print.  

Then I had them laminated, and we hung them on our Chore Board with magnets. They use dry erase markers or dry erase crayons (did you know there was such thing? We love them!) to mark off as they go.  

Kid’s Back To School Evening Routine

~Snack

~Fill Water Bottle/Put In Refrig

~Pick Up Personals

~Brush/Floss/Rinse

~Clean Up Bathroom Sink Area

~Pajama’s

~Dirties Into Hamper

~Clean Clothes Hung Up

~Outfit For Tomorrow

~5 Minute Room Rescue

~Devotions

~Pray

 

Snack-a habit we started when they were young, now I wish we had not!  It is a small snack, fruit or crackers/cheese, etc.

Pick Up Personals–I talked about how this is one of my favorite routines when I wrote about the Morning Routine.  They go into each room of the house and find anything that they left out and put it away.  No longer am I bending over a thousand times picking up after others!

Brush/Floss/Rinse–we are strict about this, as our girls get cavities way too easily!  

Clean Up Sink Area–we had to add this because I got so sick of seeing toothpaste globs in the sink!  Yuck.

Pajama’s–I’ve been seeing too many pajama’s in the dirty clothes, that do not seem dirty. I think I will teach them the “keep your jammies under your pillow” trick.  

Dirties In Hamper–this step really helps keep the rooms picked up

Clean Hung Up–so does this one! I have shown them that there are certain items of clothing that I want them to wear twice before washing (like jeans) if they look and smell ok. 🙂  Guess they need a refresher when it comes to pajamas!

5 minute Room Rescue–They do this in the morning, too.  They set the timer and “rescue” their room (pick it up).  Their rooms do not frighten me anymore..

Devotions–they do these on their own.  We have loved this for my youngest (7 yrs old) and these for my 11 & 9 year old.

Pray–Todd and I take turns with which girl we pray with.  It is precious time, just a quick few minutes, and usually a little back gets scratched in the process which they think is heaven!

 

To keep them on task, most nights we have to set a timer.  If they do not get their routine done by a certain time, they do not get their points for our allowance system.  

They can get it done in 30ish minutes-sometimes the devotions take a little longer.  Some nights when we are out later in the evening, we will skip the room rescue and devotions, which makes the routine is about 10-15 minutes.  

Their room will be rescued in the morning, and we still pray with them, so a night without a devotion once in awhile is fine.  

***How I decide what should be added to a routine is pretty simple.  If I find myself nagging about something repetitively, or frustrated that I have to do it when I know they are capable, (like cleaning toothpaste globs out of the sink!) then it should go on the chart. 

Hope this is helpful!!