FREE 7+ Toddler Schedule Samples and Templates in PDF

Taking care of your bubbly and carefree little one can be quite a handful. However, you can slowly remedy this by getting your little tot to follow a daily routine. He/she may not know that he/she is following a schedule but sure enough, your little one will surely look forward to doing the scheduled activities as long you are religious to doing the schedule that you have set. Setting up a toddler schedule will also help babysitters retain the routine that you are following.

If you want to get your toddler started on a schedule, we will give you a couple of tips on how you can do so. We have also included a couple of schedule templates that can help you create your schedule a little bit easier.

Blank Schedule Template

Daily Schedule for Infants and Toddlers

Sample Schedules for Toddlers

Toddler Room Sample Daily Schedule

Getting Started on the Toddler Schedule

Living with a toddler comes with a lot of surprises and a couple of things that your kids just want to do over and over again. The toddler moments of your child is one of the phases of his/her life that you would definitely cherish for the rest of your life. You may think that setting up a schedule or a routine may seem pretty dull and pretty boring to you, but to your kid, it is probably very heavenly and probably one that he/she will also cherish for the rest of his/her life.

You may not think much about it, but toddlers actually tend to look forward to the activities that they have for the day—except probably for nap time. Setting up schedules can also be a form of enrichment as it helps to improve the memory of the toddler. One more thing is it helps to make the toddler feel secure and it helps them to focus more on learning and playing. Good patterns could also be established with the help of demonstrating good patterns.

So how do you come up with an activity schedule for your little one? Here are a couple of tips.

Figure Your Day Out

Find out what you need to do on a daily basis and then organize it. This is what your toddler will be doing on a daily basis from now on. Your kid will like to know what he/she will be eating for breakfast and that walking with the dog is also part of his/her daily routine. Repeating daily activities can help make the connections way stronger as time passes by and it would definitely be something that can help your little one be calmer and lessen anxiety. Lesser anxiety is equal to lesser tantrums, which are definitely going to benefit your little one and, of course, you! You might also be interested in baby feeding schedules.

Prioritize Preparing for the Activities

Procrastinating is not a good thing if you want to remain consistent with your toddler’s schedule. Your procrastination can result in your little one’s crankiness. If you can, you can start preparations the night before you go to bed or you can also do it early in the morning. Choose which time is more convenient for you. Make sure you are able to pull off breakfast, prepare snacks ahead of time, or make sure that the diaper bag is well-stocked with everything that your kid needs, especially if going out for a stroll is part of your child’s daily schedule. However, if you feel that your current schedule is not working out for you, make little changes until you are able to come up with one that works best for you.

Build Flexibility

Teach your little one to be adaptable and be able to easily adapt to changes when you need to apply changes to the routine. You can add variety to your daily activities by changing patterns such as interchanging some of the activities or adding a couple of simple activities that you can incorporate into your existing activities.

Another way to give variety and practice flexibility is by switching up the people who will do the activity with your toddler. It can either be the mom, dad, a sibling, an aunt, a babysitter, or whoever is available. You may also assign one person per day or you may also assign one person per activity. Do not forget positive reinforcement and do not forget to also ask your child how he/she felt when he/she was with another person during a specific activity.

Need more tips on how to incorporate your babysitter into your child’s daily routine? Check out Babysitter Checklist with Schedule Samples and Templates for more information.

Maintain Normalcy

More often than not, you will encounter some major shake-ups such as emergencies or going away for a vacation. When you are following the typical sample schedules that you are following at home when you are away from home, you will find that your toddler will feel more relaxed as familiarity is still imposed in unfamiliar locations or situations.

You might also find that having a talk with your toddler will be effective and you will also be able to set proper expectations. Let him/her know that there will be a need for you to go to grandma’s house or the fact that Daddy will be the one to do the bedtime routine because mommy has to be somewhere else when bedtime comes. Make sure that you use a language that he/she will easily understand. Keep everything calm and simple. Make sure that you also assure him/her that everything is going to be okay and that it will all go back to normal soon. One more thing that could help keep normalcy is by bringing familiar items when you have to go on a vacation. Sticking to your regular schedule will also be a good idea.

Sometimes, trying to make things normal for your toddler may not work the way you want it to. Your toddler may still show a couple of meltdowns or be cranky about the change. However, as we have mentioned earlier, trying out a few things that are not part of the routine can help them become more flexible. It might take a couple of trial-and-error methods but patience is key when it comes to toddlers.

Toddler Daily Schedules and Routines

Sample Schedule for Family Child Care

Kindergarten Toddler Full Day Sample Schedule

Meal Plan Toddler Schedule

Toddler Schedule FAQs

You may have some questions on your mind when it comes to coming up with your very own toddler schedule. So we would like to answer a couple of common ones that we think can also help you come up with a schedule that works for your toddler.

“How much sleep should my toddler sleep for?”

A total of 12 to 14 hours of sleep is recommended for your toddlers. It all depends on your toddler, however, on how much sleep your toddler wants to render for the day. This is because some toddlers prefer to take longer naps and shorter night sleeps while others are the total opposites.

“What time should naps be scheduled?”

An hour after lunch will be a good time for naps. A total of 2 hours to 4 hours of nap time is ideal for your little one. It would also, again, depend on your kid. A lot of times, toddlers tend to be a bit finicky about nap time and they totally do not want to take one. Having a reward system for taking naps would be a good idea and can also encourage him/her to take one. Just observe your kid and find a good balance between nap time and bedtime. Utilize a time schedule to keep track of your toddler’s activities.

“When should my toddler go to bed and what time should he/she wake up?”

About 6 to 8 hours of sleep would be a good amount of sleep that your toddler should get. If your toddler needs to wake up early, an early bedtime would also be a good idea. Once again, observe your toddler and adjust accordingly to what you have observed.

“How to incorporate playtime in the schedule?”

The playtime schedule will help you have more time to do household chores especially if you are a stay-at-home mother. So fit the playtime schedule with the time when you would want to get a ton of household chores done. This can either be in the morning or the afternoon while he/she is napping.

“How to include typical routines in a schedule?”

Your toddlers learn what is expected of them as they do not want to hear a mother nag or yell at them just because they are not doing what they need to do. So routines will help kids feel like they have control over what they need to do for the day. The more your toddlers master what they need to do, the more in control they would feel.

Inserting routines in between schedules should be easy as pie such as washing hands right before mealtime.

Now that you have a better understanding of how you can come up with your very own toddler schedule, it is now time for you to try it out. There is no right or wrong way of how you can make your very own toddler schedule. Just do what you think works best for you and your child. You will surely learn along the way.

Want to incorporate your kids into the household chores? Check out Kid’s Chore Schedule Samples & Templates.