What do children do after a 3.15 school pick-up until bedtime?

[Thoseyummyspicycheesethings]

3.15-3.30…what do you/they do for the rest of the evening?
Dc has piano one evening, just for half an hour, other hobby is at the weekend. Sometimes she plays with a friend, if they’re home (same street) but mainly her two friends are home later and too late to play.
We have a snack after school, she plays in the garden, does homework, dinner later, maybe plays football with Dh or a quick bike ride around the block. Mainly she’s bored and looking for things to do until bedtime at 8 ish
As a child, my mum picked me up at this time and I remember being happy to just relax at home and watch tv, I had no clubs.

If you pick up at this time, what do they/you do until bedtime?

Mine are a bit older (9 and 12) - they have one after school club week, on normal days - they do homework, read, shower, downtime (often lego or listening to music stuff) then bed at 8pm. We have dinner from about 530-630pm. Fridays are diff as one child has football until 7pm and i am home with the other, they normally just chill on a friday with music or chatting to friends on teams! im not keen on screens/tv mon-friday and its a nightmare to get them off so they do that on sundays.

It depends on the day but most days DS8 has an activity (either afterschool club or another club). Tuesday this term are our non activity day.
Usually I do pick up, park for 30-60 mins depending on weather and day, home, dinner, activity, home, shower, bed.
In the summer, I have one after school where I plan a park picnic and usually also take one of DS friends with us to a bigger park further away from the school.
Homework takes up a good half hour (usually while dinner is cooking).

Try to get her into crafting of some description. Buy some cheap art supplies, use old magazines and get her to make a collage. Also crochet is quite basic starting out and there are some brilliant beginner books out there to help.
Also get her chopping veg/salad for the evening meal. Good luck!

Mine are older now - but it was swimming lessons and beavers / cubs and maybe one school organised activity . They were happy to play - draw and watch CBeebies back in the day . They went to bed about 7 though so a little less time . I never needed to entertain them but they did have each other

We have an allotment so we visit that on the way home and plant, water, pick bits.

Get home and I make tea while they play.

TV snuggle time after dinner or some educational activities or sowing again for the allotment

Bath, books and Bed,

Mine play. As a PP has said it’s an important life skill to learn to be bored - that’s where creativity comes from. Check out The Imagination Tree for ways to encourage children to play independently for longer. Craft is a good idea, as someone else suggested. You don’t need to pour money into endless activities at this age. Can she spend more time outside? Go to the park on the way home from school?

At that age, mine were in after-school club two days a week.

They had swimming lessons another day, in consecutive time slots (different ages/grades) and we walked to and from the pool, calling in at the library on the way.

They did Cubs/Brownies later in the evening on different days, so early dinner those days. We would usually go to the park on the way home if it was dry.

That didn't really leave loads of time for playdates, so could fairly easily fill the week if they had friends over.

Other things we might do... Baking, walk the dog, quick boardgame/card game. I expected them to entertain themselves while I cooked dinner - jigsaw, reading, drawing, maybe an episode of something on TV.

Although I didn't allow a lot of screen time, one of my DC struggles a bit more without direction and I allowed cosmic kids yoga or drawing tutorials on YouTube as a bit more interactive and not just staring at a screen. Mine also liked craft kits that they could manage without help.

We walk everywhere if possible, so that always took up a fair chunk of time.

We go to the library on a Monday to change our books over, Tuesday the park or chill at home, Wednesday clubs, Thursday after-school club, Friday clubs.

Mine have activities after school each day (not always both children but they still need to come with me to drop off/collect) other than that they watch tv, play in the garden, eat dinner, read, sometimes practice their instruments or do times tables rockstars. Some evenings they are allowed to play on their games console but not every day. Drawing/crafts/card games or generally playing with their toys. Then it’s shower/bath and bedtime. They are 7 and 9.

When 4/5/6/7ish we maybe went to the park or shop, had a snack, chilled out, let them play. Had a music class one day a week throughout and for about 6 months another day was swimming (but moved that to a weekend because too tiring). They'd "help" me make dinner. We'd eat together. Then they'd play with Dad until bedtime at 7:30. Bedtime routine was pretty drawn out as Dad did that.

Around 7 we moved and commute home from school took up a big chunk but meant they'd decompressed by the time we got home, clubs twice a week and the introduction of more screen time until dinner. After dinner they'd play and read.

Mine didn't seem to get bored until lights out, at which point they tried all sorts to get us to give them attention, at least for a while!

If they're autistic and mask, they decompress in any way that suits them. Mine via Minecraft, city planning and transport video games; and fun educational videos. Anything but engagement outside the home.

This is going to sound like such a wanky answer, but we have family membership to a posh local gym. So on days where they don't have sports clubs after school, if they're bored we pop down to the gym for a swim or to play tennis. It's worth the membership fee to keep them off screens for hours at a time and one of the reasons we did it. So we can do more activities together as a family, without having to drag everyone out on a reluctant bike ride or muddy walk!

In nicer weather they’re likely to go out to play football at the park or in a friend’s garden/our garden until dinner/clubs and in crappy weather it’s screen time or maybe a book if I can see the screens impacting behaviour.

DC1 has football training 2 nights and one weekend game, running two nights and rookie lifeguard one night along with football and athletics after school clubs 2 days.

DC2 has football training 2 nights and one weekend game. Hated swimming so he’s dropped that recently after passing level 2. He’ll join running as soon as they have a free slot. He will also watch any and all football on tv and research scores from random worldwide leagues.

Clubs most days at that age.

1 or both of my DC (DS9 and DD11) have an activity every week night - athletics, netball, cubs/guides, football, both have cricket. They don't get as much homework as I think they should so spend the time when they don't have an activity either watching tv or reading or seeing friends.

Activities, playing, going on the garden, doing projects etc.
We don't have a TV and tbh I found it very boring even when I was a kid that that's all we did.

French lessons, Gymnastics, Karate, Maths Tutor, Art Club.

If they are not doing clubs or lessons - baking, homework, tv, drawing, friends over, listening to music, reading, lolling about on the furniture....

Mine is six and gets off school at half one. Usual routine is park/ playground, she plays with her friends, I often have a cup of tea and chat with other mums. Then walk home, snack and tv for a while. Then homework, then maybe a board or card game or do some crafts.After that I have to make dinner and tidy up so she’s left to her own devices and will play an imaginary game or draw or kinetic sand or go out the back yard with her ball/ skates etc. Then dinner, then she gets her tablet for a while. Then get ready for bed.

Football 2 nights a week.

Homework, then out to play the rest.

The post school 3-6 sort of time is a slog. Mine like playing in the garden but it’s interspersed with a lot of wailing and shouting. I’m hoping as dd gets older I can move swimming lessons from the weekend to the evening but it’s too late for her as it is; we’d have a danger nap and I’m not losing my evening!

DD is 7 and I have the weekdays scheduled to avoid too much time milling around at home, though I factor in some time at home so she has time to play, be bored and get creative etc. there are a few neighbours kids she plays with too. she doesn't have homework yet. We're members at a gym with kids activities so I have a two week rotation like this:

Monday: swimming lesson every other Monday
Tuesday: wraparound at school (some friends go and she enjoys it. I finish work at 2 so use this time for gym)
Weds: club at the gym
Thurs: performing arts club
Fri: free. Might do library visit, shops if we need anything, dog walk, swimming or play at home

Mon: club at gym
Tues: wrap around
Weds free
Thurs performing arts
Fri free, library, dog etc.

She joins juniors next year and they have a larger variety of clubs so this will likely change

When mine were that age, we would walk home, sometimes stop at the cafe or the park on the way back from school, get home for a snack, do homework, play in the garden or in the living room (All the toys would come out, they loved pretend play), watch some tv, do some drawing/hama beads/craft or occasionally bake with me. If one had ballet/gymnastics or swimming I'd take the other one to the soft play or we would sit and wait for the sibling reading books and doing homework. They did a dance lesson/gymnastics once a week to begin with, plus swimming (in the week to begin with, then on a saturday). We also tried piano for a bit. Dancing then became the main hobby and I am now at the dance studio every evening and I drive them around to various dance things at week ends - Careful what you wish for!

Does she read? Mine always loved reading and still would rather sit with a book than watch tv. At 7, all the Roald Dahl, HP, Worst Witch, Magic Kittens, Isadora Moon series...

For craft they loved drawing with sand, hama beads, painting, making slime, playdoh and kinetic sand...

Grandparents x3 times per week (due to work), clubs (x3 afternoons for DC1 and DC2 - different clubs and days, DC3 only does 1 club)

The one day we are "free" from 3.30pm we go to the park this time of year for a few hours. Many children from school go most days in nicer weather so there's a ready made pool of friends for both my primary age kids. The secondary aged one has a few hours of downtime on a Friday as he won't be seen dead in a park with his siblings now.

Wow I feel terrible, I work full time so by the time I’m finished and the youngest is dropped or collected it’s gone 6 and we’re eating and winding down for bath and bed 😅 Hats off to those who get their kids to clubs every night!

This. Parents feel like they need to fill every moment of their kids times with clubs and activities. They really don't. If my kids ever tell me they're bored i tell them some chores to do they soon shut up and start entertaining themselves.