If you have a child in Y1 or Y2 what is your after school routine?

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DS(6), an only child (and no pets) seems to only be interested in food and watching TV after school. And we are relatively ok with it as he's in extra curricular activities most days and we recognize the need to chill. However, while we are not opposed of a bit of TV, this is getting out of hand as doesn't want to do anything else we suggest or ask (going for a walk, helping out with preparing dinner, playing together, talking to the grandparents over facetime....). We never ever watched TV when eating dinner, but now it's such a struggle to ask him to switch it off, and then he wants more before going to bed.
While we are still firm in saying no, this needs to end and we are considering not having the TV on at all.

What do your children do that can inspire me?

We don't have many extracurricular activities but will stop at the playpark after school if weather is nice, do the school reading & maths activities, encourage playing with toy cars or lego. There is still too much TV though!

We don’t have any tv after school. I don’t remember if that started as a rule but it’s simply not even considered anymore. We might go to the park, have a bike ride, craft or read at home, that sort of thing. At 6 years old I am not suggesting activities unless there is something that I particularly want to do. It is free time for her to spend the way that she enjoys.

Thanks for sharing. We read at bedtime (he read to us his school books and we read to him whatever other book he likes) and we do math in the morning, hence probably the bigger gap before dinner! Good idea to spend time in a park, but he's already quite tired after the clubs and in a matter of weeks it will get darker. Encourage him to play seems the way to go!

We had the TV creep with DS1 and shut it down because I didn't like how he was assuming he'd get it every day. Now he tends to have it one evening midweek and we're more relaxed at the weekend. He's recently got into board games, so we play a lot of them and we always go to the park after school if the weather is good because his friends who are looked after by a childminder will definitely be there. On a good day he plays well with his little brother, on a bad day they are kept separated and he'll listen to audiobooks or do whatever he's currently interested in (at the moment magic tricks, previously marble runs). He doesn't like any crafts so I know a lot of his friends will happily sit and draw or colour, and that's definitely not him. He'd still prefer watching TV admittedly!

Funnily enough we made a rule of no iPad during school days and we have a timer on it for the weekend. And I genuinely don't know how we went from there to be a TV addicted! I really want to tackle this now before the habit consolidates.

My son is at wraparound care until 6 so when we get home he watches tv and/or plays with toys. Some will probably say it’s too much TV but frankly he’s been doing plenty during the day so a bit of downtime is ok.

No screens before school. After school: screens ok between 4 and dinner time (generally 5.30ish) but not after unless occasionally we watch something together . They only come home at the end of school twice a week though, the other days are wraparound after school clubs til 4.30/5/5.30

Hi Merrow, can I ask how he plays audio books? Is it a Yoto? Does he play it in his room?

My DS listens to audiobooks on a portable cd player. We borrow cds from the library. He also plays with his brother, reads, gets dragged around to siblings sports clubs. We often go to the playground to let off steam. He does do maths homework on an iPad. TV is strictly Fridays and weekends only and we’ve had this rule for so long that they don’t question it at all.

We're probably a bit different because on the days when DD doesn't have activities she can have an hour of TV or tablet time 4.30-5.30.

She's home at 3.40ish on non-activity days. Plays/reads/homework for an hour, then an hour of screen time. Dinner is at 5.30 and then it's wind down, so she'll help tidy up after dinner, maybe a board game if she's not having a hair wash bath.

And then upstairs for bed at 6.30 with sleep at 7/7.15ish.

Either way no screens after dinner or AT dinner. She knows if she whinges too much about this she loses the screen time for the next day.

IME once we put the TV on that's generally it until bedtime 😬I get to a certain point late afternoon that I just can't muster up the energy required to either coax them away from it without a meltdown or ignore/handle the resulting meltdown without snapping myself.

I started a rule that we do "something else" first but I don't mind what it is. When we were very in the grip of the flopping and wailing for TV, I just insisted on something short like a game of Uno and then let them put TV on after that. Once that was established and the normal habit, we started chatting on the way home about what we wanted to do when we got home and so the activities pre-TV got more and more engaging and longer lasting and 95% of the time we get to dinner without screens now. If they seem extra tired or the weather is shit it does go on a bit earlier than it would otherwise. If they do want to play screens, I have a rule of thumb in my own head which is that they need to ask for something specific AND they need to be polite and pleasant, not shouty or hyper, and then I set a timer on it so it doesn't drag on and on, and it's still not the first thing we do. I find that instantly throwing the TV on the moment we get home is such a pervasive habit and so hard to break that it's really worth interrupting it before it gets [re-]established. Once it's broken as a link, they (age 4 & 7) do all sorts of things - activity books, trampoline, lego, jigsaws, pretend games, art projects, lego, puzzle games, playdoh, hama beads, lego, board games, lego lego lego lego (it's a big theme right now in our house...)

If DH is home between dinner and bedtime, he will quite often get them engaged in something after dinner, join them in a game, or suggest a walk or similar (while I brain melt on MN) and he is pretty good at doing a tidy up time before bed as well. But a lot of the time, once the TV is on, it's on.

Next stage I suppose is more family dinners, no screens.

My DS watches TV after school. He's been at school all day, in a routine, learning, etc.

I'm fine with him coming home to chill and do what he wants, and if that's TV, then so be it. We don't have a limit on how much he watches after school.

Only rule is no TV during dinner time. That's when we chat about the day, etc.

We have the rule that they can have screens until dinner then they go off. Works for us as they’re both shattered after school so gives them time to chill. They have a very early dinner though as they’re starving after school so screens are off by 5 at the latest. Then my oldest (7 year old) does homework/reads/does Lego and my youngest (5) plays or I sit and read with him. My oldest might watch tv again when his little brother goes to bed but it has to be something we both enjoy together - things like junior bake off he enjoys.

As said I am not against TV, but I think it's getting out of control and I really would like to have a better routine before the winter sets. I like the idea of doing something as soon as we get home, when he's still responsive!
Most of the time it's just the two of us until dinner time, as DH works until late. And there are no siblings to play or argue or tag along with.

A standard day goes like this:
4/4,30pm we get home
6,30/7 we have dinner all together
7,30 upstairs for bath
8pm in bed reading
8,30pm asleep

It's about 2 hours we have to fill.

Then he sleeps until 7,30 and we leave for school at 8,30 after cuddles/bathroom/breakfast/math/uniform.

I like to have a project with my DD8, this is normally a lego set, scrap booking, jigsaw etc. She normally watches tv after school for a bit whilst I sort dinner - she likes to decompress from school and tv is good for that. Then after dinner we'll do our project for a bit, shower if needed, PJ'S on then bedtime reading

Have you tried just letting him be bored? Take away the remote and let him find something else to do.

DS is 5 just started y1
after school he does mostly watch TV and play with his toys or draw or colour with TV on.

I feel he needs a snack and TV time to decompress a bit!

We read at bedtime and he reads and we read to him every night without fail.

He is often (at least 3 nights a week) in wraparound until 4.30 so needs decompression time.

Weekends he has extra curriculars clubs swimming etc so we keep it simple on weekdays.

So I honestly don’t see anything wrong with it

What time does he get up? That’s a late bedtime for a 5/6 year old.

DS mainly plays with toys. He currently has a marble run set up in the living room and a magna tiles creation in the kitchen, so he goes straight to them when he goes home.

He will often ask for time playing games on the tablet, but this is capped at 30-40 minutes.

Our evening is something like:
4pm home and play with toys/garden
5pm tablet
5.30 dinner
6:15 bit more playing
6:45 shower
7pm reading
7:30 goes to bed with a book
8:30 goes to sleep

6:30am wakes up and reads or plays
7:30 breakfast, get dressed etc
8:15 leave for school

I have a DS who is 5 in Y1 and a DS who is 3.5 in preschool. We don't do screens during the week at this point in the year (this will ABSOLUTELY change when we are all full of cold and sickness/it's raining for weeks on end/etc - but we like to start off the year as we'd like to continue it). We started this routine after Easter last school year and it helped us a lot. I used to take snacks to pick up and put tv on to 'decompress' but it just wasn't working for us. Organised after school activities (like setting out an invitation to play etc) also doesn't seem to work for us, and DS5 is too tired after school for clubs - we've tried!

3.10-3.30 - walk home from school
3.30-4pm - change out of uniform, wash hands, warm drink and snack at the table, listen to the radio usually to avoid arguments re who chooses the music.
4pm-5pm - DS5 usually goes to play in his room or does some drawing/makes odd crafts out of scrap paper, DS3 usually helps me cook or runs about manically - sometimes they play together at this time but only really if they go outside otherwise it is a lot of screaming. I don't get involved in what they choose to do.
5pm-5.30pm - dinner
5.30-5.45 - clean up/tidy up
5.45-6.30 - play OUTSIDE or take a bath (quick shower after if they choose outside)
6.30-8pm - books, quiet building play in bedrooms, yoto stories/music, hopefully some sleep. If DH is here, this time also involves wrestling/leaping about/etc but they don't seem to "need" that when he's still at work for some reason .

For balance, they have hours of screen time most weekends. TV was on literally all day on Sunday (7am-5pm) while DH and I did DIY and jobs around the house, and also while we had a quiet coffee in peace (they weren't staring at the TV all day, but at least one of them was usually watching it... not my best parenting ha).

Mornings are literally just

8am wake up
Teeth
Dressed
Breakfast
Shoes
Read reading book
Run to school because we are late

every day

DS is mainly in after school club so we tend to get home about 5.30. On a Friday, I pick up him at the end of the normal school day. I sometimes plan something on a Friday (although it’s often something dull like a haircut) but on the other days, I just let him choose what he wants to do. I figure he needs the downtime. Sometimes it’s TV, sometimes it’s puzzles, sometimes it’s something crafty. If DH and I are both around and not working, we will occasionally play a board game. We have to fit in homework somewhere too as our school only gives homework during the week and not over the weekend generally.

Our kids watched TV/played with toys every day after school at that age (hardly did any clubs except swimming) and they are two of the happiest boys you will ever meet/very bright. Love being out and about at the weekend with us, love walking, seeing friends and family (just not overly into clubs).

I honestly think unless the kids are massively pushing for the clubs, let them relax after school! When I get home from work, I have about an hour of peace before the school run and I absolutely love it. Kids feel the same way - they need to relax, zone out, have their own time and there’s nothing wrong with TV after a busy packed day at school. I feel so sorry for little ones never being allowed to rest after a busy day.

So we do not put TV on during the week ever. They don't ask for it anymore, it's not a big deal.
We get home from school, have a hot chocolate sometimes.
3.50- 4.30 lego/playmobil/drawing ect
4.30 - 5.30 Dance
5.30-6 Dinner
6.15- 7.15 Homework (Rainbows on Thursdays)
7.30 Teeth and bed

Age 5 with suspected ADHD.

A typical Monday - 4.15 pick up, swim, dinner, ride bike jumps on the field next to our house with local friends. If they’re not riding, they’re building jumps.

Bed approx 8.30 and hope he sleeps…

Will be up by 7am at the latest without fail…