Find out how Mumsnet users wind down with their kids after school

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It’s September, and for most families that can mean only one thing – back to school. And with that comes the daily duty of whisking everyone out the door on time, helping them out with homework, and guiding your kids through playground politics. To say term time is jam-packed is an understatement – that’s why we’re so keen to hear how your wind down with your kids after the day’s hurly burly.

Here’s what IKEA have to say:
“We all know that every child is different. The same applies here: where one might like to sit and colour, another might want to play football in the garden. The secret is to make things easy for them, keeping all their favourite things organised and easy to find. That way they can happily while away the hours with minimal fuss.
Speaking of reading, a great way to nurture it is to give your child a dedicated space just for them and their books. Keep theirs on the lowest shelf, give them a comfy chair to settle into and they’ll be away.
Arts and crafts are a great way to relax too, and brilliant way to nurture your child’s creative side. Encourage their inner Picasso by keeping all of their supplies in easy to find containers right by their desk. Don’t forget to keep your carpet from turning into a masterpiece though – a plastic floor protector is a lifesaver here.”

So, what are your tips for winding down after school? Do you have certain activities you can bank on to keep things calm? Maybe there’s a toy or game you’ve got, ready to play with when they get home? Or maybe it’s a spot of drawing that does the trick?

Whatever you do, we’d love to know. Share your tips for how you relax and wind down with your children after school on the thread below and be in with a chance of winning a £300 IKEA voucher.

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ
Standard Insight T&Cs apply

I love to play board games with the kids after school plus drawing and crafts is good fun

We walk home each day through the park
And hear the wren and the lark
Then I let the dears play
As I cook for that day
And dream of my own Blahaj shark

The children are lovely, it’s true
I support them in all that they do
But there’s something I need
And I’m forced to concede
That it’s shark-shaped and fluffy and blue

My darlings have gone down to sleep
And from them I hear not a peep
So I sit in the dark
And imagine my shark
And his life in the briniest deep

And there I stay, sharkless and small
A shadow within my own walls
IKEA, please tend me,
Hear my cries and send me
A Blahaj - and a bag of meatballs

I’ve just realised something. ‘Snuggle up on the sofa’ is a euphemism for watching telly.

Hurrah, I AM NORMAL.

We watch telly. In separate rooms.

Oh proj you're living the dream. I can't work out how to make sky work in different rooms. So we're all in the same room, near each other, it's ghastly.

@ThighThighOfthigh Sounds unhygienic. Pretty sure Plague was spread like that. Separate rooms are definitely better from a public health POV.

I'm so glad piss is sterile.

Homework first so that we have the whole afternoon/evening for downtime. Once home work is finished there is playtime, followed by dinner, some tv time after that, then bath time and bed time with a story.

Watching The telly

Kit I sobbed silently when I read your poem. It is beautiful yet somehow ominous. It gave me a frisson of fredagsmys, but tinged with paranoia. It will touch a nerve at IKEA, that's for sure.

@LadyCarolinePooterVonThigh It is a harrowing description of my shark-free life.

I listen to my kids reading their reading books, then after we chat about their day

we let them relax in front of tv or play until tea time

After school we pass through a local park, I let the kids have a good play and then go home for tea, they're pretty tired by 7 o clock

My daughter and I watch funny clips to ease her school stress away

Kit just let it out. You are obviously a bit triggered. If not, I am willing to be a bit triggered on your behalf.

Although your tiny violin is bringing back some bad memories, too.

Uh oh.

I am triggered, actually. Seeing all this talk of Ikea just brings the crushing loneliness back. Crushing like the water pressure in the sea, which is where sharks live. And I have no shark.

I make sure dinner is already prepared before they come home so that we can spend time together talking about their day.

we love having reading time and doign arts and crafts!

We love ❤ to fill in our good behaviour charts then we make bread using our Ikea oven. How we laugh and play.

We sit down and share a guided meditation, before preparing something nutritious for tea! At the moment, their favourites are hummus and raw veg. Or sometimes offal.

SirProject I hope you're not dipping into the organ bucket for that offal. My pancreas has no nutritional value whatsoever.

We chat about our days whilst the kids help me prepare tea. If they help with tea they understand more about the food and are more likely to try things... if they're busy peeling, etc, they're more forthcoming with conversation! Win:Win

snacks chatting at the kitchen table.

Mumsnet children love to play,
After school, weekend, every day.
In the park, on the swings,
Chasing balls and running in rings.
Home for tea, made by mummies,
Filling their bellies, fat little tummies.
Bath times over, bedtime’s now,
The day’s flown by, who knows how.
Daddy’s home so Mummy can rest,
He’s cooked their dinner, he’s the best.
For me what I want to hear,
I’ve won a gift card from IKEA.

Please, please, please, me and my mates at Cuntingdon are desperate MNHQ.