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
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I have 4 DC ranging from 9 to 15. In all honesty, there is v little (if any) time to chill in the evenings. They get far too much homework, so by the time they have done after school clubs (almost all in school) dinner and a shower, it's time to get ready for bed. To help them switch off, I dim all the lights, collect all electronics and they are allowed to have a milky drink then read in their rooms or listen to quiet music. They know about how blue light affects your ability to get to sleep, so accept it. Fridays and Saturdays they can fully relax, so we tend to kick off the weekend with pizza & ice cream and a film. One thing we always make time for is talking- with mental health issues dramatically on the increase in children, it is so incredibly important.

Snack, lego or trampoline in good weather then tv/ iPad/screen time from 5pm
I only am home after school 2 days a week

We have a snack, then do reading, then have some playtime before dinner, shower & bed.

Snack, read, a walk if it's dry, netflix if it's raining, dinner, crossword, relaxing bath, go find kids, tell them they can stop cleaning, bed.

Our best after school times are actively planned otherwise everyone tends to drift apart and scatter to bedrooms / lounge / computer den and I end up just starting dinner early on my own.

But if I get organised beforehand we always end up having more fun!

In the summer we might kick our shoes off and head straight out into the garden for trampolining, hammock and the shade of the tree - if I’ve got a jug of squash salad (fruit juice, water, ice and fruit salad!) in the fridge ready to pour / eat the boys will be straight there. Or it might entail having a beach bag ready to grab off the hall pegs so we can dump the school bags, grab the swim kits and head straight to the beach / splash fountains - hot and tired children bribed with the promise of an ice lolly from the kiosk (we live on the coast).

At the moment (autumn) the weather is more of a challenge - waterproofs are often needed so got to have them ready to go! A quick stop on the bench by the back door to swap school shoes for wellies and then get outside again quickly while the impetus is still there! Again snacks are an incentive - I’ll have a bag with trail mix and juice boxes ready to go and they’ll get to eat them as we walk to the park. I often persuade further by asking for help to collect pine cones, conkers, leaves or anything else I need for the playgroup I run.

When it gets colder we make sure everyone picks up gloves and hats from the trug before heading out. If there’s a chance of snow or ice I can’t dissuade the children from wanting to get outside in it but if that rare icy treat is missing then it’s more bribery to go for hot chocolates and pastries at the local gallery / theatre / cafe venue we are lucky enough to have nearby.

On some wet, cold and exhausted days I know that no one will want to go back out but if I’ve piled all the cushions and blankets onto the sofa and put on the fairy lights and flame effect on the fire, we will do a sofa pile-on for snuggles and cheesing out!
So in summary - plan an activity, build up the excitement on the walk home and bribe with snacks!

Snacks and some TV. All 3 need this after a busy day. Then later on dinner / homework / bath / bed.

Recently I have taken up card making in preparation for Christmas. My DC absolutely love this they have their own tubs of cards/glue/glitter and lots of sticky stuff to make their own cards for friends and family. Its keeps us all busy for ages, and the best thing about it is we can sit and chat to each other rather than going off doing our own thing.

We always talk through her day, have a snack & organise any homework

If the weather is nice we will go for a walk in the park but if it's horrible then we will go home and watch a little bit of tv.

asking her how her day went

We walk home through a park, in the summer we sit and have a light snack and go on the swings, in the winter we Collect leaves and conkers. By the time we leave the park usually nice and relaxed.

Snacks and a chat on the sofa

All discuss what's going on and how everyones day has been before getting them set with their homework or ready for their sports clubs.

We chat while we make the tea together and then they go out and play for a bit before doing their homework.

We all sit at the table when we get home and have a good chat then crack on with homework so it's done for the evening.

It was always weather dependant! Our son used to love riding his trike round and round and round in the garden and that was perfect to wear him out! if it was bad weather i found playing with his thomas train set helped, we had a huge set which I kept getting extra pieces for at car boots and if I started to look in one of the boxes he would get it out and put out a huge track and then spend ages talking about what each engine was doing that day - we used to chuck identical pieces in cardboard boxes so that he could find curved pieces and straight ones and cross over ones easily. I think with toys the storage depends on how its played with - i wouldnt want to have to sort out lego so that was always chucked in one box but then he did not play with that as much as the trains so maybe good organisation is a thing!!! To me though, there is no point of having one huge box of everything so its a task to get the bits to play with as kids find it boring to do that they like it all to hand and if you train them well to put it back in the boxes when they are done (usually with music and lots of smiling and happy faces and a promise of a cupcake or treat) then life is a bit tidier and they are happier too with their toys where they can find them later!

A lovely snack. Help her with homework as soon as possible to get it out of the way. Walk the dog.

Children's TV (while I cook) supper, homework, bath, story read to them, then sleep!

we always have a quiet time of 15 minutes when we sit quietly and listen to the radio

They get to ride their scooters home before coming in and helping me prepare a snack while we chat about their day

We like to chat about the day and read a book together.

Chat about school and a walk in the park

A snack and a chat about the day and a bit of time out before knuckling down to homework and making tea!

We get the craft box out, and will paint, crayon or stick, we love coming home at the moment as we collected leaves of 'lovely colours' and made autumn pictures of leaves, which are now hanging proudly in my hallway. We love walking home in the crunch leaves, picking yellow, brown and golden leaves to create natures masterpieces

Have a chat about their day or any other random subject!