The Texas Mama

A few months ago we were really struggling to get back into the routine of things. Our days just didn’t go as smoothly as they normally should.  This seems to happen to us after the holidays and also the end of August/beginning of September.

 It is so important for toddlers (and their moms) to know what is next. Most of our toddlers, smart as they may be, can’t read or tell time yet.  So, I found this general idea somewhere (???) and with a few changes, made it into our very own giant daily clock. 

This is on the wall just outside my daughter’s room, and it is about a two and a half feet diameter circle.  Using a couple pencils and some string (a homemade large protractor), I drew a big circle on some brown shipping/craft paper that I picked up for a dollar at the local dollar store.

We cut it out, then drew in the numbers around the circumference of it, just like a real clock.  I picked out a few images from Microsoft Word’s clip-art (you can find tons of cute things all over the internet, though) and printed those up.  My daughter colored them, then cut them out with some craft scissors. We used some zig-zag ones that were handy, put you can use any kind of scissors.

We talked about each picture and what it represented as we colored and cut. Then, we layed the pieces out where they belonged on the “clock” and what time each activity would approximately occur.  Hali glued each piece down to the paper.  At this point you could even add some “hands” to your clock for extra fun- maybe even some that move so that your child can move them to each activity as the day progresses.

 Just to give you an idea of what we have put on our clock:

tv time, breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth and hair, play time, snack, reading time, lunch, chore time, dinner, bath time, etc.

Hali loves to go and point out what time is next in our day when I ask her what we should do next.  It helps her get moving during times when she is dragging a little bit, too.