4 Time Management Activities Your Kids Will Love

As a parent, you constantly juggle schedules—school drop-offs, soccer practice, homework, and playdates. 

While you spin multiple plates, your children play, watch their favorite show, or dive into a game instead of sitting down to plan out their day. Why not teach your kids time management skills? Building this skill, Boys & Girls Clubs of America notes, helps children manage their duties efficiently, reducing stress and increasing productivity.

Somewhere in the chaos, teaching kids about time management can feel like adding another thing to the to-do list. It’s a challenge to teach kids time management without sounding like a nagging clock. But guess what? Time management can be fun—and yes, your kids can actually enjoy learning it. 

Here are some time management activities your kids will love and help them build habits that will last a lifetime.

1 Time-Block with Colors

Kids love coloring or doodling. You can introduce them to time-blocking using crayons or colors. 

According to Mama’s Organized Chaos, a block schedule will make sure that your kid does a range of activities while at home. Draw a simple weekly schedule on a big piece of paper, or print out a template if you’re short on time. Then, assign a different color to each activity—homework, playtime, chores, and bedtime.

Blue, for instance, could be for schoolwork, green for playtime, yellow for chores, and purple for bedtime. 

Let your child fill in the blocks with crayons or markers. As they color in the blocks, explain how each activity fits into their day. Kids respond well to visual cues, and seeing their day broken up into colorful sections helps them understand how time is divided.  

Hang the schedule where it will be visible, like on the fridge or their bedroom wall. Not only will it give them a sense of accomplishment, but it will also make them feel more in control of their time. 

Have younger kids? Keep blocks short—15- to 20-minute chunks would be perfect. 

2 Make a Kid-Friendly Planner

Children love having something that is uniquely theirs—whether it’s a toy, a secret clubhouse, or even a special notebook. Why not give them their very own planner?

Head to your favorite craft store and grab some stickers, markers, washi tape, and a blank notebook. Then, sit down together and create a planner that is all about them.

Once the planner is ready, teach them how to use it to write down tasks, events, or even fun stuff like building a Lego spaceship or going to soccer practice.

Let them choose how they want to lay it out—maybe they want to draw little boxes for each day or doodle a fun to-do list section. 

You can also include a reward system where they get a sticker for completing tasks. Custom stickers would be great for this. Custom stickers, Plum Paper notes, have become essential for adding a touch of personalization as well as functionality to a schedule.  

If crafting isn’t your thing or time is tight, plenty of stationary companies offer planners. Look for kid-friendly options with bright colors, simple layouts, or fun prompts. Even better? You can get them customized as per your child’s preferences and needs. 

Planners, Washington Parent states, offer a visual reminder of tasks that can be ticked off when finished. That way, kids stay on track and do things more efficiently than a long laundry list. 

3 The Beat the Timer Challenge

Who doesn’t love a little competition? Turn chores or homework into a race against the clock. Set a timer for a task and challenge your child to complete it before time runs out. 

To begin with, pick a task—cleaning up toys, packing the backpack, or brushing their teeth. Set a timer for 10 minutes and challenge your kiddo to see how much they can accomplish before the buzzer goes off. The trick here is to encourage speed without sacrificing quality—so yes, the toys have to end up in the correct bin. 

For younger kids, keep the timer short and the task simple. For older ones, let them set the timer themselves. They will start learning to estimate how much time they need for different activities, which is a crucial time management skill.

Beat the timer challenge, the NSW Department of Education says, will help kids block distractions and stay on the task until it’s finished. 

4 Bake Together

Baking is an excellent way to teach time management—it’s literally built into the activity.

Pick a simple recipe, like cookies or cupcakes, and let your child be your little helper. Before you start, go through the recipe together. Show them how it’s broken into steps—measuring ingredients, mixing, baking, and decorating—and explain how each one has its own time.

As you bake, use timers for different tasks. For example, set about 5 minutes for mixing and 10 or 20 minutes for baking. This will help them understand the concept of sequencing and using time wisely.

Teaching time management to children works best when you make it fun and engaging. No kid wants to sit through a lecture about priorities and deadlines. But they will happily play games, bake cookies, or design a planner. 

Your child won’t master time management overnight. But with these fun activities, they will start developing skills that will serve them for a lifetime. Life will get a little easier for you when your child learns to manage time—fewer meltdowns, more structure, and maybe even a few quiet moments.