Margaux Shares Her Unstructured Fall Break Play Schedule (Color-Coded, 6:00 a.m. to 8:15 p.m.)

MOUNTAIN BROOK, AL — Sisters, so many of you have asked how we’re keeping Beckett’s fall break restful and child-led that I’m sharing our Unstructured Play Schedule. Research says children need unstructured time to grow, which is why I’ve structured it very carefully.

Beckett’s Unstructured Fall Break (Tuesday)

• 6:00 a.m. Wake naturally (alarm).
• 6:05 Gratitude journaling (prompted).
• 6:30 Sunrise breathwork on the back lawn. He may breathe however he wants, within reason.
• 7:15 Free-choice breakfast: steel-cut oats, or steel-cut oats with berries.
• 8:00 Child-led exploration (Mandarin flashcards, in the order of his choosing).
• 9:30 Open-ended creative play with approved wooden blocks in sage, oat and cream.
• 11:00 Spontaneous nature walk (route attached).
• 12:00 Lunch, then a sound bath. He still feels nothing, which his practitioner says is extremely advanced.
• 1:00 Independent reading (a book I selected that he chose).
• 2:15–2:30 Unstructured Leaf Time.
• 2:30 Violin.
• 4:00 Playdate with an approved friend (vetted).
• 6:00 Screen-free family dinner, except my phone, which is for the group chat.
• 7:30 Wind-down affirmations.
• 8:15 Lights out, naturally.

I’m happy to report the schedule went beautifully until 2:15, when Beckett and his friend found a stick.

Not a special stick. Just a regular stick from the yard. Over the next few hours it became a sword, a fishing pole, a microphone, a horse and, in Beckett’s words, “a laser that turns leaves into dads.” Unstructured Leaf Time was scheduled to end at 2:30. It ended at 6:20, when it got dark.

They missed violin. They missed the vetted playdate, mostly because the playdate came outside and joined the stick. Beckett said it was “the best day of my whole life,” which is exactly what the third graders said about Doug the goat, so I think we may be seeing a trend in what children want. I’m going to research it.

Becca said her kids spent fall break “mostly outside, mostly with sticks.” I told her that was so intuitive of her. She said, “It’s just Tuesday.” I’ve written that down.

Next fall break, I’ll be adding a 2:15–6:20 Stick Block, laminated. The stick has been placed in a shadow box.