MORNING ROUTINE
Our mornings are usually like groundhog day when the kids are at school. However, there are so many benefits of having a routine in place:
- Having a regular and consistent routine ensures that I get the kids out the door with everything they need, clean clothes, lunches, notes for school
- When we have a hectic morning, our routine makes me feel less stressed as I know what needs to be done
- As your children grow they will learn the routine and want to help (my kids are currently at this stage and I am LOVING it), which is a perfect way for them to learn about responsibility
- If I go out for the day I enjoy coming home to a tidy house
My morning routine
This is morning routine I had when the kids were all in primary school. Now that my kids are older (all in high schoolnow) I have adjusted it slightly, they wake themselves up, I make lunches the night before and I make myself presentable before breakfast.
6.40am – wake up and have a shower
6.55am – make my bed
7.00am – wake up kids
7.05am – kids make their own breakfast
7.10am – start preparing lunches for kids and hubby (lunchbox ideas here)
7.20am – kids unpack dishwasher
7.30am – kids start their morning routine
7.30am – put away dishes washed the night prior, pack dishwasher, wipe benches
7.40am – eat breakfast and relax for 10 minutes, I check my to-do list and calendar
7.50am – brush and style (braids or ponytails) girls hair, ideas here
8.00am – put washing on the line if I didn’t do the night before
8.10am – time to get myself presentable for the day (hair and a little make-up)
8.25am – give the kids countdown 5 minutes till we leave
8.30am – in car driving to school drop off
8.40am – go to the gym or home, put the kettle on, while kettle boiling wipe over kids bathroom basin
8.45am – My day begins, either doing housework, working on the blog, running errands or catching up with friends
Create your morning routine
Use the blank morning routine list printable to create your own routine. Every family is different so please consider your schedule, the help of a partner and the ages of your kids when creating your morning routine.
- Be realistic with the time you have available
- Can you partner help with morning tasks?
- The ages of your children
- Add into your routine the areas that you know you/your family need help with eg. time for chores for the kids, putting dirty clothes into the laundry, washing dishes, preparing for the evening meal in the morning
You may also enjoy this post on creating a stress free school morning routine.
Create a morning routine for the kids
This is my kids morning routine chart pictured below, they started using this chart when they were in kindy (aged 3). This promptly removed the chaos out of our mornings and was a great visual reminder for the kids to know what they needed to do each morning.
I have tasks in a specific order, eg brush teeth before uniform/clothes goes on so they don’t get toothpaste splatter over their clean uniform (as kids do). I also like them having their socks on so when it’s time to go all they need to do is put on shoes not spend an extra 5 minutes to put socks on.
This chart is available in my shop along with the option to create personalised charts. View range of kids routine charts here.
[wlchecklist name=’PreTask3Createamorningroutineforkids’]
DOWNLOAD
Print the morning routine lists to help you create your own morning routine that suits you and your family.
- MORNING ROUTINE – file behind ‘Routines’ divider – click to download.
- BLANK MORNING ROUTINE – file behind ‘Routines’ divider – click to download.
270 comments
I have already been doing this, but creating a detailed, different routine for each day,which becomes very tedious. Having one basic routine makes so much more sense & having done it, I already feel a weight lifted off my shoulders. My 13 year old daughter is quite independent now, & is already quite organised, packing her own bag & making her lunches, but we do have occasional hiccups, so I am going to get her to write her own morning routine.
that’s a fab idea Michelle getting her to create her own.
Morning Routines done!
Yes all done sorry a zillion things happening at once.Longing to get everything ticked off…
Working on those and hopefully have them properly sorted in a few days…. Having a family of 5 visiting for a whole week, while we have “normal” routine, will make it difficult next week 😉
Writing out my routine on the blank in pencil to allow for changes lol
I’ve been trying to nut out a morning routine for a while (since New Years) and now it’s finally done. Thanks Katrina.
Hope it helps you Regina!!
School here starts at 7:25am so it is very hard to get the kids to do anything but eat breakfast and get ready for school. My morning routine before school starts usually is: get out of bed, pack lunch boxes, get breakfast ready, make sure kids are getting out of bed and ready for school. Once they are gone, I hop in the shower and start what I consider my “proper” morning routine.
that’s a very early start to the day Anita, have you considered making lunches the night before, this may help take some of the hectic out of your school mornings.
My two boys already follow a morning routine checklist – works like a dream – they compete to see who can finish first!
Do you have an afternoon or evening one also?
I’m hoping my girls (both 10) will copy what I am doing these next 20 or so days. They already do their own school washing every afternoon and make their own lunches every evening, just need to work on their putting away things and getting them used to general neatness. Otherwise nothing else is done in routine, despite me creating one for them at the beginning of the year- I didn’t have one so theirs isn’t working because of that.
Yes you all having your own routines should help to get both yours and the girls routines into place and completed each day. Perhaps they may need to wake up earlier (even just 5 minutes) to get their routine complete in the morning or not screen time until your happy with their completed tasks in the afternoon? I read your struggling with finalising your morning routine, start with the basics, washing, kitchen, and then you can build each day with things you may thing you should add to your list.
Ok – I’ve written down my routine. I already have the kids’ routine on our kitchen wall so that’s done too 🙂
It will be really beneficial that you have your own routine too Jacquie, let me know how you go with it 😉