Are you a stressed-out and frazzled parent looking for a solution that will give you more peaceful and calm mornings around your home? If so, then you’re in the right place. We’ve got just what you’ve been looking for, including our new free printable morning routine charts with pictures. Keep reading to see how using morning routines can finally help you and your family leave behind the chaotic and disorganized mornings that always seem to make you chronically late to everything.
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Why Kids Need Morning Routines Charts
Did you know that kids with daily routines are nearly 50% more likely to grow up socially and emotionally prepared for life? As a parent, one of your most important jobs is to build up young adults who can become successful in the world. And, as small as it may seem, having a morning routine can help you do that.
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Think about how long it took you to establish routines in your life. You probably have checklists on the fridge, reminders on your phone, and a calendar to help you get everything done on time. Each morning offers a new opportunity to build up strong and happy children. And it all starts with a healthy morning routine. Some more benefits of establishing a morning routine for kids include:
- Help kids get on a schedule
- Create a calm home environment
- Establish healthy habits
- Build independence in your kids
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As you can see, creating a routine offers many unique benefits that will serve your children throughout their childhoods and adult years. Instilling this in your child will allow them to establish healthy habits as they age. It also shows them that it’s okay not to have it down all the time. Take the time to show them how to adjust on those mornings to give them a leg up when everyone else sleeps in.
Free Printable Morning Routine Charts with Pictures
Once your child masters having a morning routine, you can incorporate chore charts, homework, exercise, and other beneficial habits into their daily tasks. For now, however, you’ll want to keep your lists short so your child can get used to the idea of having a routine. Here are some ideas to start with as you create short morning routines. We’ve separated them by age as routines will look different for each of your children.
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Morning Routine Charts for Preschool-Aged Kids
Smaller children can still complete a morning routine, but you’ll likely need to help them out. Try setting out their clothes either the night before or on Sundays for the whole week.
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- Get dressed
- Eat breakfast
- Brush teeth with mom’s help
- Put on shoes
Morning Routine Charts for Elementary School Kids
As your children get older they can begin to develop more complex routines. For example, when they get dressed, they can also make their beds and make sure their dirty clothes are in the hamper.
- Make your bed
- Eat breakfast
- Soak dishes
- Get dressed
- Brush teeth
- Comb hair
- Put on shoes
Morning Routine Charts for Teenagers
Finally, your teenagers can build even more independence by packing their own lunches and backpacks each morning. As you can see, the basic foundation for each morning routine is fairly similar regardless of if your child is a toddler or a teenager. The key is to build up that foundation so they’re ready to step out on their own as they get older.
- Make bed
- Eat breakfast
- Clean dishes
- Get dressed
- Brush teeth
- Comb hair
- Put on deodorant
- Pack a lunch
- Get backpack ready
- Put on shoes
By keeping the lists short in the beginning, you’re setting your kids up for success. It will take a lot of time and patience to create these morning routines as habits they complete on their own. In the beginning, you’ll need to remind them daily to check their charts and complete their routines. As their morning routine becomes more ingrained, you’ll find you don’t have to remind them as often. And as the year progresses you’ll find your mornings much more relaxed and calm, giving both you and your kids a better foundation to tackle their day successfully.
How to Start Using Your Morning Routine Chart
As you start, there are a few tips to remember along the way. The first is to demonstrate grace when mistakes happen or one of your kids forgets a step. Studies show it takes anywhere from 21-66 days or longer to establish a new habit. They won’t immediately wake up tomorrow morning knocking off all their tasks. Our second tip is to take the time to walk your kids through the routine chart over the weekend or at a time when everyone can focus and you’re not frantically trying to get out the door.
Lastly, remember that encouragement and rewards work a lot better than punishment, especially in the beginning. For younger toddlers, these rewards could be in the form of extra cartoons after breakfast. And for older kids, you can either give extra technology time or let them stay up 30 minutes later on the weekend. Once your kiddo establishes habits, you can add in reasonable consequences. This can include moving bedtime up 30 minutes on the days they aren’t able to complete everything before the bus arrives.
Read more: Morning Routine Chart for Toddlers | Free Printable
Upgrade to Digital Morning Routine Charts
Creating a physical morning routine chart for kids can give your family a visual reminder each day. However, as your family begins to adapt, you might want to consider going digital with your charts. For some families, kids might go back and forth between parents’ or grandparents’ homes. And taking their morning routine chart with them isn’t feasible. For other families, you might travel regularly making it a lot easier to travel with a digital app rather than a physical chart.
Using an app or digital tool, such as Goally, gives you flexibility and accountability for sticking to your routines. Goally counts points for you and your children, allowing you to make a game out of completing their morning routines. You can customize Goally to break down your kid’s morning routine into bite-sized pieces (take out your toothbrush, wet the bristles, squeeze toothpaste, put cap back on tube) so they can be just as good at morning’s you are!
Goally | Routines that Actually Work
Goally’s skill building tablet for kids has routines that break down large tasks into small, achievable steps. It helps kids complete their tasks independently!
Create custom routines with your own videos & pictures for every step. The steps come in small, bite-sized pieces to help your child learn the little fundamentals (like putting the toothpaste on their toothbrush!) to achieve bigger goals. And that’s just the beginning. See it in action:
Get Your Morning Routines Organized Once and For All
Whether you stick to printable or digital, you can see how beneficial routines are for your children. And using our free printable morning routine charts with pictures is a great way to give your children the proper foundation to serve them throughout their lives. You can get started here and learn more about how the Goally app can help you create happy and peaceful mornings in your home.
This post was originally published on 09/07/2022. It was updated on 06/15/2023.
Goally
We help parents teach their kids life skills, like doing bedtime and morning independently. Backed by science, we incorporate evidence-based practices and expert-informed designs in all of our apps and content.
