Back to School Morning Routine for Kids Essential Must-Haves
Get ready for school with these essential must-haves for your kids’ morning routine. Let’s make the morning routine for kids easier and more organized!
Wouldn’t it be awesome to have your mornings feel easy? Heck yes!
The goal during this back to school season for us is to establish a morning routine that is consistent and limits the battles.
Because we love a good routine, we’re sharing an easy to implement, and dare I say fun, way to create a morning routine for kids that starts our days ont he right foot.
Let’s get to it!
Kids Morning Routine Checklist for School
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here. As an Amazon associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Taming the Morning Chaos: The Plan
Ah yes, back-to-school time – a bittersweet dance between excitement to get back into a normal routine – and pure chaos of trying to get back into said normal routine.
We know the drill…
Sleepy-eyed kids resistant to leaving the warmth of their beds, breakfasts that you need to ensure are eaten, and then the ultimate race against the clock to get out of the house on time—all while attempting to ensure that teeth are brushed, backpacks are packed, and no one forgets their lunch.
It’s a lot.
Of course, this is why having a morning routine is so important.
One thing we came across a lot in our research for creating a consistent routine is to incorporate a type of reward system with visual aids that encourages kid’s self-discipline so they can be active participants in how their morning goes.
Creating a morning routine that includes external rewards, positive reinforcement, and some time awareness tools can be a game-changer.
Our strategy?
Create a go-to spot in our home with a simple, visual aid checklist to help our kids accomplish the things necessary to get out the door without a lot of nagging.
The concept is simple: Divide a dry-erase board into sections for “Not Done” and “Done”, using colorful magnets for each task.
The beauty of this strategy is that it’s tactile, it’s visual, and above all—it’s effective.
Tasks like “put on shoes”, “eat breakfast”, and “brush teeth” become way easier because they are associated with a simple way for kids to complete their morning routine with a sense of accomplishment instead of being hounded all morning.
This approach minimizes morning chaos and fosters a sense of accomplishment and self-discipline in kids.
It’s not just a way to organize tasks, it actually helps build organizational skills and routine consistency, turning morning struggles into morning successes.
And in today’s post, we’ll share our tips for setting this spot up as well as some of our favorite tools we found on Amazon to make mornings even more fun and on task.
Setting Up Your Morning Routine Board
Alright, let’s dive in to creating our morning magnet board:
- Gather your supplies: Start by snagging a magnetic dry-erase board that fits your space. You’ll also need some colorful magnets (one set for each kiddo), magnetic tape, and a dry-erase marker.
Psst… we have a whole list of done-for-you versions of this that come at a great price at the bottom of this post. - Map out your child’s routine: List out every task your child needs to complete in the morning. Think about everything from brushing teeth and getting dressed, to backpack and lunch checks. Translate these into simple, visual symbols or words on the magnets. This clarity cuts down the morning chaos and boosts their independence and organizational skills.
- Divide and conquer: Mark your board with a ‘To Do’ and ‘Done’ section. This visual separation not only helps with prioritizing but also the feeling of accomplishment.
- Introduce and guide: Sit down with your kids and walk them through the new system. Consider also adding a visual timer to help your kids stay on task.
- Positive reinforcement goes a long way: Remember to celebrate small victories and consistent improvements with verbal praise or rewards to reinforce this new positive behavior.
Reward Systems and Consequences
Incorporating a reward system sounds like we’re bribing our kids to do what they should naturally be doing, right? Wrong.
It’s more about giving them visual and tactile incentives for mastering their morning.
We like to think of it as a nudge towards developing their organizational and time management skills with positive reinforcement.
For every morning they manage to beat the clock, they earn points towards a reward.
This could be extra screen time or choosing what’s for dinner.
But, if they dawdle, there’s a consequence.
Maybe they lose points or privileges, but the goal is to incentivize self-discipline and punctuality.
The trick is to balance the external rewards with the consequences so that your kids are motivated but not stressed.
Going Beyond Mornings
What is cool about this strategy is that the very same organizational skills and motivational strategies that help save the mornings can also shift other difficult times of the day like for our after-school and bedtime routines.
You could incorporate a section for completing homework, chores, and even one for a bedtime routine.
Less evening chaos, more positive reinforcement, and kids who are learning valuable life skills like time awareness and responsibility is pretty great.
And for us?
An unexpected return on investment—calmer evenings, smoother mornings, and the satisfaction of watching our kids grow in independence and confidence.
Yes, please!
Now let’s talk about how to get this consistent routine going.
Must Haves to Make the Morning Routine for Kids Easy to Implement
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here. As an Amazon associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Now that we have the strategy mapped out, let’s make it even easier by grabbing one of these awesome done-for-you must haves.
- Unicorn Magnetic Kids Behavior Chart
- Dry Erase Chore Chart for Kids
- Motivational Reward Chore Chart
- Daily Morning Routine Chore Chart
- Magnetic Dry Erase Chore Chart
- Daily Checklist for Kids
- Kids Daily Routine To-Do List Chart
- Dry Erase Kids Behavior Board and Reward Chart
- Visual Schedule Chore Chart for Kids
- 60-Minute Visual Timer for Kids
Back to School Morning Routine for Kids: Final Thoughts
Are you so ready to ditch the morning struggle?
Us too. We are super excited to get a consistent routine going and help our kids start their day on the right foot.
Finding fun ways to incorporate learning organizational skills and self-discipline is so beneficial and something they can carry throughout their lives.
When coupled with motivational strategies and the right external rewards, it’s not just about getting out the door on time; it’s about teaching valuable life skills.
Win-win!
So, now you have to tell us, what rewards and consequences should we use to keep this morning routine going in the right direction?
More Back-to-School Tips
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