Mornings are hard for anybody, but when you add small children into the mix, you have a recipe for chaos. When you need to establish a morning routine with children, you’ll need patience for your children and for yourself. Routines take time, but a firmly established routine will absolutely make your mornings easier. Here are five tips to help you get started.
Try Some Practice Runs
If your child has never had a real morning routine before, then getting ready for preschool or kindergarten can be a shock. Instead of waiting for the first day of preschool, why not have a few practice runs first? Have your child pretend like they’re getting ready for preschool. Go through the entire routine from getting dressed to brushing their teeth. After your practice runs, you and your child can do something fun together as a reward. When it comes to establishing a morning routine with children, practice can show you where you need some extra help.
Start the Night Before
Your morning routine with children doesn’t have to start in the morning. The more you do at night, the easier your morning will be. In the morning, our brains aren’t always ready to make choices. Even simple choices like “Which shoes am I going to wear?” can slow us down. When we make those choices the night before, we can save ourselves from a lot of exhaustion in the morning. Have your child choose the next day’s outfit before they go to bed. Set their cereal bowl and spoon on the counter. Put your child’s school things in their backpack. This way, you and your child will only have to do a few simple things in the morning.
Use a Chart
You probably have your own morning routine down to a science. You’ve done it so often that the routine is automatic. For a young child, though, morning routines are new. They have to remember to brush their teeth, comb their hair, put on shoes, and more. It’s a lot for a little one to remember. A morning routine chart can help. How you create your chart is up to you. You might check websites like Pinterest for ideas. As long as it clearly lays out what your child needs to do, then it will take a lot of the stress out of your mornings.
Assign a Spot for School Things
One of the hardest parts of establishing a morning routine with children is finding everything that somehow went missing. Every parent who’s ever asked a child to put on their shoes knows what we’re talking about. When it’s time to get ready for school, you can prevent some of the chaos by assigning a specific spot for school things. You could put a box by the door where your child can keep their shoes, lunchbox, and backpack. It’ll take some time to get used to the designated spot, but with practice and patience, your child will make a habit of putting their school things in that spot. When it’s time to leave in the morning, they can simply grab their school things and walk out the door.
Stay Consistent
Speaking of developing habits, it’s always best to stay consistent. You can adjust little things here and there, but overall, you’ll want to keep your morning routine the same. Consistency builds habits, and habits build easy mornings.
Morning Routine with Children
When you establish a morning routine with children, you’ll want an excellent preschool where your child can reinforce their good habits. At Legacy Academy, we emphasize life skills and academic skills so that your child can learn to make the most of their mornings. Want to learn more about Legacy? Then contact Legacy Academy in Snellville today. We’d love to have you see what Legacy is all about.
