How to Create a Morning Routine with Your Kids: Our Daily Routine

Creating healthy, flexible daily routines is incredibly important.  Especially for children.  Today, we’re talking about how we create routines with our 3 kids.  We’re also sharing a little about what our daily morning routine looks like in our home. 

One of my goals for this year was to create a regular, simple homeschool preschool routine with the boys. Little did I know just how important this would actually become just a few months later. 

*Side note:  I feel like I owe [myself] a great big mid-year overhaul on the 2020 goals list.  Not only are we in the middle of a global pandemic, but our family has become a family of 5, AND moved into a new home – even though at the time I created my goals, I was pretty sure we were not going to be moving this year.  And so here we are.  But, I am starting to feel like I have a handle on our mornings, so I thought I would share a little of my process in this space. 

Okay, first things first.  I do not have it all together.  Not even close.  But, creating simple, consistent routines in our home has been incredibly important for all of us.  The boys thrive on it, and so do I.  

Our days are significantly improved when we all know what to expect.  

So, today, I thought I would share a little bit about how we create routines in our home, plus some of my struggles and things I’ve found helpful.  Then, I’ll share a glimpse into our morning routine in case that’s helpful.  

How to Create a Daily Routine With Kids

If you are craving simple, regular daily routines in your home, but not sure where to start, here are a few practical steps you can take. 

Write down the things that you want to do. 

Yes, with pen and paper.  For me, that looked like several lists. 

I wrote down home chores that needed to be done, what the kids needed to do each day, a list of our favorite meals for meal planning, etc.  

This is basically the time to think of all the pieces that you want or need in your daily routine. 

Just make a list. 

Break your day into specific chunks of time. 

For us, our “chunks” are dictated largely by naps.  The littlest still takes 3 naps a day – so much of what we try to accomplish together with the big boys happens during those times. 

For you, it might simply be before lunch and after. 

Or before the kids get up, morning, afternoon, evening, after bedtime. 

You can break it up however it makes the most sense to you. 

Create a “draft” schedule. 

Write down how you would like the day to go in your ideal world.  That is, when everyone naps how they should, nothing crazy happens, things are going smoothly.  

How do you envision your day? 

Write that down. 

Depending on the ages of your kids, talk through the routine with them. 

Once I had written down my rough draft schedule, I read through it with the older boys and asked for their input.  They mostly liked it, and my oldest even had some good activity ideas we could add.  

Talking through it with your kids will help them take some ownership of the day.  It will also get some buy in and help them understand that you might be doing things a little differently some days. 

Practice and make changes as needed. 

Once you have your draft schedule in place, it’s time to get started. 

I call this a good old, guess, check, and revise period. 

When something is going well and you have a good day, be intentional about acknowledging that and making notes about what went well. 

On the contrary, when you are struggling, try to identify any differences that may be the culprit.  

Do you need to move things around in your routine?  Is someone (or someones) extra tired, are you on your phone more than usual?  Is someone feeling under the weather?  

There could be a number of reasons why things aren’t working.  

Every day certainly will not go as planned, for the best or for the worst.  But, if you can start to identify habits that specifically contribute to good days versus bad, you can use this information to be helpful. 

Be flexible.  

Like I said, some days just do not lend themselves to regular routine.  And that is okay.  If you need a day to reset or recharge – do that.  

Spend some extra time snuggling together reading good books.  

Don’t stress over a little extra screen time here and there if it allows you to get something done or take a needed break. 

You can always pick your routine back up. 

Be consistent. 

I realize that this seems contradictory to being flexible.  But it doesn’t have to.  On days when you can, try to stick to your routine. 

I keep ours written down and visible throughout the day so we remember it.  

And when we get off track and need to reset, I have it out and available to pick up where we left off. 

Doing this over and over, will allow your days to start to flow more naturally.  

Stop comparing.

There are about a million posts out there about different scheduling methods – each claiming to be the best or offer the most productivity.  

While I think you can certainly glean tips and ideas from those posts, it will be up to you to determine what works best for your family. 

And when you find something that works for your family, don’t start comparing it to others.  

What you see online is only a snippet of everyone’s life in real life.  

Even the best and most scheduled mamas have their hard days.  Whether or not they broadcast it.  

Our Morning Routine

Now, in the spirit of full transparency, this is not something that comes naturally to me.  

I’ve read all the posts about scheduling your time, creating block schedules, going with the flow, and so on. 

And frankly, while I crave routine and predictability, I know that it is important to let go of that sometimes for what is working on a given day.  

Since we’ve moved, I’ve been working really hard to get into a good rhythm with the boys. 

I’ve chosen to focus on just one part of the day at a time and for now, that’s the morning.  I’ve written down some ideas for the afternoon, and tried some of them out, but our afternoons are a lit more non-routine than our mornings currently. 

Here’s what’s working for us now: 

• Wake up and head downstairs for breakfast.
  • Boys do this either with me or Hubs depending on when the littlest woke up.  If I’m nursing the baby, Daddy is in charge of breakfast. 
• Free play. 
  • After breakfast, the big boys have some free play time while the baby is awake and while I nurse him before his morning nap.
• Get dressed/brush teeth. 
• Bible time. 
  • Once the baby is sleeping, the big boys and I have our Bible time.  We have several resources we use for this.  Right now, we’re working on learning the armor of God from Ephesians 6 – and the boys LOVE using this fun game as a hands-on learning tool. 
  • Some of our other favorites for this time are our Jesus Storybook Bible, The Ology, and our Indescribable Devotional. 
• Group chores. 
  • I’m still deciding if we need a regular rotation of chores, but for now, we work together to do one thing to take care of our home. 
  • Putting away laundry, folding napkins or towels, wiping down bathroom counters, etc. 
• Morning school work.
  • We homeschool light over here.  For this, I usually play a learning game with the boys, help the oldest with his math workbook, or handwriting, and read with the toddler.  
  • Schoolwork takes about 20 minutes unless they want to do more, then I let them. 
• Play outside or doing a morning activity. 
  • Activities might be playing with playdough, creating something, baking a treat, playing in the backyard, coloring the driveway with chalk, etc. 
• Tidy up. 
• Lunch and read-aloud.
  • During lunch, I’ve been reading books to the boys out loud.  And they LOVE it.  It has actually been more fun than I anticipated and something that we look forward to daily. 

And that’s it.  The littlest sometimes wakes up and joins us before lunch, and other times he sleeps right on through.  

Like I said, we’re still practicing.  But, it is working well so far.  Next up, the afternoon routine. 

We have some ideas, but we have lots of practice and tweaking for that part of our day.  

Do you have a regular daily routine with your kids?  I’d love to know how you structure your days?  Does it come naturally to you?  How did you create your routine?  

WELCOME TO THE WEDNESDAY LINK PARTY! MEET YOUR HOSTS:

Jaclyn from Coffee, Pancakes, and Dreams
Brittany from Dreams and Coffee
Mary Leigh from Live Well Play Together
Tiffany from Lake Life State of Mind
Lindsay from Lindsay’s Sweet World
Keri from Cultivate an Intentional Life 
Holly from Bee Simply Organized