It is a truth universally accepted that if you have children, you will almost never leave the house when you want to. Mornings in particular are a struggle for almost all families. Getting yourself and your children awake, clean, dressed, fed, and out the door with everything everyone needs for their day is a monstrous, seemingly never-ending task. And what parent among us isn’t familiar with the “oh I forgot!” cry from the backseat of the car, when you are halfway to school?! Between keeping track of everything you need to do and getting your children ready, it’s no wonder that 25% of working mothers feel constantly rushed, 35% of parents find getting their kids to school in the morning more stressful than completing their taxes, and 77% of parents feel more stress delivering their kids to school than they do with respect to their full-time employment. If there is one issue that practically all parents can agree on, it’s that mornings are entirely too stressful.
Thankfully, there are things you can do (aside from using your Batman voice to convince your child to put on their shoes) to make mornings a bit easier. At Spark Talk Speech Therapy, we recommend using a magnet game or a visual schedule to keep your morning running as smoothly as possible. These are great tools to help children learn responsibility and to keep them on task throughout the morning. Using magnets is a great way to add a fun, tactile twist to a traditional To Do list or picture-based schedule.
My Morning Routine Magnet Game
The My Morning Routine Magnet Game is a fun way to organize your child’s tasks in a visual way, letting them see what they need to do as well as their reward for completing all their morning chores. Start by downloading the My Morning Routine printout. You can use plain printer paper and attach it to your fridge or other magnetic surface. Alternatively, you can print it out on sticker paper and attach it to a magnetic wipe board. Next, print out the tasks that your child needs to complete. We have compiled a few common components of a child’s typical morning routine on our Tasks printout. You can print this out on magnetic paper, or on regular paper attaching it to magnets afterwards. Cut out each task your child is responsible for completing and arrange them on the “To Do” side of the sheet. Select a reward, and place it under the star. As your child completes each task, they can move the magnet over to the “Done” side of the sheet. When the “To Do” side is empty and the “Done” side is full, give your child time to enjoy their reward!
My Morning Routine Visual Schedule