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Routine guide

A morning routine children can follow on their own

Seven steps from waking up to out of the door, small enough to start and clear enough that nobody has to be told what comes next.

Most morning routines fail for the same reason: the child is asked to hold seven things in their head at once, in order, while half asleep. Written down as one step at a time, the same morning stops needing a running commentary from the kitchen.

What actually helps

  • Put the whole thing in the order it actually happens in your house, not the order it should happen in.
  • Give getting dressed more minutes than you think. It is the step that runs over in almost every family.
  • Put the bag by the door as the last step, not the first. What is done last is what gets remembered.
  • If a step is skipped three mornings running, it is telling you something. Make it optional rather than fighting it.

What age is a morning routine useful from?

From about three, if the steps are pictures. From five or six most children can run a picture routine without help. The steps matter more than the age: "get ready" is impossible at any age, "socks on" is not.

The routine

โ˜€๏ธ School morning

  1. Get out of bed 2 min
  2. Get dressed 8 min
  3. Breakfast 15 min
  4. Brush teeth 2 min
  5. Hair and face 3 min
  6. Pack the school bag 5 min
  7. Shoes and coat 3 min
Use this routine

Free for one child and three routines. You can change every step.

Your child sees one step at a time

Not the whole list. The step they are on, big and clear, with the next one quiet underneath, and a count of what is already done. That is the entire child experience, and it is why it works when a chart on the fridge stops working.

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Noah, 7 0 of 5 done

Now

Get dressed

about 8 min

Other routines

Bedtime routine for kids Eight steps from tidying up to lights out. The same order, every night, so the ending stops being a negotiation. Morning routine for a child with ADHD One step on screen at a time, so starting is possible and the next thing is never a surprise. Bedtime routine for an autistic child Predictable order, warnings before anything changes, and a screen with nothing on it but the step you are on. After school routine for kids Drink, something to eat, twenty minutes where nothing is asked, then the bag. In that order, because the part of a child that answers questions was used up at school.

Flowly supports routines and organisation. It is not a medical, diagnostic or therapy product, it does not assess anybody, and no diagnosis is ever asked for.