• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Motherhood
    • kiddos
  • DIY
  • lifestyle
    • Style
    • Travel
    • recipes
    • Parties
  • Gift Guides
  • Subscribe
  • About Me
    • Collaborate
    • Disclaimer & Privacy Policy
  • Nav Widget Area (Left)

My Mountain Wild

a montana motherhood & lifestyle blog

May 14, 2018 / kiddos

Visual Schedule for Children- Morning and Bedtime Routines

Visual Schedule for Children

Do your children struggle with getting up and ready for preschool in the mornings? Is bedtime a fight every single night? We have all heard that setting a routine can help our children, but how can you teach that routine to young kids?? Toddlers and even preschoolers sometimes need that visual aid toย take the surprise out of what will happen next. Kidsย love being able to check things off their list and if you stick with it, you will find mornings and evenings will go MUCH smoother.I have made a visual schedule for children for both morning and bedtime routines that you can print off for FREE. Laminate them or put them in a sheet protector so that you can use a dry erase marker and use them over and over again.

This post contains affiliate links. To read my full disclosure click here.ย 

For Children with Sensory Needs:

If you have followed along with My Mountain Wild for awhile, you will know my son Liam was in OT and speech therapy for over 2 years. We had gone through several therapists, routines, and weekly schedules. Sometimes I just wanted to quit. When Liam was not showing signs of improvement for so long, I was exhausted. We had three different therapists a week, on different days, at one point! But now, because of therapy, Liam is a happier and healthier little boy. Our entire family works better together and understands each other.

SPD or Sensory Processing Disorder is a vague term for the issues that my son had. He was very easily overstimulated and under stimulated and would burst out into a screaming rage, sometimes trying to harm me or himself. He could never sit still, not even to go to the bathroom. He was aggressive and wild and we had no idea what to do with our little toddler that was shaking every time we went into Target because of the bright lights.

One of the things that his therapist had done for us was make a visual schedule for Liam. We had one for morning, night, nap time, diaper changing time, dinner time, going to the grocery store… it at first was extremely overwhelming and it was hard for me to remember to be using these schedules all the time. But if you start with just one or two, it’s much easier.

Things to keep in mind:

  • Even if your child does not have any sensory issues, toddlers are just difficult. Even if you think they are too young to understand, explain each step of the routine and why you are doing it.
  • Make checking off those boxes a big deal! If you make the routine seem exciting, they are more likely to do it.
  • Be consistent! If you skip the checklist even once the first couple of weeks, it can be so easy to just forget about it later on. Plus, consistency gives children a sense of comfort.
  • Eventually your child will be pointing to or asking for the schedule and want to check off those boxes without you asking them to do so.
  • Keep those markers up high so the kids can’t reach them. I made the mistake of leaving mine within Liam’s reach when he was younger… his dresser got a lovely makeover.
  • Your child will start to gain confidence, independence and gives them a sense of accomplishment each time they finish checking off their list.
Visual Schedule for Children
Here we put our son’s visual morning schedule right next to his bookshelf in his bedroom using a display pocket. The dry erase marker sits right on the shelf so he can easily check off his list himself

I hope that you enjoy these printables and I look forward to creating more soon!

I WANT MY FREE PRINTABLES

Have you used a visual schedule with your child before? How did they like it?

Next Post
Previous Post

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. Sahar says

    May 15, 2018 at 12:40 am

    Love the idea of using visual checklists! I’m planning on making one for grocery shopping, so that my LO has her own list of items to buy. Not the same category as morning and bedtime routines, but I’m kind of excited about it ๐Ÿ˜‚

    Reply
    • Natalie Aubele says

      May 16, 2018 at 7:37 pm

      That sounds like a great idea!!

      Reply
  2. Kristal says

    May 15, 2018 at 10:05 am

    Love your charts! Great read.

    Reply
    • Natalie Aubele says

      May 16, 2018 at 7:37 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  3. Monica Brigham says

    May 15, 2018 at 1:38 pm

    What a great visual schedule for children! I will have to save this post for later when my little gets older. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • Natalie Aubele says

      May 16, 2018 at 7:37 pm

      Thank you so much !

      Reply
  4. sarah camille says

    June 1, 2018 at 11:47 pm

    This is such a great checklist for little ones. It seems great for that 4-7ish age range when kids sometimes want to do things on their own but don’t always know how or when to do things. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • Natalie Aubele says

      June 3, 2018 at 6:26 pm

      Thank you! And yes, totally! My son is Mr. Independent but gets easily distracted haha

      Reply
  5. Mariel Mcleskey says

    June 22, 2018 at 4:08 am

    Hello.This post was extremely interesting, particularly because I was browsing for thoughts on this matter last Monday.

    Reply
  6. The Red Tea Detox says

    December 26, 2018 at 6:21 am

    Pretty! This was a really wonderful article.
    Thank you for supplying these details.

    Reply
  7. Octopus says

    January 5, 2019 at 6:44 pm

    My spouse and I absolutely love your blog and find the majority of your post’s to be just what I’m looking for.
    Would you offer guest writers to write content in your case?
    I wouldn’t mind creating a post or elaborating on some of the
    subjects you write concerning here. Again, awesome blog!

    Reply
  8. kayribbons says

    March 16, 2019 at 10:02 pm

    Greetings from California! I’m bored at work so I decided to check out
    your site on my iphone during lunch break.
    I love the info you present here and can’t wait to take
    a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how
    quick your blog loaded on my cell phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G ..
    Anyhow, very good site!

    Reply
  9. Amelie says

    June 14, 2020 at 12:45 pm

    Routine Charts is really work.
    I have three children under the age of 5. The eldest child I raised with printable charts. But you need a lot of them. Now I use the Manini app for three children. These are the same printable morning routine cards and evening routine cards but in the phone. They are not lost and are always at hand, even on a walk. In the app, you can mark the completion of tasks and children like it very much. They actually ask for tasks themselves to make a mark the task. I felt much better. And I’m not nervous and it’s easy for children to become independent.

    Reply
  10. Kristofer says

    September 15, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    3 stars
    Hello, just wanted to mention, I liked this blog post. It was practical.
    Keep on posting!

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Welcome! I’m Natalie, a mountain momma sharing all things motherhood & lifestyle. I am so glad you are here! Grab a cup of coffee and stay awhile

Follow My Mountain Wild

Categories

Join the Tribe

Popular in Lifestyle

Our Engagement Story

Popular in Travel

travel toiletries checklist

Travel Toiletries Checklist + What’s In My Carry On

Popular in Food & Drinks

Spring Pesto Flatbread Pizza

Archives

Follow Along @mymountainwild

Have you ever heard of a nursing strike ? I had no Have you ever heard of a nursing strike ? I had not until I experienced this with Theo the past 2 days ๐Ÿ˜ฉ He refused to nurse for over 40 hours and I have been an absolute mess. He would be screaming one minute, happy as a clam the next. Waking up at 4 AM and not napping all day & would push me away and scream every time I tried to nurse him. I was in so much pain and beyond engorged. I tried pumping every few hours and the first day that worked just fine but then today my milk just would not let down and it took 45 minutes to get just over 2 ounces of milk! Last night he did finally take a bit from a sippy cup of my milk and was eating purees and snacks like normal, but just would not nurse. I called his Dr. yesterday and she had no idea what it could be. I was afraid I was going to get mastitis or that my milk would dry up or that there was something really seriously wrong with me or with Theo. I was texting my best friend just utterly exhausted and frustrated and at my wits end. 
Then around 2:00 just 15 minutes after I texted her to vent, I tried ONE more time to nurse him and he nursed!! I cried happy tears and thanked Jesus over and over. 
I never got to breastfeed my first, so this has been an all new journey with Theo. Lately nursing seemed to be getting more difficult and I was getting a bit burnt out with it- being the only one that can feed him and that he still wakes 3+ times a night to nurse... but I will never take it for granted again. What a blessing it is to be able to nurse. I am so tired I could cry again just typing this out๐Ÿ˜ญ 
After trying EVERYTHING it suggested to do online, he finally nursed and I can breathe again. I have no idea what was wrong, but he's nursing again normally and took nice long nap this afternoon ๐Ÿ™ 
Anyone experience anything like this before ?
My first Mother's Day with two boys and my heart i My first Mother's Day with two boys and my heart is so full ๐Ÿ’• 

Happy Mother's Day !
Today is the day! The Summer release from @alpineb Today is the day! The Summer release from @alpinebabyco is here and oh-so cute as always. 
These leggings go quick, so don't wait. 
This local Montana brand handmakes all their organic leggings and is the OG creator of the knee patch. Get your little wildlings some comfy well-made pieces and know you're supporting an amazing small shop.
 The adorable prints and stretchy soft fabrics make these our favorite baby leggings ever. ๐Ÿค

#childrenofmountains #runwildmychild #wildandfreechildren #wildandbravelittles #montanaliving #childhoodunplugged #babyleggings #shopsmall #shopmontana #letthembelittle
I think my chickens missed me more than my dogs wh I think my chickens missed me more than my dogs while we were away ! ๐Ÿ˜†
Bonnie practically jumped in my arms and Frankie was squawking non stop and even Kahleesi came over and hung out by my feet. 

Glad to be home ๐Ÿค
Happy May Day ! ๐Ÿ’ ๐ŸŒป๐ŸŒผ๐ŸŒท๐ŸŒบ๐ŸŒธ This is Happy May Day ! ๐Ÿ’ ๐ŸŒป๐ŸŒผ๐ŸŒท๐ŸŒบ๐ŸŒธ

This is the first year we won't be handing out bouquets to neighbors because we are currently driving home from Boise. But peeping all these wildflowers along the foothills is pretty great too ๐Ÿ˜

May flowers always line your path
And sunshine light your dayโ˜€๏ธ

#maydayflowers
#happymayday
#mayday #floralstories
#wildflowerbouquet #montanawildflowers #montanablooms #underthefloralspell

Copyright © 2022 · My Mountain Wild · Designed by Bella Creative Studio