Montessori Routines

How to make a Montessori morning routine chart

A Montessori morning routine chart shows each step of getting ready as a picture, in the order your child does them, at their eye level. Keep it to four to six steps, use the same order every day, and let your child tick each step themselves.

Updated

Make this chart

How to do it

  1. Watch one morning

    Write down what your child actually does, in order, before you change anything. The chart should match the morning you have.

  2. Pick four to six steps

    Use the toilet, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, brush hair, and put on shoes cover most mornings. Leave out what you still do for them.

  3. Put them in a fixed order

    The same order every day is what lets a child stop asking what comes next.

  4. Hang it where the work happens

    At your child's eye level, near the bathroom or the front door, not on the fridge.

  5. Let your child check it

    Point to the chart instead of giving the next instruction. Ticking the box is your child's job.

Make a picture routine chart

Chart

Steps

Add a step

  1. 1Use the toilet
  2. 2Get dressed
  3. 3Eat breakfast
  4. 4Brush my teeth
  5. 5Brush my hair
  6. 6Put on my shoes
Morning routine

Morning

  1. 1Use the toilet
  2. 2Get dressed
  3. 3Eat breakfast
  4. 4Brush my teeth
  5. 5Brush my hair
  6. 6Put on my shoes

Questions parents ask

What age is a morning routine chart for?
Most children can follow a picture chart from about two and a half. Younger children use it with you, pointing to each picture as you go.
Should the chart have rewards?
Montessori practice leaves rewards off. Finishing the steps and ticking the boxes is the point, and children keep doing it without stickers.
What if my child skips a step?
Ask what the chart says comes next instead of naming the step. If one step is skipped every day, it may be in the wrong place or too hard for now.