Printable Morning and After School Routine Cards

Organized Chaos is the best way to describe my life.

I struggle with finding the balance between trying to be organized and doing too much.

I'm sharing this with you today because a friend of mine who has 3 boys, and a little girl due mid February, showed up at school running late and upset. 

Mornings for most are challenging.

At our house we struggle with getting up and staying on task. 

This is why we needed a morning routine chart. 

My friend's boys are 7, 4 and 2 years old and go to school with my girls. 

She's amazing. 

She's always positive and her boys are as sweet as can be. 

I wonder how she does it. 

  When I saw her upset I knew how she felt and wanted to help. 

I ran home and whipped up some morning routine cards for her boys.  

Morning Routine Cards 

We've tried several systems before finding the one that works best for us. 

If this system isn't your style fell free to make it your own.

You will also be able to find, at the end of this post, a list of some amazing sites that offer other systems.

First, print out the cards. 
You will find all document at the end of this post to download.
I use black ink only because we go through color ink fast around here and it's expensive. 
When I'm using black and white images I will add a pop color with the construction paper/cad stock or coloring in the images by hand.

 Then cut out each individual card and then glued them to construction paper or card stock.  
You do not need to glue them to construction paper or card stock but it will make the card stronger. 
I used the boys favorite colors. 
Once I choose a color for the name I will keep that color the same in any other additional routine cards or charts.  

Once the cards are glued to the construction paper cut them out, leaving a border of color showing.

I used good old scissors but you can use a paper cutter or punch.  

Time to laminate. 
I have a Scotch TL 901 Laminator.

You do not need a laminator for this.
Before I got our laminator and for larger projects I've used clear contact paper and it works great.
Con-Tact Adhesive Shelf Liner runs about $3 a roll.

If you're using contact paper you will want to use card stock or a heavy construction paper to help make the card strong and last.

Place the cut and glued cards in laminating pouches.
And send it through the preheated laminator.
If you're using contact paper, sandwich the cards between two pieces. 

 Once the cards are through the laminator, or sandwiched in the contact paper, you will have a pile of sealed (protected) cards.

 Guess What?
You have to cut them out once again. 
I promise this will be the last time. 
You can also use a hole punch that will give you rounded corners to give it that smooth polished look. 

Rounded Corner Hole Punch

And now you will have a pile that looks like this.

To finish the routine board I used Velcro Sticky Back 5/8 in. and Poster Board.
In the past I've used recycled cardboard from gift boxes and cereal boxes for the board. 

Cut the poster board to the size that you want.

I'm one of those that like things symmetrical so this took me a while to measure and cut.  

I glued the laminated names on the boards first. 

My favorite 

Remember to keep the same velcro side on the board for each card.

I try to keep the fuzzy (the loop side) of the velcro on the board. 

And the hook side of the velcro on the individual card. 

Keeping this consistent will help when the cards are placed back on the board. 

My girls enjoy putting the cards back on the board at night.

We've made this apart of our night time routine. 

And there you have it! 
I was running late to pick up the little ones and wrapped the finished boards in tissue paper and used yarn to make a pom pom for the bow. 
Not my best work but I knew my friend would be able to use it the next morning.

Last minute tissue wrapped  finished boards.

Fun-Tak, Loctite, mounting putty, is a great way to hang the boards.
The Fun-Tak is strong. This is what we use and it does the trick.

You can change where you display the broads as many times as you need without leaving marks on the wall. 

Great teacher gift.

I've also added an Earned Minutes - Free Time Card (these are our movie tickets). 

You can use them for tv, video games or other reward type activities.

The girls can also save their minutes for a special play dates with a friend... tea party, picnic, craft time, etc.  

Morning Schedule Cards (b&w)




Each morning the girls can earn 10 minutes if they complete the Morning Routine Chart without being prompted. 
Again each card is color coordinated with either Morning Routine Chart.

Earned Minutes or Movie Tickets are a BIG deal in our house. 
Since I'm a stay at home mom we are down to one income and have a tight budget. 
The cable was the first to go. In order to watch tv the girls have to go to their grandparents when they have enough minutes saved. 

10 Minute Card


The grandparents collect the tickets, movie theater style and have their favorite snacks and drink ready.
It's a lot of fun. 


Here are some great sites with other amazing ideas.



http://www.livinglocurto.com

http://edaic.wordpress.com/


http://thedisparatehousewife.wordpress.com



I hope this helps make mornings a little less stressful.
If you have any questions please let me know.