My Morning Helper Chart

What this sheet is for

Young children need the same morning steps in the same order every day, but they cannot yet read a list of instructions. This chart gives them eight clear tasks, each with a blank box to draw their own picture of what that step looks like, so they can follow it independently. It is most useful in the first weeks of a new school term or after a long holiday when routines slip.

How to use it

Write your child's name on the 'This chart belongs to' line at the top. Sit together and read through all eight numbered steps — from 'Wake up and stretch' down to 'Get your bag by the door' — then let your child draw a small picture in each 'Draw it' box to show what that task means to them. Print a fresh copy each week, or slip one copy into a plastic sleeve and use a dry-erase marker so the tick boxes can be cleared and reused each morning. When every box is ticked, read the 'All done' line together.

What is printed on the page

“My Morning Helper Chart” is laid out as step list: eight ordered steps in large type, each row with a number, an empty box to draw a picture in and a big tick box, a name line at the top and an all-done line at the foot. Under the title it reads “Eight things to do before school — draw each one and tick it off”, and the line at the foot of the page says “Colour in your tick boxes with a crayon when you finish — it makes them easier to see.”.

The steps slot holds eight entries — “Wake up and stretch”, “Go to the toilet”, “Wash your face and hands”, “Get dressed — all the way” and “Brush your teeth” and three more — so the sheet is already filled in for chores rather than left as blank rows to label yourself.

The remaining labels on “My Morning Helper Chart”, the chores sheet, are “This chart belongs to” for the name label, “Draw it” for the icon prompt and “All done — great morning work” for the done prompt.

Two things about this particular step list are settings rather than text, and “My Morning Helper Chart” has them set like this. Icon boxes is on: include an empty picture box on every row. Numbered is on: number the steps 1 to 8.

Tips

Let your child draw their own pictures before the first use; their drawings make the steps feel personal and easier to remember.

Hang the chart at your child's eye level on the bedroom or bathroom door, not on the fridge where adults look.

If a step is skipped most mornings, move it one position earlier in the order — sequence matters more than the list itself.

The other layouts in this set

“My Morning Helper Chart” is one of three sheets in this set, each a different fixed layout filled for the same topic. “Ready & Rested: Ages 5–8” uses the two routines layout and “After School & Done” uses the time strip layout. Pick by how you work: the layout decides how much you write and where, not what the sheet is about.