Learn how to create a screen-free morning basket routine that works for your family. Practical tips to start your day with connection, learning, and play.
The most requested thing in my Instagram DMs: morning baskets!
Your most common questions recently have been:
- What types of items to include
- How to teach kids to play for longer periods of time
- Creating a morning routine using the baskets
If you’re just joining the morning basket group chat, here are some posts to help get you up to speed:
- How to Make a Toddler Morning Basket
- Themed Morning Baskets for Preschoolers
- What to Include (Supply List)
Now you might be wondering: “Should a morning basket be before or after breakfast?”
or “Am I supposed to lead the routine or step back?”
Without getting too deep, I think it’s most important to start with your Why.
If you’re looking to go screen-free in the mornings because you just feel like it isn’t working anymore, then that’s your “why”.
Following that, what’s your end goal with doing morning baskets?
Is it:
- more independent play
- structure and learning
- family time
- or a homeschool morning meeting?
Asking yourself these questions can help determine how you structure your morning routine, and will also help keep you on track!
Screen-Free Mornings
I feel like this needs to be said more: not everything is possible in every season of motherhood.
There will be times where having a screen-free morning is just not possible or practical.
Maybe you:
- just moved
- had a new baby
- are recovering from surgery
- everyone in your house has the flu
My point is that there’s no need to guilt yourself into thinking you have to be “ON” all the time.
TV is often the best babysitter and sometimes you need to do what you need to do.
That being said, when you’re in a good season where you feel like you can do this, it’s worth giving it a try!
Especially if your toddler is prone to power struggles, tantrums, and a sort of “withdrawal” behavior after the TV is turned off.
And this isn’t to say you need to be screen-free all day!
I just prefer to keep the TV off in the morning, and save screentime for later in the day: after naptime or while I’m making dinner.
Related: Toddler Morning Activities (Screen-Free)
More Morning Routine Inspiration:
- My Stay at Home Mom Morning Routine
- 3 Year Old Morning Routine Makeover
- Make-Ahead Breakfasts for Easy Weekday Mornings
Our Screen-Free Morning Basket Routine
If you’re looking for what to include in a morning basket, and if you’re wondering how to store all of your activity supplies, here’s how I do it: How to Organize & Store Activity Supplies
As with most solid morning routines, this starts with a little prep the night before (but don’t worry, nothing too involved!).
1) Morning Basket Prep
On Sunday night or early Monday morning (depending on what your schedule is like), grab your basket and load it up with your supplies for the week.
I like to create one basket for the week and change out a few books or activities as needed.
It’s important to note, little ones like repetition and that is often how they learn best, so don’t feel like you need to make a new basket every day.
This post shares exactly what to include in your morning basket.
Once it’s put together, set the morning basket on their toddler table, kitchen table, or wherever works in your house (more below in the “where” section)
Shop all of my morning basket supplies on Amazon
2) Breakfast
You guys know I’m obsessed with any and all make-ahead breakfasts!
There’s truly no better feeling than having a freezer stocked with muffins and pancakes, plus hard-boiled eggs and pre-washed fruit in the fridge.
This certainly makes your morning routine run much more smoothly.
But remember that part about “not every season?” Same goes for breakfast and meals.
If this is the season for store-bought frozen pancakes and pouches, then that’s what works!
Once you get into a good flow with your morning routine, you’ll find that you can quickly put breakfast together while your child is engaged with their morning basket.
Easy Breakfast Ideas:
- Make-Ahead Breakfasts for Weekday Mornings
- What I Fed My Family This Week
- Everything I Meal Prep on Sundays
- Quick 2 Year Old Breakfast Ideas
If your kids wake up really hungry and your plan is to make breakfast while they play with their baskets, I would offer an applesauce pouch, muffin, and/or fruit.
Just something small they can snack on while you make breakfast.
Find all my meal prep essentials in my Amazon shop.
3) Morning Basket Routine
Once everyone is used to the TV being off and you stop hearing the endless requests for “just 1 Bluey” at 7:30 AM, you’ll know you’ve arrived 😀
Your 4 year old will come out of their room in the morning excited to see what’s in their morning basket.
They’ll get themselves started while you feed the baby, prep breakfast, or sit with them and drink your coffee.
If this sounds like a pipe dream, it doesn’t have to be that way, I promise.
And if you feel like you need more step-by-step help than what’s shared here, you’ll want to check out my Stay at Home Mom Course.
The caterpillar activity is from Oh Hey, Let’s Play
Helpful Tips:
- Pick up the basket and put it out of sight until the next day: I find that otherwise things get strewn around and it becomes less interesting
- New routines take time: some kids will sit and be engaged, some will want to move around and do something else and that’s totally fine
- The goal is not a “sit still and be quiet” routine: the goal is structure, establishing independent play routines, and allowing you a minute to get things together in the morning
- It’s okay if they don’t play for a long time at first: any amount of independent playtime at first is great, this skill will grow over time
Our Morning Basket Start-Up Guide will walk you through all of this and more when it comes to your morning routine and creating morning baskets.
I also thought it would be helpful to break this down as a Who, What, When, Where, Why, How type Q&A.
This format will help you find exactly the information you need for your screen-free morning basket routine.
Who
You + kids (even if they’re not school-aged yet).
If you are doing morning baskets with more than one child, I recommend having a basket for each child, even if they are similar ages.
While my toddler morning basket ideas are not by any means traditional, they are still a fantastic, screen-free way to start your morning.
Toddler baskets are also especially helpful if you are working with a range of ages and need your toddler to be engaged with something while you work with your older children.
These are all factors to consider when establishing your morning routine.
Depending on your needs (baby, older children, school, schedules, etc.) you may prefer a morning basket routine where your toddler “works” independently.
This is definitely possible with consistency and the understanding that some days your toddler will be more into it than others!
What
For my morning basket curriculum I use The Preschool Playbook.
This is typically what I use as my jumping off point for creating the baskets. This curriculum is best for kids ages 3-5.
If we’re doing a unit on Community Helpers (below), I’ll go around my house and collect whatever books, toys, puzzles, etc. that I have in that theme to use for the morning baskets.
If you’re homeschooling or working with kids of multiple ages, you can use whatever curriculum is applicable for each kid.
When
Over the years of being home with my kids, I’ve always found that the morning is the ideal time for learning activities.
That being said, this routine can easily be adapted for the afternoon, during your baby or toddler’s naptime, if that’s what works best for your family.
Sometimes breakfast is on the table while we work, and sometimes I’m in the kitchen making breakfast while the kids play and work at the kitchen table.
When my kids were little, my 4 year old attended a half-day preschool program and I also had a 2 year old who needed an afternoon nap.
We didn’t have any extra time in the mornings because we were pretty much getting ready and out the door by 8 AM.
After arriving home from preschool pickup, I would put my toddler down for a nap, and have the morning basket set on the kitchen table for my 4 year old.
We would sit together and read the books, play with the manipulatives, and have a snack.
Often she would keep playing independently while I emptied the dishwasher and did other tasks around the house.
No two routines will look alike, and in 10 years of being a stay at home mom to 3 kids I feel like I’ve lived every version of them.
All this to say: these are ideas that have worked for me, and I encourage you to adapt these ideas to work for your family.
Where
Everyone’s house is obviously different but this question comes up on my Instagram pretty frequently!
The “where” component of your routine can actually make a huge difference, depending on the age of your child.
For a toddler, you’ll probably find their small toddler table is best, or maybe somewhere close to you like the kitchen counter, if you have seating there.
Other kids may prefer to sit on the floor.
I typically use my kitchen table as it can fit everyone.
But if I’m just working with my youngest, I will set up her sensory play table with everything she needs.
I like to have the the table setup the night before with all of our materials so in the morning I just need to make my coffee 😀
Why
We chatted about the “why” component of this whole endeavor at the top of this post.
I think this is actually the most important part!
It can really help you get this whole routine focused as you’re essentially working backward by starting with your end-goal.
This can inform how you structure your morning basket routine.
How
Without trying to oversimplify it, really the best thing to do is just START.
Sometimes we overthink things or want everything to be perfect, when in reality we just need to start.
It can legitimately be scary at first, especially when kids are used to watching TV first thing.
But it’s one of those things where you have to be consistent and stick with the routine to see the positive outcomes and results.
You get to decide the order of events and what your morning routine looks like.
I think there can be a combination of leading the morning meeting and then also stepping back to allow the kids time to play, learn, and explore on their own.
Part of being a stay at home mom is being flexible, right?
We all know that no two days are alike, and even with a solid routine, it’s still important to allow for these routines to be flexible based on what that day calls for.
To Recap:
- Prep the basket the night before/set on the table
- Use one basket all week (change out materials as needed)
- During morning basket time: prep breakfast, empty the dishwasher, make coffee, sit & read together, work on the activities together as needed (independence with this routine is built over time)
- Eat breakfast
- Clean up morning basket supplies
- Get dressed/start day
Shop all of my morning basket supplies on Amazon
What to Read Next:
- Easy Daily Routine for a 2 Year Old
- My 4 Year Old’s Daily Routine
- 3 Year Old Preschool Activities at Home
- Homeschool Routine for a 4 Year Old (Pre-K at Home)
- My Stay at Home Mom Morning Routine
Follow Marla on Instagram for more practical ideas for everyday #momlife
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