Routine chart for kids
First this, then that — the day in pictures.
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Example
Example: a bedtime routine as picture cards, with two steps of your own
Leo is four and every step of bedtime turns into a debate. His parents want cards they can lay out in the order their evening really goes. Routine “Bedtime”, Layout “Picture cards to cut out”, own steps “Lay out clothes for tomorrow” and “Night light on”, Pictures “In colour”, Paper “US Letter”.
- The bedtime set has eight cards, in this order: Dinner, Tidy up toys, Bath, Pajamas, Brush teeth, Story time, Toilet, Sleep.
- Your two steps become cards nine and ten, each with a star where the picture would be.
- Page 1, titled “My evening routine”: the ten cards, three across, each about 5.7 cm (2¼ in) square on a dashed grid to cut along.
- Page 2: two strips, “First → Then” and “Now → Next”, each with a place for a card under both words and an arrow between them.
- Laminate the cards if you can and put them up in your own order, the clothes card before the bath, with sticky tack or hook-and-loop dots.
| Layout | Pages | The same ten steps as |
|---|---|---|
| Steps to tick | 1 | two columns of five, each step with its picture and a box to tick |
| A week to tick | 1 | ten rows and seven columns, Sun to Sat, a box for every day |
| Picture cards to cut out | 2 | ten cards, then the First → Then and Now → Next strips |
evening-routine-cards.pdf, two Letter pages. For a chart on the fridge instead, switch the layout to “A week to tick”: the file becomes evening-routine-week.pdf, one page, the week running Sunday to Saturday.
How it works
- Choose the routine: morning, bedtime, a school day, the weekend or the whole day.
- Pick a list, a week to tick or cards, and add steps of your own.
- Print, hang it where the routine happens and tick each step together.
Frequently asked questions
- Why do routine charts help?
- Children who can see what comes next argue less and do more on their own: the chart reminds them, not you.
- From what age?
- From about two with pictures alone; older children read the labels and tick the steps themselves.
- Can I change the steps?
- Add your own steps at the end — feeding the cat, practising piano — or use the cards and arrange them in any order.
- Is it useful for children with autism or ADHD?
- Visual schedules are widely used to make transitions easier; the picture cards work with a first-then strip.
- Does the weekly chart start on Sunday or Monday?
- On Sunday. “A week to tick” has seven columns, Sun to Sat, with a box for each step on each day, so one sheet lasts a whole week.
- How many steps of my own can I add?
- Up to six, one per line, each up to 40 characters; bullets and empty lines are dropped. They come after the routine’s own steps, with a star as their picture. With the cards, anything past twelve cards moves to the second page.
- Is anything uploaded?
- No. The pages are made in your browser.