Summer is a time for fun. With the school year over, many families are looking forward to long afternoons at the beach, mornings spent sleeping in, and evenings staying up late to catch fireflies. For kids, though, a change in routine can be seriously disruptive. While summer morning routines can be more relaxed than usual, it’s important to maintain some semblance of a schedule. Knowing what to expect each morning can reduce anxiety in little ones. It also helps the transition back to school in the fall a little easier.

If you’re searching for morning routine ideas to kickstart the best summer ever, we’ve got you covered. These suggestions are great additions to any schedule – pick and choose the ones that work best for your family. Whatever you opt for, make sure to get everybody on board. By discussing family goals for summer ahead of time, you’ll help boost your child’s self-esteem and ensure you’ve made the most of your summer break.

Start with Hydration

Enjoying water upon waking is a great way to start the day. Before tackling your morning routine, take a moment to fill up your family’s stainless steel water bottles. Water increases our energy levels, boosts metabolism, and sets you up for a hydrated day. Water is an essential nutrient. Since all your organs and tissue depend on water to function properly, it’s important to make hydration a goal from the moment you wake up until you head to bed each night.

Kids tend to keep busy over summer break. In the flurry of summer camp and swimming pools, it’s easy for little ones to lose sight of their hydration. Parents can be proactive about keeping kids hydrated by starting each morning with water. It’s okay if your little ones drink juice or milk as well, but sipping on water throughout the day is an excellent habit to instill in your kids. Modeling this behavior is step one – you’ll also find yourself benefitting from the additional hydration opportunity. By building water into your family’s summer schedule for kids, you’ll set everyone up for success.

Little ones sometimes struggle to prioritize hydration. If you’re eager to get your family drinking more water, allow them to pick out their very own stainless steel water bottle for kids. Even grownups feel more motivated to drink water when they’ve got a bottle in their favorite color! Add stickers to further jazz up the hydration experience. Since these bottles keep drinks cold all day long, kids can tote them along to whatever activities the day might have in store.

Make Beds

Encouraging your kids to make their beds each day is another useful morning routine idea. While it’s certainly not the end of the world to skip this habit if it doesn’t fit into your lifestyle, making the bed each day is a great way to teach kids discipline. By starting each morning with cold water and an easily accomplishable chore like making the bed, kids will feel like they’ve had a few wins before they even leave their bedroom. 

For most children, beds take up a significant portion of their rooms. It’s a focal point. When left messy, the bed can contribute to an overall sense of clutter. Making the bed takes two minutes and instantly makes the room look more put together. While kids might begrudge this chore at first, it becomes second-nature fast. As much as we might want to give into the laziness of summer, morning routine chores like this can help keep kids on track and focused all year long. 

Not into bed making? You can substitute any chore here to get your summer mornings off on the right foot. Kids can help with making breakfast, tidying up their toys, walking the dog, or feeding the fish. Specific chores don’t really matter here – it’s about instilling a routine that feels doable each day. Little ones thrive on routine. When they know what to expect each morning, they develop healthy habits and learn about self-control. Start these habits on day one of summer break and you’ll be on autopilot by the end of vacation!

Get Outdoors

Whenever possible, try to get outside into the summer morning. Morning play time allows kids to get fresh air and sunshine before it gets too hot. Outdoor free time to ride bikes, play tag, or go swimming can make all the difference for kids in the summer. Burning off some energy early in the day can also set your kids up for an easy afternoon nap, giving parents a much-needed hour to themselves.

Before heading outdoors, though, you’ll want to add hydration and sunscreen to your morning routine checklist. Even if it’s not hot yet, summer mornings often feature high UV indexes. Exposure can lead to dehydration and sunburns. To minimize these risks, make sure that the whole family drinks plenty of water before heading outside. Wear sunscreen and consider adding additional sun protection like hats and lightweight, long sleeve shirts. 

Playing outside is a go-to for burning off energy, but there are additional benefits to adding this to your routine. Outdoor play leaves kids with more advanced motor skills than those who stay inside all day. Think about the average playground visit; kids develop their balance, agility, and coordination with each swing on the monkey bars. If your little ones love their screen time, outdoor time can help provide much-needed balance on long summer days.

Relax with a Book

Summer learning loss is real. Also known as the summer slide, this phenomenon is more common than many parents realize. Kids may be excited to be out of school, away from the classroom and standardized tests. While it’s fine to let kids relax and play all summer, consider building some reading into your summer schedule for kids. This is a fun way to reinforce things they’ve learned in school without all the structure of homework and assignments.

Kids are more motivated to read when they’ve got some ownership over the activity. Let them pick out books that they find most interesting. Public libraries often have summer reading programs with rewards for those who finish books throughout the season. Take your kids to the library and allow them to pick out a few books each week. By building even 30 minutes of quiet reading time into your morning schedule, you’ll be on your way to instilling a lifelong love of reading in your kids.

Setting the Example

If you’re unsure of how to kickstart these morning routine ideas for your family, start by modeling the behaviors yourself. Parents are our children’s first role models. When they see you enjoying your morning water, making your bed, or getting outside, kids will be more likely to go along with your routine. They love to copy what the adults are doing, so make it a commitment to model the routine you’d like to see them follow each day. You might be surprised at how much more productive your own day can be with a summer morning routine in place!