We all know what a morning trying to get the kids out the house is like, with missing socks, someone complaining they don’t want breakfast and homework scattered everywhere. Whilst some of these things are out of our control, there are certain things we can do to help make things that bit easier. 

We’re focusing specifically on hacks to ensure your family starts the day on a healthy note, both physically and mentally, to set them up for a positive day wherever they’re heading to! A few minutes saved here and there really adds up when it comes to mornings, so try incorporating these suggestions and see how things go. It’ll not only set everyone else up right for the day, but you as the parent too, as a stressful morning can really weigh on the rest of the day. 

Set The Table The Night Before 

Every healthy day starts with a nutritious breakfast, so it’s important to get prepared. Once everyone has gone to bed, we’d recommend spending 5 minutes getting everything out ready for breakfast, as not only does this help you to ensure you have everything you need, but it also saves you that bit of time in the morning. 

Lay the table with cups, plates and anything that doesn’t need to be in the fridge, like fruits, cereals, jams and granola. Then, on the side, pull out anything that will need to be cooked if you’re doing a hot breakfast, like bread for toast, eggs etc. If you’re missing anything you need, you can then just nip to the shop, although we would recommend choosing a milk delivery provider like Mc Queens Dairies, who deliver all the breakfast essentials so it’ll be sat on your door when you wake up, without having to worry about running out. 

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Pack Lunches The Night Before

Another thing you can prepare the night before to save plenty of time is to pack any lunches the night before. The last thing you want on a busy morning is rushing to throw something together, so sorting it the night before ensures that your family are eating healthy and fresh food. With that bit of extra time, you can also mix it up to help encourage a healthy appetite for your kids. You could always do some prep on a Sunday evening, then again on a Tuesday evening, and the meals are sorted for the week! 

In terms of healthy meal prep ideas, you could make a big batch of pasta salad with hidden veggies and protein or you could prepare a batch of sandwich filler like a chicken and bacon mixture or tuna and sweetcorn, then each evening you’ll just need to add it to a wrap, pitta bread or sandwich. This is also a good time to prepare some snack boxes, which are much cheaper to do yourself rather than buying. So, things like fruit boxes, vegetable sticks with hummus, chicken bites or fruit kebabs can all be prepared in advance and sit in the fridge for you to grab when you need. Save time and make sure you’re giving your kids nutritious and delicious food for their lunches! 

Have A Morning and Evening Checklist 

Lastly, having a morning checklist for your kids to go through is really important to empower them for the day. A healthy morning is about more than just physical health, and by giving them a sense of independence in the morning, it helps to establish a positive routine that sets them up for the rest of the day. Not only that, but it instills skills of time management, organisation and self discipline as they grow. This also helps to take some of the mental load from you as a parent! 

So, near the front door, you should have a checklist for each of your kids. You can write time blocks on one side, then the task next to it. So, it might look something like this: 

• 7:00 – Wake up
• 7:05 – Make bed
• 7:15 – Eat breakfast 
• 7:35 – Brush teeth and get changed 
• 7:45 – Fix hair
• 8:00 – Get bag, put shoes on & leave

You could also have a similar checklist that goes in their bedroom for the night before, which would include something like: 

• Do homework 
• Help set up for dinner
• Eat dinner 
• Have a bath or shower
• Put on pyjamas
• Make sure bag is packed for next day
• Fill up water bottle and put it into the fridge
• Pack PE kit if needed
• Lay out uniform 
• Brush teeth 
• Read a book 

Structure can do wonders for kids, so giving them some guidance about what they should be doing and rewarding them at the end of the week with a fun activity, some pocket money or their favourite food can also provide a great incentive for them. As they grow, they may not need the checklist, but you should still encourage this organisation to allow healthy habits to form. 

Final Thoughts

So whether milk deliveries or a morning checklist works for you, there are so many things you can do to make mornings fun and easy.