If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen me talk about Tami’s morning menu. It can also be called a morning workbook or busy binder. Essentially, it is a few pages of activities that your toddler can do when you need to keep them engaged or “busy”. Tami is usually the first one awake and, this has been a livesaver so that she doesn’t wake upYou know that keeping toddlers entertained and engaged can be a challenge. Tami is one of the earliest to wake up in the morning and that often means she likes to wake everyone else up prematurely. That’s why I created a morning menu for her to do when she wakes up so that she’s engaged. Since I implemented it, it’s definitely been a lifesaver. I update her worksheets monthly to keep it fresh. The
In this blog post, we’ll explore seven different activities that you can include in your toddler’s morning workbook. So, let’s dive in and get started!
Calendar Work and Feelings
I like to get Tami’s day started by talking about the day. We answer questions like “What day is it?”, “What is the weather?”, and “What season is it?”. I include visual aids to help her answer these questions. This is a page that she can’t do independently just yet so she usually skips it when she’s working in her morning menu by herself; but it serves as a great conversation starter for us before breakfast time. The hope is that as she gets more comfortable with the concept she’ll be able to answer the questions on her own. Recently, Tami has been talking a lot about feelings so I also include a section where she can tell me how she’s feeling.
Tracing
Tracing is an activity that involves drawing over lines or shapes to create a copy of a picture or pattern. While it may seem like a simple activity, tracing can provide many benefits for toddlers. I won’t get into all the benefits here but tracing is an excellent way to prepare toddlers for handwriting. The more tracing Tami does, the better she gets with holding the pen or pencil, controlling her movements, and creating shapes which will ultimately be the foundation for handwriting. You can have your toddler trace shapes, numbers, letters, lines, etc. The ways you can incorporate tracing is endless.
Letters and Reading
As toddlers begin to develop an interest for reading it is important that they can identify different letters and letter sounds. Include an alphabet or letter identification page that is appropriate for your child. You can simply have them trace the alphabet or you can do letter work and have them identify images that begin with a certain letter sound. Whatever type of activity they do the important thing is that they are experience the letters of the alphabet, and their sounds, as this is the foundation for reading.
Numbers and Math
In the same way that letters and reading is a key printable to include in your morning menu, so are numbers and math. There are endless ideas to incorporate here. If your toddler is just beginning, a number tracing page or number identification page will work just find. If your toddler can successfully identify numbers then you can incorporate some simple counting activities.
About Me (and My Family)
I like to include an about me page in the morning menu as this will include important information that your toddler will need to know in preparation for kindergarten (or know in general even if you plan to homeschool.) You can begin them with a simple name tracing activity so your toddler is able to identify their name, even if they can’t write it yet. Other activities can be writing their birthday, home address, and important facts about immediate family. Use this page to include any important information that your toddler will need to remember.
Shapes and Colors
My morning menu folder only has 8 slots so I alternate between shapes and colors in Tami’s morning menu. If you’re using a binder you can definitely do this as separate pages. It’s important that toddlers can identify basic shapes and colors. You can start them off with a tracing activity then progress to shape/color matching and even drawing with shapes.
Bible Verse and Affirmation
It’s never too young to get your children to begin to memorize or become familiar with Bible verses. This is another page that I do with Tami. I have her repeat the Bible verse and her affirmation. There are even times throughout the day when I randomly hear her saying the verse or parts of her affirmation. I really love that because it shows me that she’s getting it.
I hope this post gave you some ideas that will keep your busy toddler engaged in the morning. Let me know if you incorporate this and be sure to follow me on instagram for more ideas.
