Planning an Early Years Morning Basket
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for purchases from my links. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting the work put into this article by using my affiliate links!
Planning an early years Morning Basket and don’t know where to start? If you’ve been trying to figure out how to plan a Morning Basket, this Morning Basket planner is a great place to start! Morning Basket planning is easy with this Notion planner for homeschool! In just a few short minutes of planning, you’ll have a preschool Morning Basket your child will love!
Morning Baskets are growing in popularity among homeschool and public school parents! Why?! They’re the perfect way to keep your kids entertained during a somewhat challenging part of the day. A good Morning Basket is a great way to get enriching, engaging activities in front of your child without daily prep and set up. But what should you include in your Morning Basket? And how is an Early Years Morning Basket different from a Morning Basket for older kids? Keep reading to learn more!
To see some of our Morning Baskets, click here to see them in action on Pinterest!
What Makes an Early Years Morning Basket Different?
Pam Barnhill is the queen of Morning Baskets! In her homeschool, a Morning Basket is geared towards older children and is a way to practice a variety of skills and teach a number of concepts. Her Morning Baskets contain mostly books, you can read all about it on her website here!
For younger kids, preschool age, Morning Baskets can still have a place but will look a bit different. I, of course, include books in our Morning Basket. But I also add other learning activities that will engage my little one and help practice skills outside of our favorite read alouds.
I try to hit six categories with our Morning Baskets: Creativity, Fine Motor Skills, Gross Motor Skills, Literacy, Math, and Problem Solving. As she gets older, her basket will slowly transition to more traditional academic subjects.
Her Morning Basket is sometimes used independently, sometimes together. I typically set up one activity on the coffee table for her, we call them “toddler traps” in our house. This will keep her busy while we make breakfast and get ready for the day. But we also pull the basket out during our Morning Time together and work on an activity or two each day.
What to Include in an Early Years Morning Basket
My number one thing to include are picture books! We love picture books and I try to include this week’s focus book(s) as well as some from the previous few weeks. My daughter knows the stories in these already and can “read” them to herself using the pictures to support her retelling.
Crayons and a coloring book or sketchbook are another great addition to your Morning Basket, as are beginner games. We also love to include learning activities like letter tracing cards or number magnets. I also make quite a few easy centers I find on Pinterest or in teaching books!
You can see a complete list of our Early Years Morning Basket Favorites here!
I hope this article has helped inspire you to create an Early Years Morning Basket for your preschooler or toddler! Don’t forget to download the free Morning Basket Activity Planner to support you in your planning! It truly makes getting morning baskets planned a breeze!
To see more preschool activity ideas, follow me on Pinterest! I share ways I’ve organized my life with Notion, including the many toddler/preschool activities we do each day!
