Today I will explain what a morning basket is and why you need to have one ready.
If you’ve read any of my posts on time management, you know that once I became a stay at home mom, I was determined to do ALL.THE.THINGS… scrolling through Pinterest desperately looking for the best activities to do with my daughter.
I wanted to add some structure to our day and thought that I needed a preschool curriculum to help me stay focused. I even thought I would try to make my own “curriculum” and theme each week with elaborate displays of books, crafts, toys and activities. It was so exhausting trying to manage a household, run a small business and organize themed activities each week!
Don’t get me wrong… none of these things are bad and I really love the idea of them; but I didn’t have the “time” to be doing all of this every day. When I sat down to determine what matters to me and how I wanted and needed to spend my time, this was not at the top of my list.
(If you’ve read Time That Matters and completed the worksheet, you know that we have to choose wisely what we spend our time on. We only get 24 hours each day! We can’t let good get in the way of what’s best for us. And that will look different for everyone.)
How I found the idea of the morning basket –
I’m not sure how I found this amazing shop – probably on Pinterest… but it was homeschool curriculum based on a gentle and classical approach – Gentle & Classical Preschool. And they had material for as young as 2 years old, which was my daughter’s age. The watercolor illustrations and Christ focus drew me in. Plus the fact that they offer the Teacher’s Guide FREE was amazing! I downloaded the free Preschool guide to see if it was something I wanted to use. This is where I first heard of the concept of a Morning Basket.
The Morning Basket is part of the homeschool day and was inspired by Charlotte Mason. If you’ve looked into any homeschool programs you may have seen the morning basket concept before.
So what exactly is a Morning Basket?
It is a basket of books and materials that many families use to start their homeschool day. Some of the things typically included are Scripture recitation or memorization, hymns and folksongs, art appreciation, quiet activities, handwriting/tracing, poem and short story reading. I’ve seen so many different variations on it. But it is a way to begin the day together, especially if you have different aged children in different grades that will be doing their own work later in the day.
(If you want to see how others are using it, Peaceful Press has a great article here.)
One of the great things about the Gentle & Classical Preschool Curriculum is that you can pick and choose what parts you want to use. It is like a “buffet.” For my 2 year old, I found the entire program to be overwhelming knowing she wasn’t ready for it all. But one of the things I did implement was the morning basket and a few others I will write about soon.
Now, let me just say that our Morning Basket is NOTHING like most of the others I’ve seen. And one of the main reasons is the age of the children. For my now almost 3 year old, we include more activities than anything else.
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Here’s what we currently have in our Morning Basket:
- Children’s Bible
- Books about various topics (We love the Hello World collection of books)
- Coloring books and crayons
- Color Wonder markers and paper
- Do-A-Dot Markers and paper
- Play-Doh and tools
- Kinetic Sand
- Melissa & Doug Farm animal magnets and cookie sheet
I put each activity in a separate plastic bag so it is easy grab and go. No looking around for pieces and parts. The Play-Doh kit even comes with its own zippered bag.
This has helped us so much in limiting TV time in the mornings. It had gotten to be a bad habit that as soon as we woke up, we turned the TV on while I prepared breakfast and started chores. I really felt guilty about it and knew it needed to change.
By implementing the morning basket, we have several activities and books that she can grab and work on while I’m making breakfast or straightening up. I keep the basket on a TV tray table in the dining room. We do these before we do our actual “school work” later in her playroom. (School work usually is only about 15 minutes top for a 2 year old.)
Morning Basket isn’t just for mornings
And even though we call it our Morning Basket, we do grab things out throughout the day to play with and work on. Also, we don’t use it every single morning. It is just a great tool that we have with things all ready together in one convenient place. We don’t have to run around looking in closets and bins for an activity to do.
As my little one gets older, we will definitely adapt the basket to more appropriate things for her learning level and will include more of the traditional elements of the Charlotte Mason approach. She really has learned so much already.
If you are looking for a homeschool curriculum, please go check out the Gentle & Classical Press. You will be amazed at the quality of materials available. And they offer many free resources as well. (If you use my referral link above, you will get a $5 credit to use in the shop!)
Just a few planned activities will go a long way in making sure both you and your toddler have a good day. Having things ready to grab and go really does take the stress out of activities.
Need more activities for your toddler: