ADHD Morning Routine for Kids (Free Printables + Survival Pack)
Back-to-School Reality with ADHD
Hola mamá 💛,
School has just started again, and wow… I’d forgotten how tough it is to get back into an ADHD morning routine for kids after a summer of slow starts and no pressure. Suddenly, it’s a race to get uniforms on, breakfast eaten, and out the door before the school gates close.
For us, mornings with ADHD in the mix are especially challenging. Lucía is naturally slower in the mornings, and while I want to be calm and patient, the truth is that being late stresses me so much. Some days everything flows and I think, “Yes, I’ve got this nailed!” But then the very next day… it all falls apart.
I’ve learned that while our routine stays the same, my approach has to change depending on Lucía’s mood.
🎶 Music, Games & Flexibility
Some days, we lean on music: one song for brushing teeth, another for getting dressed. It turns tasks into mini timers, and suddenly I’m not the one nagging — the music is.
Other days, I make it into a game. I’ll say, “Let’s see who can get ready faster and be the first one in the car!” Lucía looooves winning, so she races through her routine just to beat me. What started as frustration transforms into fun, and we all leave the house with a better mood.
That’s the reality of ADHD mornings: it’s never perfect. Some days you improvise, some days you adapt, and some days you just breathe and try again tomorrow 💛.
I go into more detail about the daily tools we use at home, in my post Living with ADHD: The tools That Help Us Thrive.
🗂️ Our Simple Morning Routine (what actually helps)
- Get up
- Toilet
- Wash hands
- Eat breakfast
- Brush teeth (with a song 🎵)
- Get dressed (also with a song!)
Starting breakfast early helps Lucía focus sooner — if she waits, she gets distracted and everything takes twice as long.
🥣 Plant-Based, ADHD-Friendly Breakfasts
I’ve learned that the more I prepare the night before, the quicker breakfast goes and the easier the whole morning feels. That’s why I tend to batch cook different types of muffins (you’ll find some recipes inside the Survival Pack) or prep the overnight oats and chia puddings ahead of time. A little prep in the evening = a calmer, happier start the next day 💛.
- Overnight oats with oat milk, chia seeds and berries 🍓
- Smoothies — blueberries + strawberries + almond butter + cacao powder + hemp seeds 🌱
- Sweet potato-oat muffins (batch-baked and frozen) 🧁
- Avocado toast on wholegrain bread 🥑(with grated tomatoes!)
- Gluten-free pancakes (our weekend ritual that often saves a weekday)
Keep breakfast simple, overnight prepared and ready fast — it changes the whole morning
🥪 What About Lunchboxes?
Lucía eats at school, so I don’t make lunchboxes daily. But after chatting with friends, I realised how many mums were already feeling overwhelmed just one week back into term. Planning balanced, nut-free meals every single day quickly becomes another full-time job.
That’s when it clicked: it’s not just me struggling with mornings — we’re all in this race together. After hearing their stories (and living my own ADHD mornings), I created a little life-raft: my Back-to-School Survival Pack (£4.99). It’s filled with real-life tools to make mornings lighter, not perfect.
- ✅ 15 Nut-Free Plant-Based Lunchbox Ideas
- ✅ A Week of ADHD-Friendly Plant-Based Breakfasts
- ✅ Out-the-Door Checklist Cards
- ✅ Reward Chart + Parent Guide
Free Routine Flashcards
To make mornings even smoother, I also created Morning & Night Routine Flashcards. They’re free to download, and they turn routines into something fun and visual for kids.
💛 Simplify our mornings — download free!
Print, cut, and let your child arrange their routine — visual + fun.
🥤 Bonus Freebie: Smoothie E-book for Busy Mums
If you’re like me and need quick, nourishing breakfasts to fuel yourself through busy mornings, you’ll love my free e-book: 5 Smoothies + Matcha Trio for Busy Mums. These hormone-balancing smoothies for mums in the UK are especially supportive during perimenopause — packed with energy-boosting, mood-lifting ingredients to keep you steady while juggling school runs and work. And yes, kids often love them too 🥤.
🥤 Send me the Smoothie E-book!
✨ Final Thoughts
If you’re feeling like back-to-school mornings are pure survival mode, I promise you’re not alone. An ADHD morning routine for kids style is never perfect — some days everything clicks, and other days… not at all. That’s okay. What matters is that we keep showing up, stay flexible, and celebrate the little wins.
From our home to yours, I hope the flashcards, the survival pack, and even a smoothie or two bring you a little extra calm in the chaos 💛.
🎁 Don’t forget:
Created with love by Rosa 💛 Nourished Mum Life
