Get Out The Door Routine: Simple Morning Routines for Kids
Do you ever wish your family had a smooth get out the door routine — one that didn’t end in chaos, tears, or yelling?
Last Friday morning, I was finishing up the vacuuming before heading out to an appointment with all four kids in tow. We had a few errands to run afterward and planned to meet a friend at the park.
When I looked at the clock and realized we needed to leave in ten minutes, I shut off the vacuum and called out, “Alright, everyone — please start your Get Out The Door routine! Once you’re done, head to the car and buckle in. We need to leave in ten minutes!”
Eleven minutes later, I clicked my seatbelt after buckling the baby, and glanced in the rearview mirror.
“Did everyone go potty?”
“Yes!”
“Does everyone have a water bottle?”
“Yes!”
“Shoes?”
“Yes!”
And just like that — without yelling, nagging, or chasing anyone down — we pulled out of the driveway on time.
That’s the quiet magic of a good get out the door routine. When your kids know exactly what to do and have practiced it enough times, getting out the door can actually be peaceful. And it’s absolutely possible — even with little ones.
Why a “Get Out the Door Routine” Matters for Families
I’ve found that transition times (like getting out the door) are peak chaos times for my family as a family unit with young kids. These are the moments when I, as a parent, am trying to focus on practical tasks, and without a clear structure to follow, my kids often have energy to burn and nowhere to direct it.
That’s why having a get out the door routine (or what I like to think of as a mini family morning routine) makes such a difference. When everyone knows what comes next, the process of leaving the house stops feeling rushed and starts feeling calm and predictable.
A few minutes of structure often saves us from twenty minutes of chaos!
Creating simple daily routines for kids (especially around transition times) teaches them responsibility and independence. And when kids are productively working through their checklist while parents are completing their own getting-ready tasks, everyone experiences less stress, stronger teamwork, and a smoother path from house to car, whether it’s for school, errands, or an afternoon playdate.
Step 1: Clarify What Needs to Happen in Your Get Out The Door Routine
The first step to creating a Get Out the Door Routine that truly works for your family is to identify what actually needs to happen in your “getting out the door” process.
In our home, I want my kids to have used the toilet before we leave, put on shoes, grabbed a sweatshirt or hat (depending on the season), and filled up and brought their water bottles to the car.
I can’t tell you the number of times one or more of those things didn’t happen before we established our get out the door routine for kids! Once I realized how much time (and sanity) those missing steps cost us, I knew we needed a predictable structure everyone could follow.
Once you know what needs to happen for your family, break it down into clear, repeatable steps. Think through whether there’s a natural order that should be followed (which might work best as a flow chart), or if it can be treated more like a flexible checklist — a sort of choose-your-own-adventure version of a morning routine for kids.
These steps become the heart of your family routine, the part your children can learn to complete mostly on their own each time you’re getting ready to leave the house.
For toddlers and preschoolers, I recommend limiting their portion of the get out the door checklist to no more than six simple steps. It can also help to give them a set order (like in a flow chart format), even if they could technically complete the steps in a different order. Fewer choices usually mean fewer delays and during time-sensitive moments, fewer meltdowns.
For older kids, though, providing a bit of flexibility can help them take more ownership of the process.
When everyone knows what their role is in the routine, you’ll find that getting out the door as a family starts feeling calm, predictable, and even (dare I say it?) easy!
Step 2: Communicate Clearly About Your Get Out The Door Routine (to Your Spouse and to Your Kids)
Before I ever introduce a new family routine to my kids, I start with a parenting chat with my husband. I summarized the problems I’d been seeing as we were trying to leave the house, and how a clearer get out the door routine could solve them.
This let us troubleshoot together and make sure we’re on the same page. Consistency between parents makes every new routine smoother for kids!
Once we were both in the loop, I gathered the kids, showed them the visual chart, and explained what I’d like to see happen and how to read and follow it.
I don’t recommend starting a new kids routine in a high-stakes moment. So instead of unveiling our get out the door chart when we were actually trying to leave the house, I introduced it on a calm morning at home. My kids were excited about a new visual checklist (and the idea of a less-stressed mom!), so they were eager to try it out.
We practiced what each step looked like — from shoes to water bottles — and I modeled any parts that might be tricky. Then, the next time we were heading out, we referenced our new Get Out The Door chart and treated it as a “practice run.”
Tip: Make it Visual!
A physical, visual reference point is so helpful for both kids and parents: it gives children independence and gives you a simple way to redirect them without constant reminders or nagging.
When creating a visual schedule for kids, I try to use pictures or icons rather than words so even my toddlers can follow along confidently.
I use the free version of Canva to design our routine charts, then download them as printable PDFs. Personally, I try to keep our visuals minimal and neutral: opting for softer colors, avoiding heavy borders or excess graphics, and keeping everything clean and simple.
This helps the charts blend in beautifully with our home while still being functional and inviting for the kids. The goal is clarity and calm, not clutter.
Step 3: Practice Until It Becomes Habit
Ultimately, my goal for every family routine is to reach a point where I’m 90% hands-off and my kids move confidently through their steps on their own. During the first 10–15 times, though, they’ll need more support — and that’s perfectly normal.
I think of this early stage as “muscle building.” Just like lifting weights strengthens muscles, repeating a get out the door routine consistently helps kids internalize the steps until they become second nature.
My husband and I stay diligent during this initial period: no cutting corners, no skipping steps, and no doing tasks for the kids UNLESS we plan to always do those tasks as part of the get out the door routine. Once the routine is embedded, we can relax a little by occasionally helping more with a step or letting a small step slide. But in these first reps, our consistency is what sets them up for long-term success.
Give plenty of praise when your kids follow the get out the door checklist correctly, encourage them when a step feels tricky (shoes can be surprisingly challenging for toddlers!), and remember: every morning routine for kids or daily routine takes time and repetition.
Even just two weeks of intentional, hands-on practice can make leaving the house smoother, calmer, and far more predictable for everyone for months to come!
Step 4: Troubleshoot When It Stops Working
Every family routine has a living component — the people doing the routine are growing and changing over time. This is especially true for a get out the door routine.
Routines naturally evolve with the seasons, whether that’s changes in weather or simply the children’s ages, skills, and interests. That’s normal! And it’s also normal to hit days when the routine doesn’t feel like it’s clicking or has stopped running as smoothly as it once did.
When that happens, I ask myself: “Is it the routine itself that needs to change, or is it our consistency in following it that needs attention?”
There have been routines I launched enthusiastically that weren’t a good fit — maybe too many steps for toddlers, or too many challenging tasks for older kids. And there have been routines that work brilliantly, but my consistency slipped and the kids weren’t completing the steps fully.
These moments provide valuable feedback. Most of the time, small tweaks (clarifying steps, re-teaching parts of the kids checklist, or making minor adjustments) are enough to get the routine back on track.
Of course, there are also times when a daily routine or morning routine for kids has served its purpose, and your family has simply outgrown it. That’s perfectly fine! When that happens, it may be time to create a new family routine to solve a fresh challenge, using the same steps of clarifying, communicating, practicing, and adjusting.
By treating routines as adaptable, living tools, your routines for families can continue to support independence, calm transitions, and smooth days, no matter what stage your family is in.
Final Encouragement: Start Small and Stay Consistent
It is totally possible to build a smooth, reliable Get Out The Door Routine. These four simple steps will help you conceptualize and execute a customized plan that works for you and your home:
- Clarify your goal
- Communicate the plan
- Consistently practice the steps
- Course-correct if needed
If this information is helpful for you, please save it on your Pinterest or share it with another mom who needs smoother mornings!
And if you’d like to get this 4-step process as a free, printable worksheet you can work through again and again with whatever routines you’re trying to build in your home, grab my Family Routine Builder Blueprint below.
And, if you need a ready-made printable Get Out The Door Routine chart that incorporates the same four steps we use in our home (toilet, water bottle, shoes, and sweatshirt), I’d be delighted to send it your way! You can drop your email below and I’ll send it through!