Preteen Routine Daily Checklist Tips with FREE Printable
Tired of nagging your preteens about basic, daily tasks? Create accountable & responsible tweens with a daily preteen routine checklist, featuring tips on how to remind kids without nagging.
Are you the parent of a preteen or tween? It's already a roller coaster of daily emotions. Add in all the new things they have to remember, like putting on deodorant and washing to avoid acne. Avoid topping it off with parental nagging to help ease some of the stress (on you, and on them!).
Maybe you feel like I felt? I was a broken record, repeating the same reminders every day. Keep reading for some daily routine tips, including a free printable chart for your kids as a helpful reminder.
Preteen Routine Chart
Preteen kids have a lot to keep track of. With the start of junior high, puberty, and a changing body, a young teen also has intense emotions they're dealing with as well (seen the Disney/Pixar movie, Inside Out?).
I have two preteens in the house (a son and daughter). My husband and I have a lot to deal with keeping them on track!
How to Avoid the Nagging?
If you're like me, the last thing you want to do is run down a list of essential steps as your kids are going out the door. They don't like the nagging, and neither do I. However, I also don't want my kid smelling like an onion after P.E. because they forgot deodorant!
Regular routines for young children are important to maintain in the pre-teen years, as a way of creating a sense of responsibility and setting up healthy habits.
Streamlining your tween's routine and making it more routine for them is the key. But sometimes they need help remembering, and a visual schedule can benefit the whole family.
Introducing New Routines to Tweens
Have you ever called out to your preteen, "Did you remember to change your underwear today?" How about asking if they put on deodorant, took a shower, or brushed their teeth? Bonus points if you asked these questions at school drop-off in front of their friends!
If you've ever questioned whether your tween is remembering to floss or bothering to wash their hair, this article is for you.
Fostering Preteen Independence
Naturally, as parents of preteens, we want to encourage independence. That's pretty much the entire goal of parenting! To foster independence, to teach, and to let your young child make mistakes.
Encouraging Family Routines
You likely already have many routines in place, including a morning routine, bedtime routine, and rules about video games, electronic devices, and after-school activities.
Introducing new routines into the daily schedule can often result in power struggles. School-age children like to test their limits any chance they can get!
Consistent Daily Schedule
Consistency is key when it comes to helping to ease a tween into new routines. Gentle reminders go a long way. The free printable in this article is a powerful tool, especially for resistant preteens who want to do it all by themselves.
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Create a Tween Hygiene Kit
One way to remind preteens of proper hygiene is to create a single location where they can find what they need. Every day routines become second nature when all the supplies are in one place.
Bathroom Storage
I created these hygiene kits for my tweens using inexpensive plastic bathroom storage bins. Add in the most important things for daily self-care, including a toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, dental floss, deodorant, and items for a skin care routine.
Store the bin under the bathroom sink to hold everything pre-teens need for morning and night.
Offer Gentle Reminders
I can't tell you how many times we've gotten into the car for school and one of my tweens has to run back into the house because they forgot to do something! A few gentle reminders are something everyone can benefit from.
If your kid is consistently forgetting important daily tasks, the printable preteen routine checklist will be great. It will allow your tween some independence, but still give them the reminders they need.
READ MORE: Check out this post with additional tips on stress-free morning routines with kids.
Tween Reminders To Avoid the Nagging
In addition to the printable checklist, I have used other subtle notes and reminders around the house for my preteens. Leaving a note is a way of getting your message across, without verbal cues or nagging!
Use a Timer
Set an alarm so you don't have to call out the countdown or time every 5 minutes. When kids hear the timer, they know they need to take action.
Write a Reminder Note
Using Post-It notes is great for these kinds of "Mom Hacks". Just stick a little note somewhere as a reminder to the kids so you don't have to say the message out loud.
Have Written Directions
Write up a "how-to" with instructions on how to use appliances like the dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer. Hang them in a prominent location near each location.
Tweens will know how to properly use them as needed. No reason for not getting chores done!
Create Visual Reminders
With the soap and shampoo in the shower, I drew this reminder directly onto the bottle with a Sharpie. No excuses for overuse!
Part of the Routine for Daily Life
From cleaning rooms, showering, or engaging in daily exercise, parents should determine which parts of the routine should be included in the usual day-to-day events. These are some additional ideas on how to incorporate into your routine.
Cleaning Bedrooms
Kids' bedrooms can easily become cluttered, and the mess can be overwhelming. Daily tidying can help children stay on top of the clutter. If you're okay with bedrooms being messy during the week, consider choosing one day a week in which the room is cleaned top to bottom.
If you're looking for more ways to get kids involved, check out these additional tips with easy decluttering tips for kids' rooms and toys.
Household Chores for Preteens
Older children are fully capable of taking on more household responsibilities. The printable checklist includes a few basic chores that your tween can pitch in on.
Read for more ways to get kids to pitch in with chores.
Oft-Forgotten Actions
I know we've all been there as parents, plugging in the school laptop when we see our kid has forgotten. Or digging through the backpacks in search of that field trip permission slip.
If it's there on the checklist, there's no excuse for forgetting! Use the empty slots on the printable list to fill in your additional requests.
Healthy Skin Routine
As noted in the earlier section about creating a hygiene kit, it can streamline the routine to store all pertinent tools in the same place. Include a body lotion for dry skin, a gentle cleanser and moisturizer for faces, and blemish treatment, if necessary. Do you have to nag about putting on sunscreen? Add it to the routine!
Printable Daily Preteen Routine Checklist
I laminated our tween's daily routine checklist to ensure it would withstand regular use. Then I posted the list in several places around the house so my preteens could handle their business privately on their own.
This preteen routine is all about creating good habits that your child will take with them through life. At some point, these things will be second nature, and kids won't have to refer to the checklist anymore.
I added a spot in each section for you to add anything extra that your tween needs to do. Parenting is about creating independent people - because you don't want to be calling your college-age children to make sure they are using deodorant, right?
Why Are There Checklists for Both Girls and Boys?
I've made a free printable preteen routine checklist for both boys & girls. The only difference is that the girl's list has a reference for restocking feminine hygiene in her school bag or purse, as well as remembering to put on a bra each morning.
Consider putting together a monthly teen period kit to keep in a school locker or backpack. This is one of the great ways to help tween girls get more organized about keeping track of their periods.
Free Tween Daily Checklist Printable
This quick, no-nagging-necessary free printable checklist for preteens can be a game-changer. I've listed the basics that all kids need to remember, like daily showering.
Even if your child didn't previously bathe daily, you'll quickly learn with the overactive hormones that daily washing is a must (ie, preteens STINK!).
The items on this preteen routine list are best for kids aged 9 to 13. Focusing on daily tween hygiene now will get them in good habits for when they become a teenager.
Printable Checklist (click to print the PDF)
READ MORE: Are you the parent of a toddler or preschooler? Try using one of these free printable behavior charts for kids.
This post originally published Nov 17, 2015 and has been updated and republished with a new date.
Author and owner Julie Bigboy shares first hand knowledge on a variety of subjects, including family travel, positive parenting, and simple living. Her work can be found on The Points Guy, SheBuys Travel, MiceChat and Disneyland With Kids, among others.
