Make bed

#make bed#bed#bedroom#tidy#household chore

The duvet is heavy and refuses to lie straight, the pillows slide off, and the result feels pointless when the bed will be slept in again tonight. The visual support below gives a short, fixed order the child can follow alone.

A person pulling up the duvet to make the bed.

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Making the bed

A person pulling up the duvet to make the bed.

A boy is making his bed, pulling up the duvet over the pillow.

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Make bed

A boy is making his bed, pulling up the duvet over the pillow.

A boy making the bed with a blue blanket.

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Make bed

A boy making the bed with a blue blanket.

A person making a bed with a blue blanket.

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Make bed

A person making a bed with a blue blanket.

A girl with long dark hair pulling a blue blanket up on a bed.

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Make bed

A girl with long dark hair pulling a blue blanket up on a bed.

A girl with curly dark hair pulling a blue blanket up on a bed with a red frame.

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Make bed

A girl with curly dark hair pulling a blue blanket up on a bed with a red frame.

A girl with short light hair pulls a blue blanket smooth across a wooden bed with a white pillow.

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Girl smoothing the blue blanket

A girl with short light hair pulls a blue blanket smooth across a wooden bed with a white pillow.

A woman smooths the blue duvet over the bed while the pillow sits at the headboard.

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Woman making the bed

A woman smooths the blue duvet over the bed while the pillow sits at the headboard.

Smooth the duvet

Two hands smooth a blue checked duvet on a bed.

Fold the duvet by the pillow

Two hands fold a blue duvet into place beside a white pillow.

Finish making the bed

Two hands smooth a blue cover on a bed with two white pillows.

About this visual support

Making the bed is physically clumsy in a way grown-ups easily forget. The duvet is often bigger than the body trying to throw it, the corners fold inward, and the pillows tilt sideways every time you think they are set. Add the feeling that it is all pointless, since the sheet will be rumpled again after one night, and motivation drops before a hand even touches the cover.

With a visual schedule, making the bed becomes more of a small build than a tidy-up task. Step one: duvet in place. Step two: pillow up. Step three: cover over. The child then knows exactly when the job is finished, which is half the issue when the result otherwise feels open-ended.

One concrete tip: mark one corner of the duvet with a small ribbon or knot. The child can then tell which corner belongs at the head end, and the duvet lands straight on the first try. In Routined you can place bed-making as a short morning step with its own picture order. The app has a 14-day free trial.