Holiday mornings
Without the school bell, holiday mornings blur together: no set wake-up, no fixed breakfast time, nothing to mark when the day actually starts. The visual support below gives a free morning a few anchors to wake into.
♂Watching TV in pajamas
A boy in striped pajamas sits with a remote and a warm drink in front of a television next to a pile of wrapped gifts.
Holiday breakfast with pancakes
A plate of pancakes topped with a strawberry next to a steaming mug and a wrapped present.
Festive breakfast
A red mug of hot drink beside pancakes, a sprig of evergreen and a wrapped gift.
About this visual support
The strange thing about a holiday morning is how loose it feels. No alarms, no bus to catch, no lesson at eight. For an adult that is a relief, but for a child who leans on times, the missing anchors can leave the whole stretch hazy: when does the day begin, and what is supposed to happen first anyway?
Visual support can give a free morning a soft structure without turning it into a school day. Show a calm waking-up card, then breakfast, then a first open choice, so the hours gain a couple of points to hang on to even when nothing outside is steering.
Let the child pick the order of the free parts within that frame, say whether play or getting dressed comes before or after breakfast, so the feeling of leisure stays while the morning still gains direction. The pictures can be downloaded and printed for the whole break. To avoid putting up fresh notes every day, try Routined free for fourteen days.