Bedtime Routine Chart for Kids (Free Printable)
A bedtime routine chart for kids works when it’s built backwards from lights-out, holds only the steps between dinner and the pillow, and includes the two or three “tomorrow” steps that make it a school-night chart: bag packed, clothes out, paper signed. Below are both versions, ready to print from this page. The picture chart is for kindergarten to second grade, and the checklist chart is for roughly ages 8 to 12. Slide yours into a dry-erase pocket, hang it where the evening actually happens, and run it with your child for two weeks before you expect it to run itself.
This is the third chart in the set. The morning routine chart gets everyone out the door, the after-school chart covers the landing, and this one closes the day.
Why the evening needs its own chart
The evening has the most steps of any part of the school day and the most tired people running them. A chart takes you out of the role of sequencer. You stop saying “teeth, pajamas, teeth,” and the wall holds the order. Your only line becomes “check your chart.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics’ back-to-school advice is the frame for everything on the chart: set a consistent bedtime and stick with it every night, create a consistent bedtime routine to help your child settle down, and turn off electronic devices well before bedtime. Its own example of a calming routine is a bath or shower, reading together, tucking in and saying goodnight. A chart just puts that sequence on the wall in the same order every night.
Build it backwards from lights-out
Start with the bedtime. Every step on the chart gets a time counted back from it, the same backwards build as the school-night routine. For a 7-year-old with an 8:15 lights-out, ours runs like this:
| Time | Step |
|---|---|
| 7:00 | Staging pass: bag packed, clothes out, papers signed |
| 7:15 | Screens off |
| 7:20 | Bath or shower |
| 7:40 | Pajamas, teeth, bathroom |
| 7:50 | Reading |
| 8:10 | Tuck-in and goodnight |
| 8:15 | Lights out |
Your times will be different. The order is what matters: tomorrow’s staging goes early, while everyone can still find a library book, and screens go off well before the bath, not at the bedroom door.
Version 1: the picture chart (kindergarten to 2nd grade)
Seven tiles, one simple drawing or photo per step, in fixed order. Print this list, then draw or paste a picture next to each line:
| ✓ | Step | Picture idea |
|---|---|---|
| ☐ | Backpack packed and by the door | A backpack |
| ☐ | Clothes out for tomorrow | Folded clothes |
| ☐ | Screens off | A tablet, face down |
| ☐ | Bath or shower | A bathtub |
| ☐ | Pajamas on | Pajamas |
| ☐ | Brush teeth | A toothbrush |
| ☐ | Book, then lights out | A book and a moon |
At this age the chart carries the order and the parent carries the clock. Don’t write times on it yet. A five-year-old who can’t read a clock will just read the times as a list of chances to be late.
Make one chart per child, even if the steps are the same. A shared chart belongs to nobody.
Version 2: the checklist chart (ages 8 to 12)
Same skeleton, written out, with a time next to each step and more of tomorrow on it. Older kids run more of their own staging, so their chart can carry it:
| ✓ | By | Step |
|---|---|---|
| ☐ | 7:30 | Homework in the folder, folder in the bag |
| ☐ | 7:30 | Any paper that needs a signature handed to a parent |
| ☐ | 7:30 | Tomorrow’s gear checked: library book, gym shoes, instrument |
| ☐ | 7:30 | Water bottle at the backpack station |
| ☐ | 7:45 | Screens off and on the charger, outside the bedroom |
| ☐ | 8:00 | Shower, pajamas, teeth |
| ☐ | 8:15 | Reading in bed |
| ☐ | 8:45 | Lights out |
The last line is printed bigger than the rest, the way the morning checklist prints “At the door, 7:40.” The steps lead to that line.
To reuse the chart every night without reprinting it, slide it into a sleeve like the C-Line reusable dry erase pockets and keep a marker on a string next to it. Wiping off last night’s checks is part of the routine.
Where to hang it
Hang it where the evening jams up, not where it looks nice:
- Bathroom door or mirror, if the stall is bath and teeth.
- Bedroom door, if the stall is pajamas and “one more thing.”
- The backpack station, if the stall is the staging pass. In that case, split the chart: the tomorrow steps go at the station and the bedtime steps go upstairs.
Siblings with different bedtimes get separate charts with their own times. Run them in the same order, so the house has one sequence and three clocks.
The two-week rule
- Week zero: make it together. Let your child choose the pictures and where it hangs.
- Weeks one and two: walk to the chart with them every night and say each step as you do it. Don’t test whether it works on its own yet.
- Week three: step back to “check your chart,” said once.
- When it stops working: look for a missing input before you add a reward. Usually it’s no clean pajamas, a library book nobody can find at 7:30, or homework still running at 8:00. Fix the input and the chart works again.
Once a child runs the sequence on their own for a month, take the chart down and let the bedtime itself hold it. The chart was there to teach the order, not to stay on the wall forever.
FAQ: bedtime routine charts
What should a bedtime routine chart for kids include?
Only the steps between dinner and lights-out, in order: tomorrow’s staging (bag, clothes, signed papers), screens off, bath or shower, pajamas and teeth, reading, lights out. Chores belong on a different chart.
What age is a bedtime chart good for?
A picture chart works once a child can follow a short sequence. This one is written for kindergarten up. The checklist version usually lasts until the child does the whole sequence on their own, which is when the chart comes down.
Should the chart have times on it?
For readers who can tell time, yes, written as “by 7:45” next to each step, with lights-out printed largest. For younger children, keep times off the chart and keep the clock yourself.
Is this printable free?
Yes. Both charts are on this page. Print the page and add your own times and pictures.
