Over forty of our FAVORITE morning time resources! Tried and true recommendations for adding truth, beauty, and goodness to your day!
This post is going to be short and sweet. A relief perhaps after yesterday’s post! (Did you see all the free Morning Time planning printables??!)
Many of the resources on this list were recommended to us by others we trust, and I want to pass along the same help to you. It can be daunting to know what to invest in when there are soooo many choices available. All of the resources on this list are ones that our family personally loves and uses regularly.
If you are looking for new ideas and books and tools for your Morning Time, then this list is for you! And, if you have any family favorites or resources you highly recommend, please share them in the comments! I love to add things to my Amazon cart!
The links below may also be affiliate links, meaning I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I appreciate your support of this site!
Favorite Morning Time Resources
Bible & Theology
- ESV Family Bible (Selected Bible passages that are not paraphrased or altered, with accompanying illustrations. GREAT for reading together as a family)
- The Oology (Basic, beautiful theology in terms kids can understand. Each “lesson” is short and the book is divided into easy to find categories)
- The Biggest Story (I just discovered this book, but it’s a new favorite. Ten chapters take you through the entire story of the Bible –the big picture– and the illustrations are gorgeous. We used it in our children’s Bible study at church this spring, too)
- Dangerous Journey (we love, love, love this book! It is a fabulous way to introduce Pilgrim’s Progress to children and we have read through it several times)
- Little Pilgrim’s Progress (this is on my to-read list this fall, but comes highly recommended from friends I trust)
- Big Thoughts for Little People
- God’s Wisdom for Little Boys (A proverb, a poem, and a sweet illustration on every page. We read and reread these often)
- God’s Wisdom for Little Girls (see above)
Read Alouds
Chapter Books:
First Read-Aloud Chapter Books
The post above is a great resource for finding read-alouds younger children can enjoy. The following are five more of our favorites. But it’s so hard to pick just five. If you have a favorite, please share it in the comments!
- Anne of Green Gables— the Kindle edition is free! (We are currently reading the original version again for the second time. We LOVE it and the more I read, the more I am convinced that it should be read aloud at least once in your life.)
- The Hobbit (So much fun to hear your kids imagining that they are dwarves in Mirkwood Forest.)
- Hatchet (Possible parental editing helpful.)
- Farmer Boy (I read aloud Farmer Boy and the whole family enjoyed it, including dad. But we are currently listening to the rest of the series on Audible. Cherry Jones is an amazing reader of the series.)
- Wingfeather Saga (This series is a little slow to start, but it is one of my personal favorites. I would recommend them for older children, about 8 and older).
Picture Books:
(There are, of course, too many that could be listed! Here are 5 we love to read over and over)
- Quick As a Cricket (loooove to have my kids act this one out)
- Animalia (the text is fun and the pictures are amazing)
- Make Way for Ducklings: Robert McCloskey Treasury (wonderful, classic stories in a hardback collection)
- James Herriot Treasury (another must-have collection/author in any family library)
- Seven Silly Eaters (thanks to Sarah Mackenzie for turning us on to this one. We love it and my kids ask for it over and over.)
Poetry:
- One Thousand Poems for Children (I have a copy printed in 1946. This is a reprint of the classic)
- Everything On It: Shel Silverstein (I enjoy anything by Silverstein. This is the collection we are currently enjoying)
- Poetry for Young People: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (We studied Longfellow in our co-op last year and this book was wonderful to go back to again and again. The Poetry for Young People series has several poets to select from. The Robert Louis Stevenson collection would also be a great starting point.)
Used book sales are also great places to find poetry books. I have added several through such sales over the years.
Learning Games
- Rangerland: National Parks (Picture Candy Land, but with national parks instead of lollipops and gumdrops. I found ours at REI.)
- Spot It (ABC, Numbers & Shapes, Sight Words, Camping) (These games are FUN, easy to play, and portable.)
- Into the Forest (A food chain/food web game.)
- Pattern block puzzles (and these for older students)
- Story Cubes (Roll the dice and tell a story.)
- Mad Libs (We all know how entertaining Mad Libs can be!)
- No-Stress Chess (This is what we use to teach our kids to play chess. Okay, it’s how I learned too. Now chess it a family favorite.)
- Connect 4 (It’s wooden. Need I say more? Even my 1-year-old loves it.)
- Ideas for printable learning games at Frugal Fun for Boys & Girls
Nature Study
- How to Keep A Nature Journal
- The Nature Connection (FULL of ideas of what to do once you get outside with your kids)
- Nature Anatomy
- Fun with Nature Series–Fun with Nature, More Fun with Nature, Birds Nests & Eggs, (very young child friendly with great pictures and information)
- DK Pocket guidebooks (We have the rocks & minerals, and insects books. They are perfect for taking along on a nature walk).
- Backyard Bird Flashcards (These are wonderful to look at and perfect for copying into nature journals)
- Jim Arnosky’s Crinkleroot Series (These are delightful and informative. We have Crinkleroot’s Guide to Walking in Wild Places and often read it before going on hikes).
Music
I use Amazon Music to find our classical music. There is a huge selection and the app is easy to use on my phone. Another perk of being a Prime Member.
Also check out…
[…] This time together in the morning is often referred to as “morning time” (for obvious reasons). It’s a great time to spend on things not typically covered in the “three r’s” of academics. A few options would be to read a poem a day, listen to classical music, read a picture book together, memorize a Bible verse or learn catechism type questions, do a nature study (which can be as simple as making observations out your window each day), and so on. You can find an entire post about our favorite morning time resources here. […]