Our Summer Morning Basket ideas

We love it when you share!

Need some summer morning basket ideas? You’ve come to the right place! Join me as we explore what’s in our summer morning basket as we launch into this laid-back time of the year!

There is something sacred about summer mornings. The air is still, and the light filters in softly, inviting a gentler start to the day. While the traditional school year may be taking a restful pause, our homeschool morning basket is our summer anchor. It’s a quiet rhythm that keeps our days both restful and rooted. It’s the perfect addition to long, golden mornings and one of the best things about the homeschool world—there’s always a gentle way to begin again.

Do we stay consistent all summer with our morning basket? Nope! My goal is to get our morning basket routine in 2-3 times a week, but there will be many weeks where it will only happen once, or maybe not at all!

Each season brings with it a new mood, and summer’s call is one of slow sipping and cozy blankets on the couch, even when the sun rises earlier than we do. In our home, our summer morning basket reflects this shift—slightly lighter, a bit more playful, but no less meaningful. Whether you’re a morning person or not, this is a great way to begin your day with young children and older kids alike.

This page may contain affiliate links. To view my full affiliate link disclosure, click here. There are Amazon affiliate links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I make a small commission from Amazon links in this post. Find our privacy policy, terms of service, and more information about user data by visiting the links above.

What is a Morning Basket?

If you’re new to the idea, a homeschool morning basket is a collection of books, devotionals, hands-on activities, and quiet work that we gather around as a family, first thing in the morning. It’s not about checking boxes, but about gathering hearts. Our basket isn’t always literal—sometimes it’s a stack at the kitchen table or a spread on the living room rug. The beauty lies in the togetherness.

One of the best descriptions I’ve heard of a morning basket is a collection of things that allows your family to start the day with “beauty, goodness, and truth.” It’s normally placed in a basket, but it’s certainly not a requirement!

Rooted in the Charlotte Mason tradition and popularized by mentors like Pam Barnhill and Cindy Rollins, the morning basket helps families focus on truth, beauty, and goodness before the day’s busyness begins. It’s a great resource for making different subjects accessible across age ranges, from toddler morning basket activities to composer study and memory work for older children.

What is a Morning Menu?

One thing that I like to include in our morning basket time is our morning menus. I believe this is our third year utilizing these, and when I brought them out, my oldest two said, “I remember those, they are fun!”

A morning menu is a curated binder or menu-style presentation of age-appropriate activities and worksheets. You could also think of it as a mini morning basket. Just like with a morning basket, there is a huge variance of what can go into these. Ours includes name practice, letter practice, color practice, shape tracing, catechism study, classic book quotes, a weather journal, poems, and copywork. What’s nice about including these in a menu style is that the menu makes it dry-erase friendly.

Check out our brand new summer morning menu here!

It changes with the seasons, much like our basket itself. You could easily turn this into a themed morning basket menu or a mini-unit—perhaps a composer study, a bit of nature study, or even a taste of the United States through maps and fun facts. The goal is not to cover much time, but to gently feed the soul.

My Summer Morning Basket Ideas

This summer, our basket includes elements to refresh our morning basket routine while keeping it light and lovely for the entire family. Here’s what’s nestled inside:

1. Printable Name Plates

We use these Canva name plates to start our table time or circle time. The boys love seeing their names beautifully printed. It’s also a sweet, simple way to encourage letter recognition in younger children and give a sense of belonging to little kids just starting out in our homeschool curriculum.

I vary using dry-erase markers with a notebook and pencil. It honestly depends on if I feel like scrubbing the name plates clean or would rather avoid that!

I’ve included a Canva name plate template below for you to create your own. It’s entirely free with a Canva account. These designs were used with our Gather ‘Round Homeschool Reptile and Forest Animal units.

2. Math Addition Facts

From For the Love of Homeschooling, these colorful cards are a great addition to our summer morning basket. A gentle brush-up on math facts helps ease the transition when the school year begins again. These are quick and easy to review, even for younger kids.

We’re using these with my seven-year-old to help him memorize his addition facts. He’s slightly rebellious when it comes to learning math, so we’ve allowed him to go at a much slower pace this year!

3. Math Twine Game

I picked up this math twine review game at a homeschool

This hands-on activity has been one of our favorite things. The boys twist and turn the string to solve simple problems, and it’s such a fun way to get their brains working without them even noticing. Play counts as learning, too, after all.

4. Sensory Toys

Ideal for toddlers and preschool-aged children, these quiet toys allow younger children to participate without needing structured materials. The idea is just to keep those little hands busy so the older ones can listen to the chapter books or devotional readings that we are doing.

These noodles have been a fun addition to our summer morning basket! In the past, we’ve picked ours up from Target or Walmart, but I was just noticing today that Amazon has a plethora of amazing options as well!

5. How Great Is Our God Devotional Books

This devotional is a perfect addition to our summer mornings—short, thoughtful readings that spark conversation and wonder.

Currently, I have this devotional on the back burner because I want to get through Wonderful Ancient Psalms Ever New. We’ll see if we get to it this summer. It’s a really good one that we’ve done various devotionals from in the past.

6. Wonderful Ancient Psalms Ever New

This is the one I’m most looking forward to, and currently it’s the crux of our summer morning basket. Everything that Marty Mackowski writes is deep and profound, yet said in a way that speaks to children. This book is no different as it follows Oliver and his Grandfather as they explore the sacred Psalms.

As always, I encourage you to check out these books through New Growth Press, however, it is available on Amazon as well.

This children’s book retelling of the Psalms is a soft echo of poetry for the soul. I love reading it aloud while the boys draw or color. I anticipate that it will be the steady part of our morning basket time, as the boys complete their morning menus and other activities.

7. Nature Journals from The Good and the Beautiful

Of course, you can integrate nature study in many different ways, including in the morning menu activity. However, a couple of years ago, I grabbed these nature journals from the Good and the Beautiful. I didn’t realize that the age group was for 3rd-8th graders. I had assumed it said 3-8 year olds! My mistake! My stubbornness has not allowed me to deviate from the books, so we are slowly working our way through them a little at a time.

A great way to incorporate nature study is without too much planning. All you really need is a notebook and to step outside. However, if you are like me and like organized prompts, these nature journals could be the ticket, just make sure you read the correct age category!

9. The Daily Grace Coloring Books

These are a balm on slow mornings. With soft scriptural themes and thoughtful design, these coloring pages provide just the right amount of focus for quiet time. They’re also a great companion during our read-aloud time.

10. Our Math Books

I don’t require full lessons during summer, but a page or two from our regular curriculum keeps those math muscles warm. Just enough to keep older kids sharp without feeling like formal school.

Printable Summer Morning Basket Checklist

One thing that I haven’t mentioned yet is that there is actually a method to my madness in choosing the items in our morning basket. Although a morning basket dosen’t have any ‘hard rules’ that must be followed, I like to try to incorporate these categories into our baskets when we do them.

• Sensory/Gross Motor Activities
• Practical Life
• Music, Poetry, Language
• Character Development
• Science and Nature Books

If you’re like me, you appreciate a visual reminder of what’s in the basket, especially during summer, when new routines can drift easily. I’ve created a Printable Summer Morning Basket Checklist to keep you inspired and organized. It includes all the items mentioned here, plus space to jot down your own simple morning basket ideas. There are no rules—only rhythms.

Conclusion

As the sunlight stretches longer and the days slow down, our morning basket themes turn to joy, curiosity, and connection. Whether you’re steeped in the Charlotte Mason morning baskets tradition or just beginning your first year, these educational activities offer a gentle way to start the day, with your entire family gathered close.

Plus, remember, these are just my ideas and what’s working for my family at this moment. My guess is that we’ll switch up this basket many times throughout the summer. I love idea posts like these because they springboard my own ideas, so use this as a springboard to find your own ideas and rhythms.

Summer gives us the gift of margin. The main thing is not how much you cover, but how well you connect. In a world rushing ahead, these slow starts are revolutionary.

So grab a cozy blanket, pour your coffee, and meet me at the breakfast table tomorrow morning. Let’s make it beautiful, together.

Don’t Forget to Pin for Later!