How I Used Cute Hand Drawn Animal Illustrations To Make A Toddler Routine Chart That Actually Works

By Mădălina Vaida•Updated December 25, 2025•8 min read

Soft hand-drawn animal illustrations that turn a toddler routine chart into a calm, happy morning.

Hi, I am Mădălina, the mom behind BytesOfUs, and this is your tiny byte of cozy inspiration for today.

If your mornings look anything like ours, you probably know the drill: tiny socks everywhere, toothbrush negotiations, and someone hiding under the table when it is time to put on pants.

I tried reward charts, timers, gentle speeches. Nothing really stuck.

What finally helped was something much simpler: a visual routine chart made with cute hand drawn animal illustrations. A sleepy bear, a serious little mouse, a bunny with a carrot, a hedgehog with a pinecone, a deer with a scarf. Suddenly my toddler was not "getting dressed". He was "doing the bear step".

Visual schedules are actually a big thing in child psychology. They help kids feel more secure, reduce power struggles, and give them a sense of control over their day because they can see what is happening next.

If you want the deeper why, these are genuinely helpful reads on visual supports and timetables: Autism Speaks (visual supports toolkit) , an NHS visual timetable handout , and Child Mind Institute on routines .

So today I will walk you through how I created our routine chart with Midjourney and my cute hand drawn animal illustrations, and how you can do the same for your own family.

Tiny DIY recipe (what we’re doing today):

Create a small cast of matching animals in Midjourney (same style, different props).
Drop them into a clean Canva layout with labels + checkboxes.
Print, laminate, and make it interactive (stickers or a clip).

The day the bear in a sweater became our morning boss

It started one very sleepy Monday.

My son refused to brush his teeth, and I refused to drink a fourth coffee. So I opened my laptop, pulled up Midjourney, and decided to turn our chaotic morning into a little animal story.

I picked five key steps for our toddler routine:

Wake up and cuddle
Brush teeth
Get dressed
Breakfast
Shoes on and out the door

Then I matched each step with one animal:

A cozy bear in an orange sweater for "wake up & cuddle"
A tiny mouse proudly holding a giant toothbrush for "brush teeth"
A bunny hugging a T-shirt for "get dressed"
A hedgehog serving berries for "breakfast"
A deer with a scarf and little backpack for "time to go"

The idea was simple: instead of me repeating the same instructions, he could follow the animals.

Part 1 - Create the animals in Midjourney (same style, tiny props)

Here is what the creative process looked like, step by step.

Midjourney screen with cute hand drawn animal characters for a toddler routine chart — Hand drawn animal characters made in Midjourney. See the full printable set in the BytesOfUs Etsy shop.

1. Writing the base Midjourney prompt

I started with one clear base style that I could reuse for all animals. Something like:

cute hand drawn animal illustration, soft watercolor texture, simple beige background, gentle linework, cozy children's book style

This base prompt gave me the overall look and feel for the "Cute Hand Drawn Animal Illustrations" theme.

For each character, I added a tiny story:

"small bear in an orange knitted sweater and scarf, standing and looking forward"
"round mouse with a big piece of cheese on his head"
"bunny holding a carrot with both paws"
"hedgehog holding a pinecone"
"deer with a checkered scarf, standing calmly"

Same style, different personalities.

2. Keeping the style consistent

To keep everything cohesive, I:

used the same background color family
reused similar warm browns and soft oranges
kept details simple, with clean outlines and minimal props

That way, when I put the characters together on one chart, it looked like a real collection, not a random collage.

Part 2 - Build the printable in Canva (labels + checkboxes)

Once I was happy with the illustrations, I:

exported them as PNGs with transparent background
opened Canva and created an A4 and US Letter page
placed each animal inside a small rounded rectangle with a short label like "Teeth", "Get dressed", "Breakfast"
added little checkboxes under each step so my son could "tick" with stickers or a whiteboard marker

Tiny helper tools (optional but so handy):

If you need quick transparent PNGs, a background remover can help: Free Background Remover.
If you're adding a phone photo and it won't upload (HEIC), convert it in-browser: FromHEICtoJPG.
If you want "Photoshop-style" layers without paying for software: Photopea.

I printed the chart on thicker paper, laminated it, and hung it right at his eye level next to the bathroom.

The next morning I just asked:

"Do you want to help the bear finish all his steps today?"

He walked to the chart, touched each animal, and started telling me what came next. Not magic, but surprisingly close.

Printable toddler morning routine charts with cute hand drawn animal illustrations — Routine chart printables ready for stickers and laminating. More in the BytesOfUs Etsy shop.

How you can create your own cute animal routine chart

You do not have to be a designer to do this. Here is a simple way to start:

Step 1: Choose your daily moments

Pick 5 to 8 steps that happen almost every day, for example:

wake up
potty or bathroom
brush teeth
breakfast
get dressed
pack bag
bedtime story
lights out

Step 2: Match each step with an animal

Think of animals that match the feeling of each task:

Bear for cozy moments and cuddles
Bunny for getting dressed or choosing clothes
Mouse for snack time
Hedgehog for tidy up time
Deer or fox for outdoor time

Kids remember "fox means outside" much faster than a wall of text.

Step 3: Create your animals with Midjourney

If you already play with Midjourney, you can:

start from one base prompt for your cute hand drawn animal illustrations
swap only the animal and prop: bear with toothbrush, bunny with pajamas, mouse holding a book
keep the color palette and background consistent

You will quickly get a whole cast of characters that belong in the same universe.

Step 4: Turn them into printables

Use Canva, Affinity, Procreate or your favorite design tool to:

place each animal in its own box
add short labels that your child can recognize
export as high resolution PDF for printing

You can even create:

a morning routine chart
an evening routine chart
a separate "weekend treats" chart with fun extras

Part 3 - Make it work in real life (stickers, clips, calm reminders)

A few things that made it work in real life:

We walk through the chart together once, before the rush starts.
After each step, my son adds a sticker or moves a little wooden clip under the next animal.
When we forget, the chart becomes a gentle reminder instead of a power struggle: "What does the bunny say we do after breakfast?"

Because the animals feel like little friends, he is more willing to cooperate. And for me, it turns a stressful sequence into a shared game.

Want to create these cute hand drawn animals yourself

If you read this and thought "I wish I could make my own bear, bunny or deer in this style", this is exactly why I put together a Cute Hand Drawn Animal Prompt Guide.

Inside you’ll find:

A repeatable base style recipe for this hand-drawn look
A simple “swap system” so you can change animal / prop / outfit without losing the style
A few ready-to-use examples (so you’re not starting from a blank page)
Quick guidance for turning characters into routine charts, chore charts, and reward boards
A short “20-minute nap-time” workflow for fast results

The idea is not to copy my characters, but to give you a recipe so you can invent your own: maybe a shy panda with a toothbrush or a determined little squirrel that reminds your kid to put on shoes.

If you are curious, you will find the prompt guide and the matching cute hand drawn animal illustrations inside the BytesOfUs shop.

Grab the prompt guide here

And if you do create your own routine chart, I would love to see it. Tag me or send a photo so we can celebrate your tiny everyday victory together.

With love,
Mădălina from BytesOfUs 💖

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