Before the routine demands begin, 30 seconds of deliberate full-body shaking or wiggling. Physiologically activating and immediately funny. The child who is hunched and unresponsive is often just in a low-arousal state. The wiggle interrupts it with no conflict required.
How to do it
- 1"Before anything. Thirty seconds of wiggling. Go."
- 2Parent wiggles too. Full commitment. No half measures — the child is watching.
- 3Count to 30 together or set a timer.
- 4At 30: "Done. Body is awake. Let's go."
Variations
- Arms crossed, refuses to wiggle: don't cajole — keep going solo, bigger and sillier each second. A child watching a fully committed adult wiggle almost always cracks before 15 seconds.
- Freeze into a goofy statue pose on the last count instead of just stopping — "Statue! Done, body's awake" — the freeze is the natural full stop, not an announcement that the game's over.
💡 Parent tip
You have to wiggle too. Standing still while asking the child to wiggle is a performance command, not a shared activity.
What your child develops
- Physiological activation — movement raises cortisol and core temperature, natural wake signals
- Mood shift through laughter — absurdity interrupts sullen morning states more reliably than instruction
- Shared start — doing it together builds goodwill before harder asks come
Safety notes
- Clear space before starting.
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