We live in a digital age with online calendars and great alert systems. But, if you have a family with young kids, posting a physical calendar for everyone to reference can be beneficial. There’s no need to search for your phone(s); everyone can glance at it quickly to stay in the loop. Here are some of my quick tips on maintaining a family calendar.

1. Pick a big, bold family calendar.

There are lots of calendars on the market. But for a busy family, choose one with large boxes and lots of space to write daily activities. I like this Monster Grid calendar from Calendar Club (a Canadian company). Its poster-size pages have spaces so you can write legibly on each day. Alternatively, choose a 30/60-day dry-erase calendar.

2. Hang it in a location so everyone can see it.

I recommend hanging the family calendar in the kitchen, but an entryway, hallway or dining room (where children do homework) might be a better location in your home. Place the calendar low enough so kids can read it and older children can write their activities on it. Consider attaching your family calendar to a bulletin board or magnet board so you can attach other important items around it. If you don’t have wall space, attach it to your fridge with magnetic hooks.

Also, store pencils, markers, and stickers nearby so you don’t need to search for them. In fact, you might want to tie a string on a pen and attach it to the calendar. (Just a suggestion.)

3. Establish a system for your family calendar.

Ideally, work with family members to establish a system for your calendar. For example, you could assign a different colour to each person so that people can quickly see who has an event on each day. You could also find (or make) colour-coded icon stickers, such as a green hockey jersey for Kelly’s practices/games and a red one for Alex’s practices/games.

Additionally, it can be helpful for older children to know when their parents/caretakers are and are not available so include their events and appointments on the family calendar too.

Next, designate a daily check-in to ensure everyone updates the calendar. For some families, a discussion over dinner works well. Other families take a few minutes before bedtime to update the calendar and review the next day’s events.

A family calendar is great for keeping a busy family organized – no Internet necessary!

Check out our Out of Chaos YouTube segment to see how it’s done!