The Family Calendar: a fun family project

Last November I shared the new family calendar that I was planning on using with my daughters, and how I wanted to use it. Although I still love the ideas that I had at the time, in reality I wasn't able to keep up with it like I wanted (I had planned to print photos from the month and use it as a scrapbook- I just haven't been able to keep up with printing pictures to use etc). Instead, the blank calendar that I made for that purpose has become a monthly family activity that is not only fun but helps the girls anticipate the upcoming events in their lives. Read on to see how easy and fun a family calendar can be (and there's a free download link if you want to make your own blank calendar to use this way)!

As many of you know, I am a planner girl. My planner not only allows me to maintain sanity as an elementary music teacher, single mom, co-parent, and blogger/entrepreneur, but it also is my hobby. I have always loved scrapbooking since I was little and I love using colorful (albeit cheap and still mainly functional) craft supplies to decorate my planner (you can see some examples in my "plan with me" videos on my YouTube channel). 

Although I tend to save my planner time for when I have the house to myself, the girls have figured out that it is something I love to do. One day it occurred to me that it would be fun to do something like I do with my planner together as a family project, so I let the girls pick out some washi tape, stickers, and pens from my craft supplies and we decorated the page together, labeling all of the events that applied to their lives like birthdays, field trips, and other family and school events.

I've been so happy with the results! It is so much fun for me to share my hobby with my daughters, and I love seeing my little mini planner girls choosing coordinating items from my stash and deciding where things should go. 

Besides being a great opportunity for family bonding, the calendar is very helpful for the girls to see when things are coming up now that they have a better sense of time (they're now 4.5 years old), especially for one of my daughters who struggles with transitions and thrives on structure. And, as it turns out, it is still going to (sortof) serve the purpose I intended as a way of memory keeping- the pictures they draw and the stickers they use will be so much fun to look back on as the years go by!

This is a great way to combine quality time with the whole family, monthly family meetings to go over the upcoming month's events, and art projects all rolled into one. Have you ever considered something like this for your family? There are so many benefits to this project that I had to share! If you want to make your own, you can download a free copy of the same blank calendar I use here- I'll be updating the calendar for free each year so if you want to make one for next calendar year, you can re-download towards the end of the year.

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