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Monday, November 2, 2015

Mommy Monday: magnetic calendar for preschoolers DIY

My girls started preschool in September, and they have been loving it! One of the big changes I have seen is that they are more aware of approaching holidays and other events now. In the past, I never talked to them about anything more than a week in advance (except during Advent), and usually no more than a day in advance, to avoid the constant questions thereafter of "is it today?". Now that they are able to understand the passing of time better and look ahead to events farther in the future, I have updated their magnetic calendar and chore chart to include a monthly calendar!


I have had the weekly calendar, which has the main things they will do that day- when they eat and sleep, go on outings, go to school, to to Dad's house etc- shown with pictures and icons, and the chore chart, with pictures for some of the basic chores they each do, on this magnet board for about 2 years now, and it has been fantastic. One of my daughters has a very difficult time adjusting to unexpected events, so being able to anticipate what will happen that day has made a huge difference for her especially. If you want to read more about how I made it and how we use it, you can catch up on my previous blog post from many moons ago by clicking on the picture below:


The space below the chore chart, though, has been morphing to meet the girls' changing needs as they get older. Most recently, I had a simple visual showing the routine things that the girls needed to do each morning and night to help them remember their new routines as we started school. You can read about that, and download the visual I used for free, in this post:


But enough backstory... so my latest update! 

I took down the morning/night routines visual because the girls know what to do now and have not been referring to it for a few weeks. In its place, I put up a monthly calendar:


I printed out the current month from my blank 2015 calendar, which you can download for free here and will be updated for 2016 very soon. I used some of the same supplies I use to decorate my own monthly calendars in my planner to decorate theirs, and just put in the big picture events that I thought would be helpful for them to look ahead to: days when they don't have school, holidays (Thanksgiving, in this case, which is a 2-day celebration for them since they will have one with each parent), and yep, moving to their new house (more on that another day...)! I stuck the calendar onto the magnet board with a little double-sided tape and used another one of the magnets I had on hand (the same kind I have to track the current day on the weekly calendar) to track the current day.

I have a lot of fun ideas for ways to make each month's calendar fun and helpful for the girls- I might keep printing the blank calendars and have them decorate it themselves with their own stickers, or I might add in some icons or clip art to the holidays and other big days before printing- but I wanted to have something set up for the beginning of the new month to get them used to using it so this was the best way to get started. I also decided to write out the days rather than use pictures because they are starting to sound out letters and I thought this would be a great way to get them to recognize some new words. I color-coded each item (so all the "no school" days are in green, etc) to help them remember what the words say.

I'm possibly a little too excited by this simple monthly calendar. I think it's because it is a sign that the girls are growing up! Thinking back on how their calendar has evolved over the last few years is making me nostalgic and proud. What are some things that have made you realize how much your kids have grown recently? I'd love to hear them in the comments below :)

8 comments :

  1. I am a bit of an organising junkie. I plan everything in my own planner and always like to know what's going on. Which is all great other than the fact that my hubby never had a clue! Maybe one of these could help our family out so everyone knows what's going on other than just me. I am inspired! Thanks :) #twinklytuesday

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    1. I plan everything in my own planner as well! It's a little ridiculous how much as replicate the same information in different places but each thing has its own purpose and I do think it really helps my girls to have their own visual calendar so they have a bit more sense of control over their lives instead of feeling like they are getting pulled around every which a way with no clue what is going on. I also have the basic schedule for the week in my command center: http://caldwellorganizedchaos.blogspot.com/2014/08/mommy-monday-command-center.html And I've done something similar in different formats, basically a dry erase weekly calendar, for other people: http://caldwellorganizedchaos.blogspot.com/2014/09/mommy-monday-dry-erase-organizers-and.html If your kids are older something like those may work for your family. Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. That is so organised!! You really are putting me to shame here! xx #TwinklyTuesday

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    1. Thank you for the lovely comment! I definitely still forget things, lose things, mix things up all the time but it does make me feel better having as much of my life organized as I can!

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  3. I like this! It's a great way to keep schedules organized in a very fun way that will teach kids at the same time. :) #twinklytuesday

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    1. I know a lot of elementary homeroom teachers have a visual calendar in their classroom to show their class schedule too. I think it helps children so much when they can anticipate what is coming next instead of always being on edge.

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  4. I'm a terrible organiser at home - I think it's because I have to do it for my job five days a week haha! This looks fab though. I've been thinking about getting Zach a calender with those weather sections on because he too now understands time and is obsessed with the weather and time of year! Thanks for linking up with #TwinklyTuesday

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    1. There are some super cute visual calendars out there for toddlers and preschoolers that I've seen- I bet he would love it! Thanks for the comment!

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