Before you read about the design, run through this quick checklist. If you tick three or more, a family organiser calendar will make your house calmer.
Does Your Family Need an Organiser? A Quick Checklist
- Someone has turned up to the wrong practice, at the wrong time, in the last month.
- You keep asking Who is picking up whom on Wednesday?
- Appointments live in three different phones and one paper diary.
- The children never know what is happening this weekend.
- You forgot bin day, a dentist visit, or a school closure recently.
- Grandparents or a babysitter need to know the plan too.
A shared calendar on the kitchen wall fixes most of these, because everyone sees the same plan at breakfast.
The Organiser at a Glance
The template is US Letter landscape, 11 x 8.5 inches. A dark slate header strip across the top carries the family name, THE PARKER FAMILY, in white Fredoka One, with family organiser written in mustard Kalam handwriting on the right. Replace Parker with your own family name, and it immediately feels like yours.
The left two-thirds hold the month calendar in its Task Calendar style. The title row is warm mustard (January 2027), the weekday row is pale sand, and every date square has room for a typed note. The sample includes everyday family events: Mia: piano 4 pm on the 6th, Leo: football 10 am on the 9th, Dentist 3 pm on the 14th, No school on the 18th, Pizza night on the 22nd, Bins out on the 26th, and Grandma visits on the 29th.
The right column starts with WHO IS WHO, a small table that lists each family member, their colour, and their regular activities: Mom (blue, yoga on Tuesdays), Dad (green, late on Wednesdays), Mia (pink, piano on Wednesdays), and Leo (orange, football on Saturdays). Below it, a THIS MONTH WE ARE… section has three prompts with writing lines: Looking forward to, Saving for, and Trying something new. A little potted plant and the OTO logo finish the column.
Typing Events into the Dates
The calendar is the editor’s built-in Calendar in Task Calendar style. Select it and open Calendar Options, and you will see a list of the month’s dates, each with a note field (Add a note/task…). Type an event, and it appears inside the date square. Delete the sample notes, add your own, and print. The notes stay attached to their dates, so if you switch to February, you get a fresh month to fill.
The Colour Key Makes It Work
A shared calendar can turn into a mess of scribbles. The Who Is Who table prevents that: each person gets a colour, and every entry for that person is written or highlighted in their colour. Children learn to look for their own colour first. The table is the editor’s Table object, so click a cell to change names and colours, or use the Table options to add rows for more family members, a nanny, or a pet’s vet appointments.
A Sunday Evening Routine
- After dinner on Sunday, gather everyone in front of the calendar for five minutes.
- Each person reads out their plans for the week.
- Add anything missing: birthday parties, forms to sign, packed-lunch days.
- Agree who drives whom, and write the driver’s initial next to each activity.
- Check the weekend: plans, free time, chores.
This short routine prevents most last-minute panics and gives children a sense of control over their week.
Using the Monthly Prompts
The THIS MONTH WE ARE… prompts are a gentle way to make the calendar about more than logistics. Looking forward to might be a birthday, a trip, or the first snow. Saving for might be a bike, a holiday, or a new game console, which teaches children about planning and patience. Trying something new encourages a monthly family adventure, such as a new recipe, a new park, or a new sport. Write the answers together at the start of each month.
Giving Kids Their Own Colour and Job
Children are far more likely to follow a calendar they helped create. Let each child choose their colour for the Who Is Who table, and give them the job of adding their own activities with a coloured pen or sticker. Younger children can draw a small picture next to their events: a ball for football, a music note for piano. Older children can be responsible for checking the calendar each evening and packing what they need for the next day, which is a great step towards independence.
Where to Put the Organiser
- On the fridge, with strong magnets.
- On a kitchen noticeboard next to the school letters.
- Inside the front door, where everyone passes on the way out.
- In a clear plastic sleeve on a clipboard hook.
Changing Month, Colours and Names
To move to the next month, open Calendar Options and choose it; the dates update and the title changes. You can start the week on Monday, change the calendar colours or the font. The header strip, title, and handwriting line are ordinary shapes and text, so rename the family, recolour the header, or swap the plant for another icon. Fonts are Fredoka One, Kalam, and Nunito, all Google Fonts.
Printing for the Kitchen Wall
Download the PDF and print in landscape on letter paper or light card. If you prefer handwriting, delete the sample notes before printing and fill in the squares with coloured pens. Print a new page at the start of each month, and keep old months in a folder; they become a surprisingly sweet record of family life.
Family Organiser Questions
Can I add more family members?
Yes. Add rows to the Who Is Who table with the Table options.
Will long notes fit in a date square?
Short notes work best. Keep each to two or three words plus a time.
Can I use it for a shared household or flat?
Yes. Rename the header and use the table for housemates and chores.
Type in your family name, add this month’s plans, and stick it on the fridge. Calm mornings start with one shared page.
