Teach Your Kids Organizational Skills With a Fun Planner

Here's how this handy tool helped one mom show her daughter how to plan (and celebrate!) each day.

By Ashley Austrew
Dec 16, 2019

Ages

8-13

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skynesher/istock.com

Dec 16, 2019

As adults, it feels like we are always looking for ways to get organized, focus on gratitude, and create more order in our busy lives (especially around January 1!). But how do we help translate those important skills to our kids? With a busy 7-year-old daughter, this topic has certainly been on my mind.

In a typical week, my daughter’s schedule is packed with soccer practice and at least one game, nightly homework, and a handful of fun in-school and after-school activities. Given her age, she’s ready to start learning about responsibility and taking ownership over small tasks, like making sure her homework is done and her soccer uniform makes it to the laundry room. At the same time, I want to introduce these concepts in a way that’s kid-friendly and makes her excited about her new routines.

Enter the Klutz: Best. Year. Ever planner: a customizable yearly planner and gratitude journal that’s full of fun activities for kids. It comes with blank monthly and weekly calendar pages, journal and game pages, 270 stickers, a cute emoji pen, and over 100 sticky notes with prompts to get kids inspired, like “Today’s act of kindness: _____” and “Smiling because: ____.”

At 7, my daughter isn’t fully ready to run her own show, but the planner has inspired her to take small steps towards being organized and managing her own schedule. She jots down which days she visits the library at school so she can remember to return her books, and she writes down what times her soccer games are and birthday reminders for family and friends. She even asked for an alarm clock so she can start waking herself up for her scheduled games on Saturdays.

The planner makes organization seem fun and positive, and she’s already asked me if she can get another one once she’s used this one up completely. 

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The planner, which my editors at Scholastic sent to me to check out, is centered around celebrating yourself and the good things in your life. Before kids even get to the actual calendar, the planner asks them to write a letter to their future selves. The letter is supposed to include five great things that are happening in their lives right now, as well as five special things they want to accomplish over the following year.
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Another great thing about this planner is that it doesn’t come with any of the dates or months preset. The year begins whenever kids get their planner, and they can use the included stickers with the names of each month to set up their calendars. It even includes some fun made-up days, like Banana Phone Call Day. My daughter used this sticker on the first of the month, and we had fun that morning pretending to call each other on bananas while we packed lunch for school.

The pages also include inspirational quotes from big names, like Tina Fey and Oscar Wilde. At the end of the year, kids can wrap it all up by writing a letter to their past selves, and then list some things they want to accomplish as they head into the next year.

This planner is really an exercise in creativity and forward-thinking. It’s a great companion for the new year that will help kids feel positive and excited about each new week. I’m always trying to teach my daughter to get out there and make each day count, and this planner reinforces that message with joy, positivity, and inspiring messages. Organization and responsibility are life skills that can be tough even for adults to master, so as a mom, I’m appreciative of the way this planner has helped in introducing those skills in a fun way.

After all, it isn’t just about keeping track of the days — it’s about making the most of them. 

Get ready for your child to go back to school with our guide — it's full of recommended books, teacher tips, homework help, and more resources for a successful school year. For more book and reading ideas, sign up for our Scholastic Parents newsletter.

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