10 Best DIY Calendar Ideas To Make With Kids

Have you ever thought about making your own calendar?

We have gathered up some great homemade calendar ideas that will not only look amazing on your wall, but also make great gifts. Family members especially will appreciate going into the new year with a thoughtful photo calendar, or maybe a calendar made up of the kids' artwork from throughout the previous year.

So if you are wondering how to make your own photo calendar, or just looking for some calendar making ideas to go into the new year feeling super organised, we have some great calendar craft ideas for you.

For some more handy craft ideas, take a look at our ideas for making fantastic DIY chore charts or trying out paper marbling.

1.Personalised Photo Calendar

A personalised family calendar would make the perfect DIY gift. When the year is over, you can easily untie the string, recycle the calendar pages and keep the lovely photographs.

Ages: 4+ (with help!)

Materials: 12 photographs, coloured card, decorative string or twine, hole punch, glue or double sided tape, ruler and scissors.

Method:

1.Cut your card to fit the photos, leave around a 2.5cm border. Cut out 25 pieces of card, the two extra are for a front and back cover. Stick a photograph onto 12 of these pieces.

2.Add the calendar page to 12 more of the cardboard pages, there are plenty of printable calendars in all sizes available online, or you could draw out your own with a ruler and pencil.

3.Use a hole punch to make the holes for the string at the bottom of the photo page, and the top of the calendar page so they can be joined together. Stack up your calendar pages in order and thread the twine through the holes.

2.Rainbow Paint Chip Dry Erase Calendar

This DIY  dry erase calendar is a great way to use up any strips of paint samples you may have leftover from decorating, little ones will love arranging the bright colours and helping to stick them down.

Ages: 4+ (with help!)

Materials: A photo frame (51x41cm works well, Perspex is best for added safety), a dry erase marker, paint sample 'chips' in lots of colours, you will need 35 little rectangles total, scissors, glue stick or double sided tape.

Method:

1.Organise your paint chips into piles of five, grouping by shade, a gradient of different colours looks great for this calendar. Cut each piece into a 5x6cm rectangle.

2.Remove the backing paper from the frame and flip it over so you have a plain background, and arrange the paint chips into five rows of seven. Once you are happy with the arrangement you can stick the cards onto the background.

3.Now you can put your sheet back into the frame and put the frame back together. Use the dry erase marker to write the month at the top and fill in the dates. At the end of the month simply wipe the board clean and start again.

3.Parcel Tag Desk Calendar

This DIY desk calendar is super simple to make and looks great.

Ages: 6+ (with help!)

Materials: A box style photo frame (A5 or 14.8x21cm), 3 small screw-in hooks, 22 large paper or card parcel tags, collage materials or fun stickers, a nice pen for lettering.

Method:

1.It is best to do this first part before the kids join in as it is quite fiddly. Measure three equal distances along the inside top part of the frame, mark with a pencil, and screw the hooks in here, you could also screw them into the back of the frame if it is sturdy enough.

2.Take 12 of your parcel tags and write the month on them, you could do some fancy handwriting, get the kids to practise some writing, or use stick-on letters. You can also decorate each month with stickers or drawings.

3.Mark four of the parcel tags with numbers 0-3, and the remaining tags with 1-9. Hang your tags onto the hooks starting with the 0-3 tags, then the 1-9's and finally the months, and your desk calendar is ready to go.

4.Chalkboard Calendar

If you are really committed to this DIY, you could use chalkboard paint to add your calendar directly to the wall!

Ages: 3+ to draw all over it, 10+ to make it from scratch.

Materials: A large chalkboard, or chalkboard paint and a plain wall, good quality chalk or chalk pens, a ruler, washi tape or similar (optional).

Method:

1.Leaving a space of about 10cm all around the edge of the chalkboard, use your ruler (the bigger the better) and a chalk pen, to draw a rectangle 71x51cm.

Next measure across the rectangle and make a mark every 10cm, you should have a row of seven across the bottom, and five down the side, connect all the marks to create a grid of 35 boxes.

2.On the outside of the grid, either write or initial the days of the week all along the top row of boxes, along the bottom underneath the grid you can write the month, and fill in each box with the date, and you're done.

5.Giant Wall Calendar

Kids will love getting to stick the post it notes on this giant calendar, and ripping them off at the end of the month!

Ages: 5+ (with help)

Materials: Washi tape, number stickers, post it notes in lots of shapes and sizes, a large ruler, scissors.

Method:

1.Choose a big open space on your wall, somewhere easily reachable for all the heights in the household. Using the same method as the 'chalkboard calendar' above, create a rectangle 71x51cm, marking the corners with a pencil. Use your washi tape to join the corners, then mark at 10cm intervals, this should create a 5x7 grid.

2.Now that you have the large grid, you can use the stick-on numbers to mark the dates. Place the post it notes nearby with a selection of pens, then whenever something comes up or you want to jot down a quick reminder, you can write it up and stick it on.

6.Kids Artwork Calendar

Do you have a stash of your kids' paintings and drawings from throughout the year? Why not use them to create a DIY calendar for the year ahead.

Ages: 3+

Materials: Kids artwork collection, card in various colours, glue stick or double sided tape, hole punch, ribbon.

Method:

1.If you can bear to, start by trimming all of the artwork to fit onto an A4 sheet of card, leaving a border around the edge of about 2cm.

2.Stick all of the artwork onto separate pieces of card, and put to one side. To make the calendar pages, you could use print outs for each month or draw your own, using the 5x7 grid method to create 35 boxes.

3.Hole punch two holes in the top of the calendar pages and two in the bottom of the artwork pages, join using the ribbon and you are finished!

7.Clothes Peg Calendar

This is a super simple weekly DIY calendar, a great way to record to-do lists and help the kids plan their week.

Ages: 5+

Materials: Twine, clothes pins, paint, card, Sharpie.

Method:

1.Start by painting your clothes pins, once they are dry you can write the days of the week on them using the Sharpie.

2.Hang your twine up on the wall with a slight dip in the middle- much like a clothes line! Simply peg your clothes pins onto the 'line' and use them to hold the to-do list or activity list for each day.

8.Hand Print Calendar

This has got to be one of the cutest DIY calendar ideas on this list, you will want to keep the pages long after the year has ended.

Ages: 3+

Materials: Paper and card, paint, paintbrushes, craft materials (glitter and stickers!), felt pens, scissors, glue stick, hole punch, ribbon, printed or homemade calendar pages.

Method:

1.Choose your theme for each month, you could go with holidays and celebrations- Christmas tree or menorah for December, fireworks to celebrate the new year, love hearts for February, or perhaps go seasonal with snowflakes and spring flowers. Load up some plates with various colours of paint and glitter, and let the kids get stuck in.

2.If you prefer a neater look, you could cut the hand print images out, and stick them onto a fresh piece of card, once all 12 pages are dry, you can join them to the calendar pages using the hole punch and the ribbon.

9.Days And Months Velcro Calendar

This DIY calendar is super easy, kids will love the interactive aspect of the Velcro too.

Ages: 3+

Materials: Card, felt tips or colouring pencils, scissors, ruler, stickers, strips or circles of Velcro, double sided tape.

Method:

1.Draw out seven rectangles down one side of your card, and then a grid of 12 squares. This is the main background of your calendar so feel free to add stickers and let the kids colour it in themselves with crayons and paint too.

2.On a separate piece of card, draw out exactly the same shapes, but fill these shapes in with the days of the week and the months of the year, make them easy to read with clear lettering- you could also do this on the computer.

3.If you have a laminator, this is a great way to make this DIY calendar a little more durable, laminate both pages at this stage. Cut out the day and month pieces and stick one side of the Velcro to each piece, stick the opposite piece on the shapes on the other piece of paper.

10.Paper Plate Calendar Wheel

Ages:3+

Materials: 3 paper plates, card in 4 different colours, a split pin, black Sharpie, scissors, glue stick or double sided tape.

Method:

1.Trim two of your paper plates, so they all fit neatly together, they should measure roughly 23cm, 16cm and 11cm.

2.Using a different coloured piece of card for each, write out the dates, days and months and cut out so you have small rectangles that can fit around the edge of the plates. Cut an arrow shape out of a piece of card too, long enough to reach the edge of the large plate, from the middle.

3.Stick the dates around the edge of the largest plate (up to 31), the months around the middle plate and the days of the week around the smallest plate.

4.(Adult only instruction!) Make a hole through all three plates and the arrow, and carefully join all four pieces with the split pin, secure by opening the pin on the back of the large plate.

5.Test to make sure all the plates can spin and you are done!

What materials do we need to make a DIY calendar with kids?

To make a DIY calendar, you'll need basic supplies such as paper or cardstock for the calendar pages, markers or crayons for decoration, glue, scissors, and a ruler. You may also want to use stickers, photos, or other craft materials for personalization. If you plan to hang the calendar, consider using a hole punch and some ribbon or string.

What are some creative themes we can use for our DIY calendar?

Choose themes that spark interest in your children, such as seasons, holidays, animals, outer space, or favorite cartoons. Each month can have a different theme, or the whole calendar can follow one cohesive theme. This allows for educational opportunities, such as discussing the characteristics of each season or learning about various animals.

How can we make our DIY calendar educational for kids?

Incorporate educational elements by including fun facts related to each month’s theme, labeling important dates with historical significance, or using the calendar creation process to teach concepts of time and date organization. You can also practice numbers and counting by having kids label the days and dates.

What are some practical uses for our DIY calendar beyond just tracking dates?

Use your DIY calendar to help children learn about planning and responsibility by marking school events, family outings, or chores. It can also serve as a way to countdown to special occasions, track progress on personal goals like reading or exercising, or even monitor weather patterns as a mini scientific project.