What’s the difference between a family planner and a family calendar?

A family calendar is often a month grid with one box per day. A family planner gives each person their own column, so everyone has their own space every day.

How many people fit on a family planner?

On ours, up to five names on the A3 and three on the slim, plus a shared column. If there are more of you, two can share a column, such as “Kids”.

Where should a family planner hang?

Where everyone passes every day, usually the kitchen, at a height the kids can read.

Is an app better than a paper family planner?

An app is better for reminders; a planner on the wall is better for the overview, because everyone sees it without opening anything. Many families use both.

Does it have to start in January?

Ours runs for twelve months from the month you choose, so it can start in January, with the school year or right away.

Family planner: how to organise the whole family’s week on one wall

Updated 3 October 2026

Family planner, family calendar or app?

A month-grid calendar: one box per day. Fine for a couple or a small family, but the box fills up fast once three or four people write in it.
A family planner: every day on its own row and a column per person. Read across for the day, down for one person’s month, and nobody writes over anybody else.
A shared app: good for reminders and changes on the go, but only the people who open it see it. Plenty of families use an app for times and a planner on the wall for the overview.

What to put on it

Everyone’s regular activities: sport, training, music lessons, swimming, part-time shifts.
School dates: the start and end of each term, pupil-free or teacher-only days, trips, sports days and parent-teacher interviews.
Who drops off and picks up, when it isn’t the usual.
Appointments: doctor, dentist, the car’s service.
Birthdays across the family, with how old each person turns, so cards and presents are sorted in time.
Jobs that come round every week: bin night, mowing the lawns, pocket money.

Setting it up so everyone uses it

Hang it in the kitchen or wherever everyone passes every day, low enough for the kids to read.
Give each person a column, and keep one shared column for things that involve everyone: holidays, visitors, birthdays in the wider family.
Keep a pen right next to it, so new things go on straight away.
Spend five minutes every Sunday evening going through the week ahead together.
Let the kids fill in their own column. They read it more when it’s theirs.

A planner only works if it’s the one place. Two calendars that need to be kept in sync soon become one nobody trusts.

How big should it be?

Each person needs a column wide enough for a few words every day. A slim planner, about 15 cm wide and 40 cm tall, is enough for two or three people; for four or five, go up to A3. If you’d rather carry the family’s week with you, a weekly diary with a column per person does the same job in a bag.

How our family calendar does it

Our family calendar is a family planner for the wall: a row for every day, a column for each person and first a shared column for the whole family, which you can rename or leave out. Birthdays are printed in the right person’s column with the age they turn, and the public holidays sit next to the day. It comes slim (14.8 × 40 cm, up to three names) or A3 (up to five), with the month’s artwork or your own photo across the top, or without a picture so the rows are taller. It runs for twelve months from whichever month you choose.

Questions

What’s the difference between a family planner and a family calendar?: A family calendar is often a month grid with one box per day. A family planner gives each person their own column, so everyone has their own space every day.
How many people fit on a family planner?: On ours, up to five names on the A3 and three on the slim, plus a shared column. If there are more of you, two can share a column, such as “Kids”.
Where should a family planner hang?: Where everyone passes every day, usually the kitchen, at a height the kids can read.
Is an app better than a paper family planner?: An app is better for reminders; a planner on the wall is better for the overview, because everyone sees it without opening anything. Many families use both.
Does it have to start in January?: Ours runs for twelve months from the month you choose, so it can start in January, with the school year or right away.