Kids day planning.

It may be the simplest structure on this site. But during the Corona lockdowns it was one of the most valuable ones for us, and more and more people asked how we did it.

Planning the day together makes kids partly owner of the day. That makes the day run smoother.

Download the day sheet (A4, PDF) ↓ Print it, stick it on the fridge, and fill it in together.

How do you run it?

1. Name and date. Write down the name or names and the date. Talk about the day in context: today is Friday, tomorrow the weekend starts. Granddad’s birthday is in two weeks.
2. Weather. What will it be like? It starts the conversation about the day: which clothes, inside or outside, hot chocolate or a paddling pool.
3. Tasks. What has to happen today as a family: tidying, groceries, a call with family.
4. Fun. Something to look forward to: baking a cake, calling friends, going out.
5. The hours. Plan the day hour by hour. Keep the same rhythm every day for breakfast, lunch, dinner, school work and the walk to the bakery.

Sit at the kitchen table, or on the floor. Use coloured pencils. A ready-made day sheet helps: we used the one from Bollebuik shop, but your own works too.

Start by filling it in yourself, with their ideas as input. Over time, hand over parts of the sheet, or all of it, to one of the kids.

How do you invite them?

• Enthusiastic. We want a really fun day together. That gives a shared goal, and a reason to finish the less fun things first. A good way to start the habit.
• Plain. Once it is a habit, “let’s make the day planning” is enough.
• Hand it over. Older kids can make the planning themselves. You name the parts, or show yesterday’s sheet.
• Ritual · 2 min readYES-day.A kids’ day where Ella and Gust decide what we do, and we say yes.Break the habit. Now and then, plan an upside-down day: wake the kids with “sleep well”, eat dinner first, then lunch, then breakfast, and put them to bed with “good morning”.

Why does it work?

It lines up with the VIST model of motivation (Hertel, 2002). Four things make people want to contribute:

• Valence: the goal matters to them. We start with wanting a fun day together, and they see which less fun things come first.
• Instrumentality: their part counts. Their ideas make the day better.
• Self-efficacy: they can do it. Planning the day shows how much they can do themselves, and where they need help.
• Team trust: everyone does their part. It shows what the parents do to keep the house running, and it opens the conversation about who leaves the most toys lying around.

Origin: my own structure. Day sheet: Bollebuik shop. Motivation: the VIST model, Hertel (2002). First published here on 12 May 2020, rewritten in October 2026.