Introducing: My First Planner

For the last year, my 6-year-old daughter and my 7-year-old niece have watched me make planner pages. At first we called them "fancy calendars" and the girls would ask if I could print them off a few pages to play with. They would color pictures in the squares or circle their birthday with a big heart.

During their first year in school, the girls learned more about planners and how kids use them to write down their homework and remember important dates. But when my niece saw the elementary school's planner, she told me it looked way too BOR-ING! She said she wanted a pretty planner like the ones I make in my shop. What can I say…she's a girl after my own heart <3

This summer, the girls sat down with me to talk about what they wanted in a planner. Obviously, nothing in my shop was going to work for a 1st and 2nd grader. They needed something for beginners that would be fun, simple and easy to use.

So, after LOTS of brainstorming sessions over chocolate milk, the girls and I have come up with 

"My First Planner."

Getting in the habit of using a planner does not come easy to kids (or adults). I actually appreciate the fact that our elementary school now requires kids to use their school issued planner to write down homework and important reminders and have the parents sign off each day. What a wonderful lesson to teach these kids early!

But as my niece said earlier…those planners are a little boring and not something they look forward to pulling out on their own to write in. To truly get kids in the habit…the act of writing in (or playing in) their planner should be FUN! So, that is why we made our kids planner bright, colorful and geared specifically to their needs.

Perhaps the most important page of this set is the Daily Page, which the girls helped me design by simply explaining what they did in their Kindergarten and First Grade classrooms. 

At first, I wasn't going to include a traditional monthly calendar page, but when I mentioned that to the girls, they said, "Well how will we know when a birthday party is coming up?!!! How will we know how many days left until Christmas?!!!"

I mean…duh. They needed a monthly page.

 One of the most important parts of any planner set is having a basic "notes" page, but at the beginner stage, we thought having a "Doodles" page was much more appropriate :) And of course…no planner set is complete without a pretty cover.

My First Planner actually comes with 4 cover options if you consider the two blank versions that kids can use if they would rather write their own name in (you can also convo us for custom cover options and pricing).

Printing and Assembling "My First Planner"

As with all of the planners we offer at ThePolkaDotPosie{Printables}, "My First Planner" is also a printable set, meaning you receive the PDF file and print it yourself at home. Perhaps one of my FAVORITE features of this beginner planner is how easy it is to print!!! Detailed, step-by-step instructions will come with your download and we are always available to help if you have additional questions. 

Once your planner is printed, it's time to decide how you will put it together. In the picture below, you will notice that the planners I made for my niece and daughter are bound with pink discs and a laminated cover.

Our planner has a total of 3 sections: The Monthly Calendars

The Daily Pages

And the Doodle Pages.

The discs I used for the girls' planners are from the Arc System by Staples. I own my own laminator so I simply laminated the front cover page, as well as a back page, and punched the pages using my Arc punch. For those of you that do not want to invest in the Arc punch, some Staples stores (but not all) may punch the pages for you. You can also get your covers laminated while you are there :)

If you want something a little more durable as the cover for your kid's planner, you can also use one of the great covers Arc makes, or you can skip the discbound system entirely and go for a standard 3-ring mini binder. Avery makes several options, as does Target. In fact, Target's mini binders are SUPER cute and SUPER inexpensive.

And finally, another option is to have your kids planner bound for you at an office supply store or printing shop. And that's the great thing about a printable planner…you can set it up however it works best for you!!!

Once your pages are printed and you've selected your binder, you may want to consider finding a way to separate each of the sections of their planner by either using dividers (you can find them already made for any size binder or planner), or you can separate them with paper clips or even page markers. I purchased these adorable plastic Project Life dividers, cut them down to size and then punched them for their planner. I labeled on "Homework" for the Daily section, 

 and one "Doodles" for the doodles section.

 It just makes it easier for them to flip to the section they want to work in :) 

Well, the girls and I hope you LOVE our newest planner design!! Now even the tiniest planner-junkies can have their very own special book. Here's to a bright and organized new school year!!

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go "play planners" with  my girls :)