How to Make a Linear Calendar For Your Kids in 2025?
A Linear Calendar is really helpful for preschool kids, while it is also fun to prepare – you can try it for your home or even in early childhood classrooms!
We made ours at home, and this visual timeline helped us a lot for many years to keep track of the days of the months. I would say it is a pretty effective early childhood tool 😊
Montessori-Inspired Linear Calendars
I remember very well that when I first heard about Linear Calendars, it immediately grabbed my attention. Montessori Linear Calendars show you the whole year in one straight line across the room, making it a great way to introduce the concept of time, the months of the year, and the days of the week. Kids also have the chance to mark special days.
My Daughter was at an age when she kept asking about time and how many days we had until this or that event… but she was still too young to understand the concept of a traditional calendar format. So, we started searching for a different aspect, a sort of toddler calendar, that preschool and young children can understand and use daily. A Montessori Linear Calendar was exactly what we needed!
Since we had some time to spend together at home, we decided to prepare our own. Besides being useful, it was a great time spent together, too 😊
What is a Linear Calendar?
A Linear Calendar is a type of calendar that lists events in chronological order. It’s one of the easiest calendar concepts, often used by kindergarten students, and it works beautifully as a classroom wall decoration or homeschool setting aid.
Linear Calendars are generally easier to read than other types of calendars because there are no new rows for each week – basically, the whole year can be seen in one long line.
It’s important to stick it on the wall at the eye level of your Little Ones, so they can easily use it daily, mark important dates, and add new events, upcoming holidays, or any special occasion.
Luckily, we had a wall long enough in her room, but many fellow parents simply turn the calendars at the corner and continue to the next wall, making it a flexible display option that works with different classroom layouts, whether you’re at home or in a Montessori-inspired learning environment.
Benefits of a Linear Calendar for Preschool Kids
Montessori-inspired Linear Calendars offer great benefits both for kids and the whole family.
Here’s why they’re a fantastic addition to any early learning space!
- Linear Calendars look great! 😁
They’re not only functional but also add a unique type of decoration to any room. You can find various designs, including cute clipart and beautiful watercolor images that fit the style of your kid’s room or even the school environment. - Hands-on resource
A Linear Calendar is a hands-on tool that helps kids understand the passage of time. This ties into broader developmental research, such as the work by Sylvie Droit-Volet on time perception in children, which suggests that as kids experience the duration of events in their routine, they better grasp time intervals and sequences as early as age three. - A fun family activity
When we prepared our first Linear Calendar, my Daughter was recovering from the flu, so we had plenty of time. I designed and printed the calendar, cut it into 12 monthly sheets, and marked all the birthdays and family celebrations. This led to a great chat about loved ones and traditions – special occasions that we now cherish and look forward to marking each year!
Linear Calendars also introduce kids to the beauty of time, teaching them to look forward to big and small events while fostering critical thinking skills.
How to Make a Linear Calendar
Making a Linear Calendar is easy! It can be a little time-consuming, but that’s part of the fun – break it into smaller tasks if needed.
- As a first step, you can take 6 sheets of paper.
- Then you simply fold them into half to have one half-sheet for each month, create monthly sections and draw your own calendar!
- You can also use ready-to-print ones, like this Linear Calendar, that you can buy on Etsy:
- Mark Events: Once you have the monthly sheets, add in birthdays, holidays, and any other special dates.
- Laminating the calendar makes it more durable, and it’s reusable with dry-erase markers or small laminated picture icons.
Some more hints if you are planning to make your own 2024-25 Montessori Linear Wall Calendar:
- You could also use editable monthly calendars, like templates in Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. These are convenient if you’d like a digital product that can be reused and customized.
- Adaptability: If you plan to use it for multiple years, you might skip adding the names of days and instead focus on the month and day numbers – this way, you’ll have a flexible tool that’s adaptable to any school year.
- A laminated Linear Calendar also works well for interactive whiteboards or in digital lesson plans, helping students build spatial awareness and providing an optimal experience for visual and independent work.
Introducing the Concept of Time
The Linear Calendar can be introduced as an extension of the daily routine, with kids focusing on each month’s events. Pictures, colors, and holiday symbols for each month can help children relate to seasonal changes and special family events.
We kept our calendar interactive by marking each day that passed, which helped her understand time as a sequence. We’d occasionally discuss changes, like the weather shifting or upcoming holidays. This simple activity, integrated naturally, helps kids understand the concept of years, especially when coupled with real-life events.
Calendar Templates & Tech Options
If you’re short on time, digital calendar templates are a great option, giving you flexibility for personal use.
For classroom use, a Montessori linear calendar can be projected onto an interactive whiteboard, working beautifully for morning meeting discussions in preschool, kindergarten, and even 1st grade.
Takeaway
A Linear Calendar can be a unique and beautiful addition to any educational or family setting, aligning well with common core standards in elementary and even middle school. It’s versatile and can support various subjects, from social studies to visual arts and special education.
With access to a few simple materials, you can easily create your own Linear Calendar. We loved it and many of our friends use Linear Calendars with their preschool kids after we shared our positive experiences with them!
So why not give it a try? 😊
