TECH · Smart Calendars
Six kids means six sets of practices, pickups, playdates and dentist appointments, and for years the paper calendar on the fridge lost that fight by Wednesday. The one we chose is a 21.5-inch digital wall calendar with a touchscreen — big enough to read from the stove, synced to the Google calendars we already live in, with a chore chart the kids actually check because it hands out points. Here’s what we use, plus a few others we seriously considered.
What We Chose
The calendar on our kitchen wall. A 21.5-inch touchscreen big enough to show a full week for all eight of us, synced to the Google calendars we already keep, with a chore chart that hands out points the kids actually chase.
We did not go looking for a gadget. A digital calendar earns a spot on this wall by clearing three bars: it shows the whole family’s week at once, readable from across the kitchen, it syncs with the phone calendars we already keep, so nobody types anything twice, and the kids can use it without a parent standing next to them. Screen size turned out to matter more than any other feature, and a chore chart with points turned out to matter more than we expected.
The 21.5-inch calendar at the top is the one on our kitchen wall. Below it are the ones we considered: the Skylight everyone has heard of and its giant sibling, the Cozyla with an app store built in, the Apolosign calendars that skip the subscription, a near-twin of ours, and a smaller, cheaper screen for a counter or a smaller family.
What We Chose
$270.73
Mom loves: the whole week for all eight of us, readable from the stove, and a chore chart the kids check on their own. Dad loves: it synced to the Google calendars we already had in about ten minutes. The kids love: the points.
Check PriceAlso considered:
$319.99
The one we almost bought. Mom says: the app is the most polished of the bunch, the frames are pretty, and setup is genuinely minutes. Dad says: 15 inches for eight people is tight, and the best features sit behind a yearly plan we did not want to add to the pile.
Check PriceAlso considered:
$599.99
The big one. Mom says: 27 inches is the size we actually wanted, and it is the nicest-looking calendar on this page. Dad says: it costs more than twice what ours did, and ours is already the size of a small TV.
Check PriceAlso considered:
$349.99
The most flexible of the bunch. Dad says: it runs the Google Play store, so it can be a recipe screen, a music player and a calendar at once with nothing to subscribe to. Mom says: that is exactly what worries her about hanging it where a seven-year-old can reach it.
Check PriceAlso considered:
$369.99
The other 21.5-inch. Dad says: same big screen as ours, no subscription, and a name you will find on more shelves. Mom says: it was the runner-up, and the only real difference on the day we ordered was price.
Check PriceAlso considered:
$256.49
For a smaller wall or a smaller family. Mom says: it is the same calendar as the big Apolosign in a size that fits by a back door or on a counter stand. Dad says: with four or fewer names on it, this is plenty.
Check PriceAlso considered:
$299.99
Very close to ours. Dad says: same size, same chore chart and rewards, a meal planner built in, and roughly the same price on any given week. Mom says: if ours had been out of stock, this is the one that would be on the wall.
Check PriceAlso considered:
$119.99
The cheapest way to try the idea. Dad says: if you are not sure a wall calendar will stick, this gets the whole family on one screen for the price of a nice dinner out. Mom says: it is small, and the small ones have a way of turning into a very expensive clock.
Check PriceFrom Our Family
The fridge calendar lasted longer than it should have. It was a paper grid the size of a placemat, and by the middle of any given month it had two kids’ practices written in the wrong week, a dentist appointment on a sticky note that had slid behind the fridge, and at least one event in a color code nobody remembered. Mom kept the real calendar on her phone. Dad kept a different one on his. The kids kept none, and asked what was happening tomorrow every single night at dinner.
The screen on the wall fixed the part that was actually broken, which was that only one person could ever see the plan. It is a 21.5-inch touchscreen, roughly the size of a small TV, mounted at kid height by the kitchen door. It pulls in the Google calendars both parents already keep, shows the whole week with a color per kid, and it is big enough that Mom can read Thursday from the stove. The chore chart was the surprise. Each kid has a list, checking things off earns points, and the points have turned into a currency around here that we did not plan for and are not going to argue with. When nothing is scheduled it shows family photos, which is why the littlest kids stop and stare at it.
We looked hard at the Skylight, and for a lot of families it is the right answer: the app is polished, the setup is quick, and you have probably seen one in someone’s kitchen. We went bigger and a little cheaper instead, and we have not missed anything. The 15-inch screens are fine for a family of four; with eight names on a Saturday, the extra inches are the difference between a calendar and a smudge.
If the calendar is where the schedule lives, our charging stations guide covers where all the phones and tablets that feed it go at night, and our iPads guide has the tablets the kids use to check what is on the wall from the car.
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The Kitchen Wall ♡
“Six kids’ schedules never fit on a paper calendar. This is the screen that replaced it: big enough to read from the stove, synced to our phones, with a chore chart the kids check on their own.”
Herncptar 21.5-Inch Digital Wall Calendar & Chore Chart
Why this one
Current price: $270.73 · In stock at Amazon
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