EPIC: Research Child-friendly Interface for Calendar / Daily Schedule Viewer

[nelsonic]

Calendars are typically not designed for children. 🧒
In general, they are made by adults for other adults and then imposed on children.
Many schools use Google Calendar or Microsoft Exchange/Outlook and suffer the horrible interface/experience silently because they are powerless to improve it. 🙃

There are many other calendar apps besides Google, Microsoft and Apple:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Calendaring_software
The top 3 are just the most used by far.
There are a handful of Open Source options but none has achieved critical mass adoption. This is clear from the fact that you - learned reader - are not using one of the available open source calendars …
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Free_calendaring_software

We need to find or build a child-friendly interface to view calendar events. 😍
This needs to be a combination of simplified layout, color coordination/contrasting and icons (emojis) 📆
that children who don’t yet read can easily understand. 💡

The advantage of this approach to interface/experience design
is that what a child can interpret/understand anyone else can too.

Todo

• Research the available child-friendly calendar/schedule interface design online.

  • Please record the Google queries you perform (keywords used) and resulting images you found.
  • If applicable use other image search engines or https://dribbble.com/ to find interface.
  • Go for quantity we want at least 30 screenshots of interface/design. More is better during research phase.

• Once we have researched what is available we can be informed if there is anything we can already use
  If there is nothing ready-made we will need to design something ourselves.

@Stephanymtr I expect the research part of this task to take around T4h. 👩‍💻 ⏳
Please capture your findings directly as comments in this issue. 🖼️
Thanks! 🙏

P.S: this will be used for BMH so it will be immediately practical. 👌

[Stephanymtr]

Hi! I wanted to confirm I read everything and understand the task at hand. I don't have any questions - as of yet. I have to say I can't really picture what the calendar would look like. I understand there are (many) ways of making a calendar a little more interactive and therefore (hopefully) comprehensible and interesting to the little ones. I just can't picture it - yet. I will get started on the research and share my findings here. I will await for feedback to understand when I'm on the right track. Thanks!

[nelsonic]

@Stephanymtr the fact that you don’t have any preconceived ideas for what a child-friendly calendar can/should look like is great! 🎉
It means you have an open mind and can capture as many ideas as you find without being critical of any. Focus on capturing as many as you can. We will review them together when we’re back @home. We will probably print a few of them off to have as reference. 👌

The time you have spent with children and studying Montessori makes you an ideal person to research this. 🔍🕵️‍♀️

if you end up spending more than 4h on it. Just leave a comment to that effect and then keep going. Ultimately we need a thorough survey of the available options. ✅

Thank you! 🙏

[Stephanymtr]

Alright, sounds good! Let's do it!

Google: Calendar for toddlers

I googled the words above and a bunch of (VERY colorful) calendars popped up on my feed. For each of these Google queries, will you want me to share the ones that stand out the most to me ? For ex:

_It's almost alarming how painfully colorful some of the calendar are... some of them have too much information._

Stood out the most to me:

http://www.parraparents.com.au/lifestyle/home/weekly-activity-calendar-for-preschoolers/

https://www.etsy.com/sg-en/listing/1261118671/kids-weekly-planner-with-daily-calendar

I gathered a few questions for later.

• What information do you want in the calendar? Do you want the child to learn the days of the week ? days of the month? holidays? etc
  OR
• Will this calendar focus more on the child's schedule and activities as opposed to the days of the month ?
• Would a weekly calendar make more sense than a monthly calendar ? Children don't tend to think that far into future like us adults do...
• Would this be a fully online calendar ? or will you turn this into a printable calendar? maybe wooden calendar ?

to be continued...

[nelsonic]

Answers to Follow-up Questions

Q1: What information do you want in the calendar? Do you want the child to learn the days of the week ? days of the month? holidays?

A: yes to all these.
We can have several different “views” that give the child (and adults!) more context about their upcoming events.
Right now we are not confining/restricting ourselves to just one. The beauty of a digital system is that we can display the data in any format that is intuitive to the person viewing it. If a large “day” view is best, then that will be displayed. If a weekly view gives the most context then display the week.
If seeing the whole month is relevant and gives the child a clear idea of major events like family events, holidays and birthdays then that should also be available at the tap/swipe of a button/screen. 💡


Q2: Will this calendar focus more on the child's schedule and activities as opposed to the days of the month ?

A: the days of the week/month should be visible but not the focus. This because we are targeting children who cannot yet read. We can iterate on the layout & font sizes based on feedback from people using it. 👌
But yes, the focus should be on the activity/event the child is engaged in or looking forward to.

Q3: Would a weekly calendar make more sense than a monthly calendar ? Children don't tend to think that far into future like us adults do...

A: definitely a weekly view will be far more relevant to the child. But we can easily still have a daily and monthly and even yearly view to help them visualise longer term. The main thing to remember is we will cater to different screen sizes: Mobile/smartphone, iPad, Desktop/Laptop and “XL” (e.g: 50 inch 4K HDR “welcome” + info screen). The “Activities, Events, Birthdays & Meal Menu” info is the perfect info to display on the welcome screen. 📺

Q4: Would this be a fully online calendar ? or will you turn this into a printable calendar? maybe wooden calendar?

A: great questions. 👌
The best place to store and share this type of data/info is digital because updates are instant and synched to everyone. ⚡️
Yes, the calendar will be most relevant to the child and teacher so having one “instance” of it is obviously important,
but it’s also relevant to the Parents and other family.
If the parent doesn’t see the child all day and asks them about their day at the dinner table.
It’s a far more interesting and informative conversation if the parent can ask:
“What did you learn in your music lesson today?”
Rather than the more basic/superficial: “How was school?” …

Most people make their own paper-based calendars - especially historically - because they don’t know how to do it in a digital format.

Most people catch the bus (or train) to school/work.
If they had a better+cheaper means of transport how many would still ride the hot, noisy, smelly bus? 🚌
If you have a teleportation machine, why would you catch the bus? 💭

Not dissing paper, wood or any other physical media. Love seeing things visualised IRL. Never going to stop using a paper notebook for example. But certain types of data simply don’t make sense on paper … like if you have a spreadsheet with lots of formulas and cascading calculations, it doesn’t make much sense to have it on paper the moment you change one value in the spreadsheet and all others change, the paper version is obsolete.
Now, if the goal is for the child to interact with the calendar events/activities e.g. to move them around in a “planning” exercise, then simply have drag-and-drop cards on the screen and make the interface interactive.

[Stephanymtr]

@nelsonic Thank you for answering all my questions. I just want to clarify one more thing. Will you still want me to share physical calendars (like the example above)? Since this will be an online calendar, I wonder if I should only focus my research on the available online calendars out there ... thanks!

[nelsonic]

The physical calendars are great because they show the IRL representation of the info. If you find more good ones definitely share them. But ultimately we are searching to see if there is already an excellent digital child-friendly calendar we can use. 🔍🕵️‍♀️

[nelsonic]

In an ideal world, the child would interact with a Physical calendar (IRL) and then the changes would automagically be captured in digital form so that they can be shown to people who are not in the same location. 🪄

This can be achieved in a number of ways. 💭
But for now let’s just focus on interface research. 👌

[Stephanymtr]

Ok, thanks!

You asked me to record the Google queries I perform and resulting images, so please tell me if this is the layout you were thinking of:

On Dribbble: Children Calendar

https://dribbble.com/search/children-calendar

1st result: a couple of icons

https://dribbble.com/shots/15171165-Colorful-hand-drawn-school-icons

2nd result: DOC Classboard 4+

Garda Labs LLC
Free App: https://apps.apple.com/ro/app/doc-classboard/id1581611015
https://dribbble.com/shots/17324853-DOC-Classroom-App

3rd result: someone's light mode dashboard

https://dribbble.com/shots/17468899/attachments/12602982?mode=media

4th+ results: bunch of cute beaver illustrations.

I never used this website before, but I have gone through a couple more results from this same query. It seems that most of the results are "just" "illustrations" of potential calendars... not an existing app/website that we can dig more information from. Are these kind of results relevant to you ? For ex:

https://dribbble.com/shots/19993178-Mobile-App-Calendar
https://dribbble.com/orixcreative

How many results of each subject/query did you want me to share ?
How far do you want me to go in each query ? For ex, 2nd result is an app (not completely related to what we are looking for). Do you want me to install the app? Create an account? Screenshot/post here all the tabs ? etc

[Stephanymtr]

On Google: online calendar for children

1st result: https://www.starfall.com/h/index.php

The website opens to a calendar. It's more of quick game because it will lead you to the main page once you fill up the gaps. The main page contains "educations" games for younger children. It's not what we are looking for.

2nd result: https://www.abcya.com/games/calendar_word_problems

It's a calendar game. You need to know the numbers and be able to read to play it. 👎🏻

3rd result: https://www.weareteachers.com/interactive-online-calendars/

It's blog sharing multiple interactive calendars. It's basically a bunch of 'drag and drop' and 'fill the gaps' games. Some teachers use these as templates for morning meetings.

4th result:https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=calendar

Another interactive resource with more games. This one was designed by a teacher for teachers.

5th result: https://www.eslkidsgames.com/date-and-weather-interactive-chart

More games + interactive boards for schools/teachers

6th result: https://learningworksforkids.com/apps/google-calendar/

Post about recommending Google calendar: 8 years old +

The rest of the results from this search shows more games and interactive boards/templates. Should I stick with the style presented above and continue to share the first couple of results from each query even if they are not what you are looking for ?

[nelsonic]

Wow. most of these are very "busy" (cluttered) ... 😮 very 90's ...
If you can, try to capture screenshots that we can print 🖨️
Keep going. 👌 Thanks. 🙏

[Stephanymtr]

Google: calendar tool designed for children

1st result: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/boomerang-for-gmail/mdanidgdpmkimeiiojknlnekblgmpdll

It's designed for adults with a focus on email management.

2nd result: https://shorturl.at/uETZ8

This is an interesting tool. Although it's focused towards adults, the concept seems to be similar to what you are talking about.

3rd result: https://www.care.com/c/best-calendar-organizer-apps-families/

Next we have is Care.com blog post about on the best calendar and organizer apps for families.
"Don’t assume you have to wait until your children are older to get them involved in using a family organization app. Most children can begin to see smart devices as productivity tools from an early age."

1st app: OurHome - chores and rewards https://apps.apple.com/au/app/ourhome-chores-rewards-groceries/id879717020?platform=iphone

Key features:

• Assign and schedule tasks and chores
• Motivate kids with rewards and goals
• View personal progress and activities
• Add items to the shared grocery list
• Enter events into the family calendar
• Send messages and set reminders
• Stay in sync across unlimited devices
  **
  I wasn't able to find a more zoomed in photo of their calendar:

2nd app: Picniic

This seems interesting as well, but couldn't open because "This app is currently not available in your country or region."
Imagine an interface that basically includes all the bells and whistles you have on your smart device — a calendar, a newsfeed — but is built specifically for keeping your family life organized. That’s Picniic, which features a family calendar, to-do lists, group events, grocery lists, a feature called “news” where large families can share messages and media and parental controls so you can manage kids’ internet connection to promote healthy internet habits using a secure no-track VPN.

Picniic can also set events like homework time and bedtime during which internet access is restricted. Most features are available on the free version, but a paid premium subscription (starting at $15 per month) gets you features like encrypted info storage, meal planning tools, and the ability to export and import events from third-party calendars like Google, Apple and Outlook.

Download it from the Apple App Store.
Download it from Amazon.

3rd and 4th app: Google calendar & Evernote

These show up right and left on my research. They are user-friendly programs, but does require some reading and writing skills (as most of the calendars I have shared). They are recommended for older children ages 8 and up. I know you want to see what the other companies out there are offering, so here is a just a screenshot of what a typical Google calendar looks like:

5th app: Trello https://apps.apple.com/app/trello-organize-anything/id461504587

Trello reminds me of github. It's more of a productivity and task management tool. It does require reading/writing.Not for children, but teachers use it for older kids. https://www.educationalappstore.com/app/trello-organize-anything

6th app: Cozi - It's a shared family calendar app https://www.cozi.com/calendar/

It is mostly used by families as a task manager. I googled "cozi calendar" and this is what I was able to get from Google. It might be tricky to get a screenshot of each of these apps' calendars without creating accounts and exploring them individually.

7th app: BusyKid https://busykid.com/

BusyKid is an app that helps parents simplify the chores and allowance aspect of family management. This app is meant for kids to log in and follow up on their chores status. I'm assuming the app is child friendly for that reason only. The app is meant to motivate children to save, share, and spend*** their allowance. I also wasn't able to open the app on my phone, so I had to google images of the calendar

[Stephanymtr]

Still on the same query:

Google: calendar tool designed for children

However, it now feels like we are getting somewhere ⭐

4th result: The Choiceworks Calendar https://apps.apple.com/us/app/choiceworks-calendar/id791053105

https://www.beevisual.com/
The Choiceworks Calendar is a powerful picture-based learning tool that helps children learn what is happening day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month throughout each year. Choiceworks Calendar teaches the abstract concept of time in a structured visual format which helps children organize their lives as well as understand sequence and time. Choiceworks Calendar is the first app of its kind to provide a full-featured calendar designed with both the child and caregiver in mind.

Key Features
■ Easily create a visual calendar of upcoming events in a few minutes (examples: holidays, when visitors are coming, doctor appointments, vacations, sleepovers, parent returning from a trip or military duty)
■ Image Library preloaded with over 275 images and audio
■ Attach video to any image
■ Add your own images using your photo library, camera or use the preloaded image library to record your own audio, video and edit captions for limitless customizability
■ Create multiple personalized calendars for use with multiple children or in a classroom setting
■ Count Days Until: animated counter for the number of days until an upcoming event (example: How many days until my birthday?)
■ Speaks the daily schedule with child or adult voice
■ Built-in visual timer
■ Automatically adds holidays
■ Easily add recurring events
■ Notifications and alarms with visual and audio alerts
■ Search and auto-save features
■ Share boards by Email, AirDrop, Files app or iTunes with other Choiceworks Calendar app users
■ Ability to print month, week or day for offline viewing or save as PDF

Choiceworks - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/choiceworks/id486210964

They also have another learning tool that helps children complete daily routines, understand & manage feelings and improve waiting skills. It's a like a robot parent: very smart 💰 These two apps def a lucrative duo.

[Stephanymtr]

Google: visual calendar

1st relevant result: Visual Schedule Planner

https://www.goodkarmaapplications.com/visual-schedule-planner1.html
This was specifically designed for individuals with who may benefit from the use of visual supports to ease transitions, anxiety or for those who may need a way to visually represent the "events" in their day. This is especially true for people with special needs such as Autism Spectrum Disorders, acquired brain injuries, learning challenges, auditory processing disorders and developmental delays.

This link has videos explaining how the app works. It's very intuitive.
https://vimeo.com/channels/gkavideotutorials
I took a couple of screenshots. Their calendar is not much different from "our" calendar. The child clicks on the day, and the activities scheduled for that day shows on the right side. It looks dated and basic, but straight to the point. The icons/photos help the user understand the order and what each block of time will entail without reading it. Child can click on the word and the app will read it for him. It also contains a timer function, so when a task begins, the times will count down.

[nelsonic]

Wow. this clipart is retro! 😜

[Stephanymtr]

It seems that these visual calendars are targeted towards kids with autism.

Google: visual calendar

2nd relevant result: Goally

https://getgoally.com/goally-therapy-suite/visual-schedule-app/

Goally is a visual schedule app for kids with autism and ADHD. You are able to customize routines that work with kids with modeling, a visual timer, and audio cues. I tried looking for a calendar screenshot, and I couldn't find one. This video gives a tour of their program, so based on that, it seems they are focused daily/weekly schedule view - not long term.

[nelsonic]

interesting. children with special needs or autism spectrum would certainly benefit from the interface. 👌

[Stephanymtr]

I keep bumping into templates!
https://www.etsy.com/market/kids_visual_calendar
https://adayinourshoes.com/free-printable-visual-schedules-for-home-and-daily-routines/
https://www.twinkl.pt/teaching-wiki/visual-schedule
https://occupationaltherapy.com.au/how-to-make-a-visual-schedule/
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/g31669687/daily-schedule-for-kids-visual-routines/
http://monkeyandchops.com/daily-routine-chart/
and many more...

Next Google search: child friendly schedule app

1-iPrompts http://www.handholdadaptive.com/iPrompts.html

This app is focused on the structure side of the child's tasks. They seem to only focus on the activities for the day. No calendar present.

Like I mentioned above, some of the apps don't open on my end. They may not available in Portugal. I rely on screenshots found online.

iPrompts is used by special educators, therapists and parents of those benefiting from visual structure, including individuals with Autism.

2- First Then Visual Schedule https://apps.apple.com/us/app/first-then-visual-schedule/id355527801

Similar to the one above. No calendar, just steps needed to complete a specific activity or order of daily events.

3 - Week Planner for Kids https://novitura.com/

This seems to be VERY similar to what you are looking for. Sadly, I wasn't able to open it. I'm not sure if it had to do with my location or that maybe the app doesn't exist anymore.
App description: Children often ask questions like: "Do I have school today?", “Do I have swimming lesson this afternoon?" or "How many nights before we see grandma and grandpa?" A father from Amsterdam received these questions daily and has developed an answer for them. Week Planner for Kids, the first fun and educational iPad week planner for toddlers and pre-schoolers.

Through recognizable day-colours, a set of universal icons with accompanying sounds a week scheduled is created. There is also the possibility to create new icons by drawing, writing or importing pictures. This is how children plan their own weekly calendar.

[Stephanymtr]

It has been more than four hours. I haven't been able to find new child-friendly calendar/schedule platforms. I have been bumping into the same ones. I see other 'somewhat' related apps such as timers/reminders. They are alarms that go off when it's time for the child's next task/activity of the day. I'm thinking to try some other keywords on Google and dribbble to see if I can find any new/interesting app/platform.

[Stephanymtr]

Reminder apps I mentioned above:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/disney-magic-timer-by-oral-b/id747541884
https://edshelf.com/tool/tico-timer/
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mouse-timer/id1235452961
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/reminders-calendar-alarm-and-voice-reminder-aida-reminder-remind-me-app

[nelsonic]

This is good research. Thanks for persisting @Stephanymtr 👍

[Stephanymtr]

A couple more Google queries I performed & resulting images:

online weekly planner kids

### online weekly planner kids

calendar child friendly

virtual calendar child friendly

digital calendar kids

app children calendar

-> Kid Calendar

https://apkpure.com/kid-calendar/com.JJJJJsLab.kidcalendar
Children can learn the concepts of days, dates, months, weather and seasons in a playful way.This cute calendar application is perfect for toddler or preschool age.
This is an android app. I wasn't able to find more screenshots of it on Google. It claims to teach the concept of time, but doesn't seem to incorporate traditional calendar format. It also claims to teach children these basic concept, but based on the photo/format,

app children planner

Google store queries I performed & resulting image:

kid calendar

As you can see, lots of family planners. I mentioned a couple above, but most of them are for the parents/older children... not the little ones.

Wingo - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dreamoriented.wingo&hl=en&gl=US

Wingo is a simplified daily calendar app that allows kids -especially kids with special needs (cognitive issues, developmental disorders)- and their parents to create timelines of activities that would show yesterday, today and tomorrow’s activities. It helps them plan their day by setting alarms for upcoming events, classes and chores.

---

planner for children

https://dribbble.com/search/planner-for-children

App for children

https://dribbble.com/search/app-for-children

calendar app for kids
https://dribbble.com/search/calendar-app-for-kids

@nelsonic End of my working day update: I see lots of repetitive results on the few child-friendly apps available on the market. I also saw lots of templates and printables. Dribble offers lots of designing ideas, but mostly for adults. I have shared about 12 child friendly apps/screenshots. They need to be downloaded and tested to confirm how much child friendly they really are. Most of them are not free, so I'm not sure how you'd like to go about this. Because of that reason, I was unable to get screenshots of the actual calendar/interface of some of them. 12 doesn't meet the min 30 screenshots you asked. Will you want me to continue this research on a different platform? I'm not sure if Brave search engine will give different results... or maybe I could one (or all) of the open sources options you shared above..!? thanks!

[nelsonic]

@Stephanymtr thanks for doing this search.
We need to review everything together on a big screen and then decide which of the paid solutions we want to investigate further, even if it costs us some cash to try them.

FYI: This is @carolrmc - a full-time teacher - using Twinkl to search for resources:

So apparently it’s pretty popular with teachers…

[nelsonic]

@Stephanymtr keen to spend T20m going through this with you when you have time. 🙏
Need to understand if there is a Digital Calendar we can actually use or if there is an opportunity to create something. 💭

Scrolling through the comments in this thread nothing jumps out at me as being "Prêt-à-porter" ... 🤷‍♂️
Some of the Dribbble mockups are interesting but they aren't actual apps we can use.
It's good that you have captured them for interface reference.

Tried following https://novitura.com

If I click either of the "View in iTunes" or "Available on the App Store" buttons I'm taken to the following link:
https://search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZContentLink.woa/wa/link?path=apps%2fnovitura

The fact that this is still using the mega old "iTunes" branding suggests this hasn't been updated in a while ... Viewed the site oniPad` and clicked the "Available on App Store" button:

Takes me to iTunes store where it's not found: 🤷‍♂️

I opened the App Store (different from iTunes Store...) and manually searched for "Novitura":

Tapped to view the App:

Only one review:

And crucially if we view the Version History:

We see that basically the last "features" were added 9 years ago and since then it's been compatibility and Bug Fixes.
i.e. nothing new.
Reading the features it doesn't have integrations with any other calendars
so all data has to be manually input into the iPad and cannot be viewed anywhere else.
For me/us this is a non-starter.
The interface is child-friendly but the system is not useful to anyone else.

[Stephanymtr]

Hi! yes, agreed! The few options available are super outdated or don't work. I'm currently holding a sleeping baby, but should be available after baby wakes up around 10am. I suggest we take a closer look at The Choiceworks Calendar.

[nelsonic]

Ok, sadly my day is officially consumed by construction (earth works) supervision: dwyl/home#231
so I will not have the focus on this. 🙃

if you get “child-free time” please do a T25m (time-boxed) deep dive into The Choiceworks Calendar. Capture lots of screenshots of everything you see and upload them here as comment(s) with text similar to how I have done with the above. If you need to use the iPad to capture screenshots of an actual App, grab the “orchestra” iPad and then either airdrop or iMessage the images to yourself. Thanks. 🙏

Edit: to be clear I really want to go through this, I just won’t have time today. 🙃
Might have to be next Thursday now … ⏳

[Stephanymtr]

Hi, I'm sharing a bit more about The Choiceworks Calendar

They have two apps under Bee Visual, LLC

The Choiceworks Calendar alone is €11,99

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/choiceworks-calendar/id791053105

I'm with a sleeping baby in a dark room, so I can't get up to grab the iPad. I'm using my phone and the macbook .

More info on the app and version history and no reviews

When I check the app out on the macbook, I see the U.S. version and it contains decent amount of reviews:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/choiceworks-calendar/id791053105

https://www.beevisual.com/

This is their main page:

[Stephanymtr]

@nelsonic Feel free to call me tomorrow whenever you have some time to go over this.

[nelsonic]

@Stephanymtr Thanks for capturing this research.
I read through both the positive and negative reviews and this is the one that stands out for me:

The customer wants to be able to share the calendar with the "other parent" and can't.
The "Developer Response" is to lookup the user guides ...
They could have just shared a link directly to the relevant guide.

I Googled for "how to share choiceworks calendar" and this is the page that was the top result:

https://beevisual.com/blog/choiceworks-calendar-user-guides/

BeeVisual are the makers of the Choiceworks Calendar so I consider this page authoritative.

The gist is this: there is no "sync" capability with any other calendar system e.g. Google Calendar, Outlook etc.
That means Parents/Caregivers cannot view the child's calendar in real-time.
This is a total deal-breaker for me. 🙅
I want to be able to create events in my child's calendar simply by sending them an email (invite)
and want to see what they see without having to have the Choiceworks Calendar on my device.
I would install the Choiceworks Calendar App on my phone as a last resort,
but to then have to manually sync and be forced to open the App each time to create a new event ... meh.

The fact that the devs haven't added fairly basic and super-useful features suggests that this isn't an App I want to use ...
Closed source software really frustrates me. 😢

[Stephanymtr]

That's lame! It doesn't seem exist a child-friendly calendar that covers all basic/important/useful features. You might have to build this child-friendly interface. Is there a next step you want me to follow ?

[nelsonic]

Yeah, it's lame. But it's an opportunity. Both to be creative and to solve a real market need. 🧑‍🎨 💡 🎉

There will be at least 10k people 🫂
who want their child to be able to interact with their calendar 📆
(both to input and view events independently)
But who also want the adult to be able to see what's happening. 👀
This doesn't require "reinventing the wheel". 💭
We just need to determine what the ideal interface/experience is for the target age group. 🤔
e.g: a child that doesn't yet know how to read needs pictures.
Those pictures can be emoji, icons (representations) or actual photos.

However later on as the child begins to learn to read the event could be a simple word
e.g: Lunch accompanied by an image of what is on the meal plan for that day.
And Family Lunch would include an avatar/photo of the person/people invited to the lunch.

Next Action

So the "next action" on this issue is to attempt to summarise the features of ChoiceWorks Calendar
and all the other "Templates" you found in as much detail as possible
so that we can determine what we need to build to make this useful to ourselves ASAP. 🙏

[Stephanymtr]

ChoiceWorks Calendar features:

• Full, unlimited access to all four board types: Schedule, Waiting, Feelings and Feelings Scale
• Image Library preloaded with over 180 images and audio
• Add your own images and record your own audio
• Attach video to any board image
• Create profiles to personalize and manage multiple users
• Save an unlimited number of boards for multiple children or different routines
• Speaks boards out loud with child or adult voice
• Share boards by Email, Files app or iTunes with other Choiceworks app users - only
• Ability to print boards or save as PDF
• Advanced sharing options not sure how advanced these options are since you can't sync with other calendar systems
• Custom themes - although you can custom themes, they have a review of someone with a teen kid complaining about all themes looking a bit childish.
• Library Assistant
• Custom timer sounds
• No additional in-app purchase or subscriptions are required
• No limits to how many boards or images you can create and share.

Schedule Board
The Schedule Board makes task completion easier and more fun! The schedule is paired with an ‘all done’ column to check off steps toward a motivating reward. Timers can be added to any task or activity. The schedules are easy to edit and fully customizable. Once you have created a schedule, it will be saved automatically.

Waiting Board
The Waiting Board teaches waiting skills like taking turns and not interrupting. The user can begin by reading the companion book, When Do I Have to Wait? Using the waiting board, the top picture indicates the reason why the child is waiting and a timer can be set to show how long the child will wait. The child can then choose an activity to do while waiting.

Feelings Board
The Feelings Board provides a tool for helping children understand and express emotions. The user can begin by reading the companion book, When I Get Upset, to provide an example of how the child might recognize an emotion and choose a coping strategy. On the Feelings Board, the user can then help the child indicate how they are feeling from a range of options, select a coping strategy, and then request an activity to help them feel better or re-engage with others.

Feelings Scale
Helps users identify, manage and cope with feelings across environments throughout the day. By tracking their feelings on the board, users can analyze the data for trends to learn if tasks done at different times of day or in different environments affect outcome. Environments and schedules can then be altered to achieve better results.

Missing features based on their reviews:

• no "sync" capability with any other calendar system
• Needs more recurring options than weekly Ex: biweekly, monthly, yearly
• add a text box - for times when photos aren't necessary

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Calendar mockups/templates

• Most of these physical laminated calendars display different features. Some are simple with just a weekly calendar and space underneath each day of the week to attach the activities/plans for that day. Most of them use velcro to attach the little laminated cards/icons.
• Some of the icons have color coordinated margins Ex: Red margin icons = activities with the fam
• I didn't see any of these weekly calendar being broken down into am/aftn/even time, so the child will only know the order of their activities for that day not when they will happen. Although, I did see "Morning Routine, Afternoon Routine and Evening Routine Visual Schedule Charts". It sort of looks like 3 separate weekly calendars for the same week but each focus on different parts of the day. It allows more room for icons such as 🪥 brush teeth or brush hair etc.
• I saw mostly laminated paper calendars (probably cheaper to mail),but I also saw magnetic sheet version for attaching directly to the fridge and rigid magnetic board to hang on a wall.

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Here is a good starter list of icons that can be used for calendar/routine charts:

► ACTIVITY CARDS
Play Outside
Playtime
Building
Game
Independent Play (girl & boy versions)
Dress-Up
Play-Doh
Color
Craft
Art
Quiet Time
Nap Time (girl & boy versions)
TV Show
Screen Time
Movie
Take A Walk
Wheel Toys
Water Play
Play Catch
Bike Ride
Bounce House
Sandbox
Play In Snow
Stroller Walk
Baby Pool
Gardening

► CHORE CARDS
Put Away Toys
Clothes In Hamper
Set Table
Chores
Put Away My Things
Make My Bed

► LEARNING CARDS
Alphabet
Math
Workbook
Fine Motor Activity
Sensory Play
Colors
Shapes
Reading
STEM
Music Lesson
Homework

► FOOD CARDS
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Bake
Cook
Grill
Snack x 2
Dessert
Picnic
Donuts
Ice Cream
Pizza
Happy Meal
Out To Eat

► SPORTS CARDS
Swimming
Football
Tennis
Soccer
Baseball/Softball
Gymnastics
Karate
Dance
Basketball
Tumbling
Fishing

► PEOPLE CARDS
Friend Visit
Family Visit
Visit Family
Grandma & Grandpa
Play-Date

► PLACES CARDS
Grocery Store
Library
Park
Shopping
Church
Errands
Daycare
School
Doctor
Appointment
Haircut
Rec Center
Zoo