DIY Magnetic Activity Tracker for Your Fridge

It’s no secret that children handle life best when their days follow a schedule. Yet, homeschool agendas aren’t always consistent from one day to the next. Some days you spend your time running from choir rehearsal to a soccer game, and other days there is enough time for your child to sneak in some screen time after his school work is finished.

So, how can you communicate the day’s schedule and the concept of time to your child? If you haven’t already, start by posting your homeschool schedule on this handy color-coded clock.

Once your homeschool schedule is well-defined, help your child learn how to manage his free time by creating a magnetic activity tracker for your refrigerator. Just download our printable PDF and follow the steps below to create a set of magnets that can be rearranged each morning to give your child an idea of what the day’s agenda looks like.

When you have extra blocks of free time in your day, let your child choose the activities he would like to do. Be sure to explain how much time he has to spend on each activity and follow through with enforcing those time limits. Doing so will, over time, give your child a better understanding of what it means to spend “an hour” watching TV or playing outside. If he’s unhappy or thinks the limits are unfair, remind him that you gave him the freedom to choose the activity and that he chose playing outside over watching his favorite cartoon.

Materials:
Sheet of white paper
Two self-adhesive laminating sheets (5x7 or larger)
One 4x6 peel and stick magnet sheet
Scissors

Instructions:
Step 1: Print out our downloadable activity tracker template. Feel free to add your own activities to the blank squares or create a second set of custom activity squares that align with your family’s schedule.

Step 2: Leaving the individual squares attached to one another, cut out the larger 4x6 rectangle of activity squares.

Step 3: Following package instructions, use the self-adhesive laminating sheets to laminate the 4x6 sheet of activity squares. Trim off the excess laminating sheet from the edges of the 4x6 sheet of activity squares.

Step 4: Remove the paper backing from the 4x6 peel and stick magnet sheet and place the laminated 4x6 sheet of activity squares firmly against it.

Step 5: Cut the individual activity squares apart and place them on your fridge.