I'm a Stay-at-Home Mom, and This Genius Scheduling Board Has Eased My Family's Anxiety

The day the Charmspring Springboard School Age Starter Pack arrived was a little celebration for all of us! The first thing that caught their eyes (and mine!) were the custom name tiles – my kids were absolutely beaming seeing their names. Sorting through the beautifully illustrated tiles together was exciting, imagining all the activity possibilities. My kids were genuinely amazed that our regular weekly activities – library trips, park visits, scooter rides – were right there in their hands, and that they were going to help me build our week! Time is such an abstract concept for a 4 and 2-year-old, so visually showing them what we're doing each day and what our week looks like is slowly but surely helping them grasp it. My 4-year-old understands the concept a bit more, but my 2-year-old is just thrilled to be part of the process.

Hanging it up was definitely, however, a grown up project. The board itself is a bit heavy, but the brand provides a hanging kit and wisely suggest keeping it out of reach so little hands aren't constantly rearranging things (which definitely took some getting used to!). We hung ours above their play shelf, where it's visible for them to reference (and occasionally sneakily add a random tile). I repurposed a thrifted basket to hold all the tiles, making it easy for the kids to grab them when we're building our week. Once you've set up your board for the week, it's easy to repeat each week because many of the basics (breakfast, lunch, dinner) stay the same, so you just plan the activities around them. The initial tile setup took about 20 minutes, but now our weekly planning together takes around 10 minutes – sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on our moods.

Being able to physically hold an activity tile and place it on the board has given them a real sense of control over their schedule, and it shows them that I trust their choices. I love asking, "Would you like to do a scooter or a bike ride to the park?" and then letting them put that tile on the board. It's fascinating to watch their little brains work and see what activities they gravitate towards.

Of course, not every single second of every day is rigidly planned (I'm not that crazy!), so I intentionally leave some days open for spontaneous fun. On those days, I either use the blank tiles or simply leave a space empty. And you know what? If the weather is awful or one of the kids is having a tough day, sometimes we just completely ignore the schedule, and that's perfectly OK too! I want them to see that flexibility is part of life. Sometimes I glance at the untouched schedule at the end of such a day and feel a tiny pang of guilt, but honestly, that's more of a "me" problem.

Another fantastic aspect of the Charmspring board is how it's helped solidify our morning and nighttime mini-routines. At the top and bottom of the board, we have a set of morning tasks (wake up, eat breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed, etc.) and evening tasks (eat dinner, wash hands, clean up toys, bath time, read books, go to bed).

We also had a real breakthrough with my 4-year-old when we realized he had stopped asking is perpetual movie night "Is it almost Saturday?" Now, he knows movie time is a once-a-week thing and actually runs to the board to count down the days until Saturday. Little by little, I'm seeing him connect the dots and understand the structure of a week. Knowing exactly when to expect things—whether it's hair cuts or playdates—and seeing how many days away they are has significantly reduced the meltdowns. These might seem like small wins, but they've made a huge difference in our daily routine, and honestly, it's helping me just as much as it's helping my kids.

Areas for Improvement

If I had to suggest any improvements, it would be the size of the board – it's quite large. A slightly smaller version and a lower price point would be fantastic. The current price is definitely an investment, but it's a beautifully made, high-quality product that I genuinely believe we'll use for years.

It sounds simple, but before Charmspring, cleaning up toys after dinner was a constant struggle. Now, my kids want to do it because they enjoy checking things off their little visual list! I even saw that Charmspring offers a dedicated morning and bedtime routine board, which I think is brilliant because that's genuinely my kids' favorite part.

Considering how many pieces you get and the positive impact it's had on our lives, I do think it's a great value in the long run. I absolutely love the consistency it's brought to our family, and I sincerely hope you all find as much joy in it as we have. I'm excited to keep building our collection and seeing what new additions Charmspring comes out with.