Family Communication Board

Family Communication Board

* I apologize now for any wrong spelling, bad sentence structure or any other things that just don't make sense. I have a horrible sinus infection and my head is pretty much a congested, painful, spinning mess. : )*

I keep seeing all these wonderful ideas for organizing the family but it seemed like too many organizing "boards". Kids chore board, dinner board, family schedule etc. So, I came up with a board that has the three things I considered most important for my family. 

A Calendar with all events

Extra Chores with visual incentives

Meal planning for a week

Total Cost:

I had everything on hand so it was free.

If buying everything it would come out to about: $20, with the board being the most expensive. 

Supplies Needed:

Paper Clips 

Push pins

Paper

Laminating Sheets

Magnet Buttons

Dry Erase Marker

I bought the board from Office Max. It's also a magnet board. Board Dudes Magnetic Cubicle Monthly Calendar Dry Erase Board (Google Affiliate Ad)

How To:

Really it's up to you in how you want to organize this. I used the calendar as an area for the kids to see what was going in the week. My son gets to pick his swimming days so this way he can see what 3 days he choose and when they are. They like to see the days they don't have school too! They know that Saturday is chore day but sometimes they tend to forget. So, this will show them when it's chore day and what the chores are on that Saturday. On every Saturday I will write what their "normal" chores are. These are chores they are expected to do to help around the house, they don't get paid for these. 

* To see picture better, click on it*

~Then, I made an Extra Chore Chart with money incentives. Now they can visually see the money. They tend to be money hungry and seeing it gets them excited. With these, I just came up with 12 different chores that they can do that would be worth $1. I have 12 so that I can rotate the chores and not have the same windows get washed every week. I put out new chores every Saturday.  On the back of each chore I wrote exactly what that chore entails. That way they know exactly what you want done in order to get the $1. To hang these, I used the magnet buttons and the paper clips stick right on the magnet! I also laminated the cards to keep them neat.

* To see picture better, click on it*

~ Finally, the Meal Planner. I wanted this to be easy and simple. All I did was laminate some scrapbook paper. You can design your cards to read whatever you want. I wanted all three meals of the day so they kids wouldn't be "surprised" as to what was for any meal of the day. 

To help plan dinners, I wrote down 21 meals that I know my family likes, that are easy to cook, and that are cheap. Then I let each kid pick a meal off that list and what day they want it.  I then pick 3 more meals and leave 1 day for leftovers. Finally, I make my shopping list from that and write, with dry erase markers Expo Click Retractable Low Odor Fine Tip Dry Erase Markers, 6 (Google Affiliate Ad)  in the meals for the week! Now the kids look forward to their day they picked dinner! 

Extra Tips:

~ I glued a magnet to the dry erase marker to keep it handy on the board. I also glued a pom pom to the lid for an easy eraser!

~ For my meal planning, I have a 3 ring binder that I keep all my recipes in. The front is sectioned off to keep my list of 21 dinners I can choose from and any recipes from the dinners on that list. During season change, like winter, I come up with a new list of 21 winter dinners and pull those recipes to be in front for easy access. 

So, that's my Family Communication board! I hope it helps you to plan your own board. They are many different ideas you can do. Customize it to fit your family! I would love to hear your ideas!!

Thank you!