If keeping track of the days of the week while staying at home all the time has been tough for me, I can only imagine its confusing for the kids. All semblance of schedule has gone out the window–no school, no sports, parents home all the time. It must mess with their internal calendar so much!
When E5 and E8 started asking in April if we were close to Halloween and Christmas, on an almost daily basis I figured it was time to set up a way for them check in on the days and the Seasons.
After a bit of looking around, contemplating DIYs (they always look fun, but art is not my forte, and longevity matters for this one), we opted for the Mirus Toys Perpetual Calendar. (I’m not affiliated but would gladly recommend them)
It does a great job giving daily, monthly, yearly and seasonal context. We opted for the version with the spinning dial for the date so that, if we missed a day updating, the days we missed would be acknowledged as you turn the dial past each of those days.
E8 loves the moon phases section. Knowing what to expect (and what its called) suits him to a T. Its pretty nifty how they show the direction of the sun and WHY the moon appears (or doesn’t) as it does
At the base is a beautiful depiction of the seasons aligned with the months. Today the kids have been talking about how the first part of June is in Spring, but it ends in Summer–it is beautifully visualized here.
A couple of Mechanics:
If you’re thinking of ordering one: the indicator for temperature and weather are magnetized–but if lost could easily be replaced with any magnet of your choice.
There is a hole on the back if you want to hang it.
I love this and agree completely: finding a way to visually measure and mark the passage of time is such a helpful tool but especially now. We recently embraced the use of an okay to wake clock and, occasionally, a timer – both with huge success. This looks like such a fun way to apply the concepts on a macro scale!
Ooh thats great to hear that the clock and timer are working so well! It makes such a difference when they start to understand time passing.
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Hi there! I got here from your review on Etsy and I see your kids and mine are almost the same age, I have been looking for something like this forever but I wonder if its worth the expense. Do your kids got bored of it already? I can totally see my 5 year old engaged with this for a while but I don’t want to invest in it if after 2-3 months they will just ignore it, LOL. I am starting homeschooling them this year so this is something that I definitely want to be a part of our morning routine 🙂
Hi Michelle! Both of my kids have really enjoyed it so far–during the summer they haven’t updated it every day, but thats part of why I really like this format–they can “feel” the passing of the days that they didn’t update by the longer spin of the date wheel. We have to keep a chart of who updated it most recently so the number of turns is fair 😉 so I think it’s fair to say that it is still popular. I have no doubt it will be a part of our morning routine once school picks up again in a week or two, not a forgotten item.