We started our part time homeschooling this year and getting started is expensive! I wanted to try to simulate all the best and most fun parts of public school at home and involve my 4 year old who isn’t old enough for school, and a pocket chart calendar was a must.
But they’re over $20 for just the pocket chart without any of the calendar pieces. And it’s just made from nylon and vinyl so…it seemed like a sensible thing to make myself.
For about $4.50 I made the exact chart I could have purchased for $20 and it was super easy and totally worth the DIY effort.
Here’s how!
MATERIALS
INSTRUCTIONS
1.Cut the nylon so it measures 36″ x 51″ – I folded it in half, measured 25.5″ from the fold, and cut off the excess.
2. Cut the vinyl into 9 – 2″ x 25″ strips.
3. On the nylon: sew right sides together using a 1/4″ seam from the folded edge around all three other edges, leaving a 4″ space to turn.
4. Turn it inside out and edge stitch along the entire rectangle – this will give it a nice finished look and also close the opening you left to turn.
5. With an air erasable fabric marking pen (or something else that will easily remove), mark sewing guides where you will be attaching the vinyl to the nylon. The first line should be down 4″ from the top, the next line down 3.5″, and the rest of the lines 4″ apart.
6. Sew the vinyl strips down to the nylon, lining the edge of the vinyl up with the lines on the nylon (the bottom edge of the vinyl will be on the line so the pocket is above the line). Sew about 1/8″ away from the edge of the vinyl.
7. Create the pockets by sewing vertical lines 3.5″ apart. Sew from the 2nd strip of vinyl down to the 7th strip for the days of the week and all the days of the month pockets.
The top pocket is for the month and year, the 8th pocket is for weather charting, and the 9th pocket is for storage. Depending on how you want to do your month, weather chart, and storage, sew the vertical lines to create custom pockets in the sizes that will work best for you.
I found my calendar and weather cards on various blogs. Here are a few of my favorite calendar card freebies.
Now each morning we talk about the weather and put in the date card for the day.
And I frequently see Gus playing around with the weather cards and updating them throughout the day as the weather changes.
It’s been so fun to have our own, customized pocket chart calendar to help us with our calendar, number, and observation skills. Even if it had been more expensive to make myself, I still would have done it to get a color that won’t give me a headache…It seems that school supply companies are big fans of the exclusive use of primary colors in their homeschooling decor and supplies… Yuck!
Happy calendaring!
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