Are you trying to balance ballet lessons, karate, and workouts at the gym along with homework, tutoring sessions and hockey and soccer practice? It’s tiring just thinking about the juggling act parents do on a daily basis with busy work and school schedules, plus all those extracurricular activities. It’s easy for things to fall through the cracks when trying to ensure everyone gets where they need to be on time.
Teamsnap keeps the kids’ sports organized, but what about everything else? What family schedule organizer do you use? A color-coded calendar in the kitchen, a traditional monthly or weekly planner, or the built-in calendar on your smartphone? If your family organizing system is letting you down or so complicated no one else in the family understands it, don’t worry. There is an app for that and we’ve got the top family organizer apps to keep everyone’s schedule in the house on track.
Cozi Family Organizer
The app is a perfect pick for busy families. Its design allows you to keep everyone’s appointments, practices, and activities all in one place. A color-coding system lets you keep track of who is doing what, much like that bulky calendar system or wall chalkboard. Instead of being stuck in the kitchen where you can forget what’s on tap for the afternoon, Cozi goes on the go with you on your smartphone. The app also has other cool features including virtual class schedules to see where the kids are during the day, the ability to keep tabs on upcoming school events, and the ability to make a grocery list. Cozi is free to download on Apple and Samsung phones.
CloudCal
This android app lets you organize your daily, weekly, and monthly schedule much like a traditional pen and paper planner. It also lays out all the activities scheduled for the day so you can plan accordingly. Magic circles give you a heads up about your busiest times of the day as well as when you have a few minutes to kick back. If you want to keep track of other family members, you will need to sync those calendars. CloudCal is free to download.
Google Family Calendar
If you’re looking for a family organizer that doesn’t require an app to download, check out the Google Family Calendar. With this organizer, you’re able to add up to five family members. Once you create a Google Family Calendar, all of the members are able to see what’s on tap for the day as well as upcoming events. Members can also add and delete events. Directions on how to set up a Google Family Calendar can be found under Google’s help icon.
Picniic
For a multipurpose family organizer, check out Picniic. This free app features a color-coded calendar where you can keep track of everyone’s schedule, birthdays, anniversaries, and more along with location and photo sharing, to-do and shopping list options, and activity alerts. You can even message family members through the app and keep files with important medical and household information.
FamilyWall
FamilyWall is another type of family organizer offering a color-coded calendar to keep track of everyone’s activities. The calendar will send alerts so no one is late for practices or games. Through the app, you can generate shopping and to-do lists. It also features a family locator option, messaging, photo sharing, and a contact directory. The basic FamilyWall app is free to download. There is a FamilyWall Premium which does have a monthly fee following a free trial period. FamilyWall Premium offers meal planning and recipe importing, can connect to your Google calendar, and more.
Flayk
This app offers users a customizable option along with its daily calendar, to-do list feature, and event organizer. The event organizer can also be utilized within the extended family which makes planning holidays and reunions a whole lot easier. Downloading the basic version of Flayk is free, but a Flayk Premium is available for a monthly fee. Flayk Premium has the same features but offers a rewards system to encourage the kids to complete the chores on the to-do list, a monthly calendar option as well as the ability to sync with other families and groups. The premium version of the app is free of any advertising.
Trello
Typically used to manage team projects at work, some users have found Trello helpful in organizing tasks and homework assignments at home. While not a daily calendar for keeping track of appointments and practices, Trello can be used to keep tabs on kids’ class schedules and homework as well as other chores and projects around the home by using the corkboard feature.
Life is extremely busy and that just multiplies when you have a family. As children get older, their activities increase and it gets harder to keep tabs on everyone. With a family organizer, you can map out when and where everyone needs to be. Traditional wall calendars and planners are helpful, but most of the time they’re hanging on the wall in the kitchen or on the counter. With a family schedule organizer app, you can keep track of everyone’s schedules right on your smartphone. Unlike that kitchen wall calendar, your smartphone travels with you and it’s always at your fingertips. Family organizer apps also offer other features to help you stay on top of busy days. These seven organizer apps are free to download. FamilyWall and Flayk do have premium versions with monthly fees offering additional options.
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