How to Use a PDA As a Day Planner for a Child

Kids will find planning their day to be fun with a PDA device!

Many children thrive on a regular schedule. Writing out a schedule for your child may make it easy for him to grasp the concept of doing one activity after another. However, In this day and age of technology, it is very easy to set up the simplest of PDA devices to plan your child's day-to-day activities. Using a PDA can be an easy, and fun, way to motivate your youngster to stick to his schedule.

Things You'll Need

• Paper calendar or planner

Instructions

1. 

   A simple PDA device should be enough to get your child up and running.

   Decide on which PDA device to use, a simple palm pilot should be sufficient. The Palm z22, Zire 21 or Zire 31 are all good options, and should provide more than enough memory and options for your child's needs. These three PDAs run the easy-to-use palm OS operating system, and include a built-in calendar, to-do list and note-taking functions. You'll even have the ability to download software applications specific to your child's needs.

2. 

   A paper calendar serves as a great back-up.

   Write out your child's daily schedule, and activities, in your paper calendar or planner. Even while using a PDA device, a paper calendar is a good idea as back-up. Write down all of your child's special events, appointments, activities, daily tasks and assignment due dates.

3. Go into the calendar feature of your PDA device and enter your child's non-regular special events, appointments and activities one by one. Add the times for each event, and select the alarm setting for important scheduled activities. Don't forget to set an alarm for your child's daily wake-up time.

4. Enter your child's regular activities, events and appointments. After entering the time for each event, select how often this entry should be repeated. Options will vary depending on your device, but most PDAs include the option to select weekly, bi-weekly or monthly scheduling. If necessary, set the alarm for each regular activity. Exit the calendar feature once all of your child's activities have been entered.

5. Select the "To-Do" list feature. Enter your child's daily tasks and due dates for each task. This is a great place to enter daily chores, science fair projects, book reports and other assignments that have specific due dates.

6. Add new events and activities each day as they come about. By helping your child remember to stick to her schedule, you will be teaching her a skill she can use for a lifetime.

Tips & Warnings

• For older children, the address book PDA feature can be used for keeping important contact information readily available.

References

• Sandiego Public Library: Aren't PDAs Too Complicated for Children?
• Ten O'Clock Tech: PDAs For Kids