What to do as a family in January

January is unfair: the first week is all holiday, and then comes the longest dark stretch of the year, with the tree already out on the pavement and spring still a long way off.

The promises made on the first are usually over by the tenth. So January is better written down than promised — the three plans below are three ways to spend it.

Three plans for January

Each one opens in full: the weeks, a project for everybody in the family, the goal of the month. Any of them can be rewritten for you and printed on two A4 sheets.

• Year in a BoxWhat was the hardest thing to put in the box?Week 1 Watching last year: every photo in one eveningWeek 2 Letters to ourselves — open on 31 DecemberWeek 3 A hundred things for the year, each our ownWeek 4 The photo we will take again next JanuaryLeave ourselves a letter, a list and a photo — and open the box on 31 December.

  Letters to ourselves, a hundred things for the year and a photo to repeat.

• Book MonthWhose book turned out better — his or hers?Week 1 Swapping books: each picks for the otherWeek 2 The reading club: we go and see if it is oursWeek 3 A swap shelf in the hallway, for neighboursWeek 4 Talking it over: did we agree or notRead what the other chose, get to the club and put a shelf up in the hallway.

  Swapping books, trying the club and putting a swap shelf in the hallway.

• Month of GuestsWho do we want to see again?Week 1 The son's classmates come roundWeek 2 Off to grandma and grandpa, long overdueWeek 3 Rounding up the coursemates we lostWeek 4 Getting to know the neighboursOpen the door four times: the children, the family, old friends, the neighbours.

  His classmates, grandma and grandpa, old coursemates and the neighbours.

How it looks on paper

Each plan prints on two A4 sheets. Open an example, change it for your family and print it — moods, progress and notes are filled in with a pen.

Build your own January

If none of them fits, build your own: the theme of the month, four weeks and a project each. It prints the same way — two pages, and onto the fridge.

Other families put their seasons up too — there are more on the showcase.