Maybe it's a kitchen doorframe with eight years of lines, two kids' names and a few dates you can barely read. Maybe you're moving or repainting, or you just want the whole record somewhere you can take with you. This guide shows how to transfer wall pencil marks to a growth chart so each line lands at the right height and keeps its story.

First, photograph the wall before you touch anything

Photos are your backup if a measurement goes wrong later, and they keep the original handwriting. Take them before any cleaning, patching or painting.

• One wide shot of the whole doorframe or wall, floor to top mark.
• A close-up of each mark with a tape measure hanging beside it, so the height is readable in the photo.
• A close-up of each label, even the smudged ones. Zooming in later often recovers a date you can't read in person.

Save them to an album named for the house or room, so they're easy to find years from now.

What you'll need

• A steel locking tape measure (not a sewing tape, which stretches)
• A small level or carpenter's square, to read straight across from a mark to the tape
• A notebook, spreadsheet or printed copy of the log below
• Low-tack painter's tape, for temporary flags on the chart
• A ruler or straightedge, 12 inches or longer
• A fabric-safe pen or marker, plus a second color if you're copying more than one child
• A sturdy step stool for any marks above your eye level
• A clean, hard table big enough to lay the chart flat

Pick a chart that makes copying easy

Any growth chart with an accurate printed scale works for this method, because you're matching numbers, not positions. Look for numbers you can read at a glance, a clear starting height (which tells you how high to hang it), and open space beside the scale for labels. A purely decorative chart with no numbers forces you into the story-stick method further down.

Our Canvas Kids Growth Chart ($44) is 100% cotton canvas, starts at the 6-inch mark so it clears baseboards, and includes a fabric-safe pen, so the main marking pen is covered. There's also a rainbow version in our canvas growth chart collection.

Canvas Kids Growth Chart

$44.00

View the Canvas Kids Growth Chart

Step by step: how to move pencil height marks to a growth chart

In short: measure, log, check, flag, ink, hang, verify. Try to do all the measuring in one sitting so your technique stays the same for every mark.

1. Find the floor your kids actually stood on

Every height starts at the floor, so decide where zero is before you measure. Measure from the finished floor right below each mark, not from a raised threshold strip or the top of a baseboard.

If the flooring changed since some marks were made, note which marks came before and after. Thick carpet and pad sit noticeably higher than tile or wood, and that shifts the numbers.

To correct for it, find where the old floor sat. Look for a paint or scuff line at the bottom of the door casing, or compare the thickness of the old and new flooring at a transition strip. If the new floor is higher, add the difference to every mark made before the change. If it's lower, subtract it. Write "floor-adjusted" in that row's Notes.

2. Measure each mark straight up

Set the tape's hook flat on the floor directly below the mark and run the blade up, pressed flat against the trim or wall. Hold a level or square from the mark across to the tape, and read where it crosses. Old floors often slope, so measure right under each line instead of from one spot for all of them.

• Read to the nearest 1/8 inch.
• Pick one part of every line and stick with it. We use the top edge. On thick lines, switching edges can shift a mark against its neighbors.
• Measure every mark twice. If the readings differ by more than 1/8 inch, measure a third time and keep the two that agree.

3. Write everything in a transfer log

Record every mark before you go near the chart. The log is your master copy: it survives a move, a paint job and a slipped pen. Copy this layout into a notebook or spreadsheet.

Sort rows by child, then by date. If a mark has no date at all, give it a best guess and write "about" in the notes, so you'll always know which dates are estimates.

4. Sanity-check the numbers

Read down each child's rows. Heights should rise as the dates move forward. If one dips below the mark before it, something is off. The usual culprits:

• A mark taken in shoes, or the one before it was
• A flooring change between the two marks
• A mislabeled date, or two kids' marks mixed up
• A friend's or cousin's mark made during a visit

Don't fix a dip by guessing. Recheck the wall and your photos, then correct the row or note what you found.

5. Lay the chart flat and place tape flags

Lay the chart face up on a clean, hard table. Before you flag anything, lay your steel tape along the printed scale and check that its numbers match the chart's at a few points, low and high. If they drift apart, line the tape up with the chart's starting number and place every flag by the tape instead of the printed lines.

For each row in the log, find the printed inch line just below that height, then use the ruler to measure the fraction up from it. For 34 1/8 in, that's 1/8 inch above the 34 line. Stick a small flag of painter's tape there, beside the printed scale, with its top edge at that point, and write the name and date on the tape. Test the tape on a back corner first to make sure it lifts cleanly.

Flags let you see the whole layout before anything is permanent. You'll spot crowded years where labels would collide, and any mark that looks wrong next to its neighbors, while fixing it just means moving tape.

6. Ink each mark with a straightedge

Set the ruler square to the printed scale with its edge at the top of the flag, draw along the edge, then peel the flag off and write the label beside the line. Work one flag at a time and fill in the Copied column as you go. Let the ink dry fully before you move or hang the chart.

7. Hang it at the right height and spot-check

A chart's numbers only match real heights when its starting number sits that many inches above the floor. For a chart that starts at 6 inches, the start of the scale goes exactly 6 inches up. Once it's hung, measure from the floor to two or three copied marks. They should match your log.

If they don't, compare how far off each one is. If every checked mark is off by the same amount, the chart is hanging too high or too low. Move the nail or hook by that amount, down if the marks read high and up if they read low, then check again. If the marks are off by different amounts, recheck those rows against the wall or your photos before you trust the set.

Our guide to hanging a canvas growth chart without wrecking your wall covers the single-anchor setup. If the chart goes in a nursery, hang it securely and keep it off the wall above the crib.

Measure-and-mark vs. the story-stick method

Carpenters use a story stick to copy positions without reading numbers: a straight strip you mark directly, then carry to the new spot. It's a good way to copy wall growth marks to canvas if fractions on a tape aren't your thing.

Stand a straight board, like a 1x2, against the wall beside the marks, with its bottom end on the floor. Use a square to carry each mark across onto the board and label it. Later, stand the board on the floor beside the hung chart and carry each mark across again.

For most families, measure-and-mark is the safer choice. If you use a story stick, check a couple of its marks with a tape measure anyway.

Tricky marks and how to handle them

Smudged or unlabeled marks

Look through photos for a picture taken near the doorframe, or anything else that dates that year. Then write "about age 4" on the chart. An honest "about" beats a confident wrong date.

Marks you know were made in shoes

Copy them as measured and write "shoes" beside them. Soles vary too much to subtract a fixed amount.

Marks that were painted over

In a dim room, shine a flashlight across the wall at a low angle. Pencil pressure sometimes leaves a dent that shows as a faint shadow. If nothing appears, copy only what you can confirm and leave a note for the rest.

Marks on more than one wall, or from an old house

Log each place separately, measured from its own floor, then merge the rows by date. Add the source to the notes column so you know which wall each mark came from.

Crowded years and more than one child

When two marks sit close together, write the label off to the side and draw a short line back to the mark. For siblings, give each child one pen color or their initials, and keep that system going. Test any extra pen on the back of the chart first.

Grown-ups, grandparents and the dog

Copy them if they're part of the story. If a mark is taller than the chart's printed scale, write it as a note near the top, such as "Dad, 6 ft 1 in," rather than guessing where it should go.

Add a note that says where the marks came from

A short line near the bottom of the chart tells anyone reading it later which marks were copied and from where. Keep it small:

"Marks before March 2026 copied from the kitchen doorframe on Elm Street, 2018–2026."

"* = copied from the hallway wall at our first apartment."

If you'd like to record more than the date beside each line, here are ten ideas for what to write next to growth chart marks.

Before you paint over the original wall

• ☐  Every mark is photographed, plus one wide shot.
• ☐  Every mark is in the log, measured twice.
• ☐  Each child's heights rise with the dates, or the exceptions are noted.
• ☐  The chart hangs at its correct starting height.
• ☐  Two or three copied marks measure the same on the chart as they did on the wall.
• ☐  The log is saved somewhere outside the house, even if it's just a photo of the notebook.

If you own the home and can't part with the original, you can pry off the doorframe casing, keep it, and install new trim. It's a small carpentry job, but check two things first:

• Lead paint. In homes built before 1978, painted trim may contain lead. Test the paint before you pry, and keep kids away from any chips and dust, or hire a lead-safe certified contractor. The EPA's lead page explains testing and finding help.
• A home sale. Trim is normally part of the house and goes with the sale. Swap it out before you list, or check your sale agreement first.

Renters should check the lease before painting or removing anything. Your photos and the chart become the keepsake.

If a move is why you're doing this, our guide to helping kids say goodbye to the old house fits this step into a week-by-week plan.

Keep the new marks consistent with the old ones

Copied marks are only as useful as the ones that come next. Use the same rules going forward: shoes off, heels and back against the wall, a flat hardback book on top of the head, and the same edge of the line every time.

Pick one measuring day a year so the gaps between marks mean something. January 1 works well for many families, and our New Year's measuring routine walks through it in about ten minutes.

The wall held these marks for years, and one careful afternoon is enough to move them. Photograph first, measure twice, write everything down, and the whole record comes with you, every line at its true height with its date beside it.

Frequently asked questions