Birthdays are spread across the calendar, and holidays like Thanksgiving move every year. New Year's Day stays put. Maybe you've meant to mark your kids' heights and then realized it's been two years since the last line. If so, a new year's growth chart tradition settles the "when" for good: one morning, every kid, the same date every year.

Below you'll find why the date works, how to get an accurate mark from a wiggly four-year-old, and what to write beside each line. There's also a copy-ready tradition card to fill in every January 1.

Why January 1 is the easiest annual height check

In short: the date never changes, the whole family is usually home, and each gap on the chart equals one year.

• The date never moves. You never have to look up when a holiday falls this year, and you'll remember it without trying.
• Siblings get measured side by side. One morning covers every child, so marks from the same year sit together and are easy to compare.
• The spacing is clean. The distance from one Jan 1 line to the next is one year of growth, with no math.
• It's a slow morning for a lot of families. Most little kids are asleep long before midnight, and the first morning of the year is usually unhurried.
• It suits the start-of-year mood. You're already thinking about the year behind you and the one ahead, and a height mark makes that concrete.

There is a tradeoff. A Jan 1 mark won't line up with each child's exact age the way a birthday mark does. To fix that, write the age in years and months next to each line. If you already measure on birthdays, keep going. Just use a different style for those marks, such as a dot instead of a line, so the two sets don't blur together.

Get the chart ready before New Year's Eve

In short: five minutes in late December saves you a crooked, rushed mark on the first.

If a chart is already on your wall, run through this list sometime between Christmas and New Year's:

• Check the hang. Charts get bumped and re-hung. Use a tape measure to confirm that the chart's lowest printed number sits exactly that far off the floor. On a chart that starts at the 6-inch mark, that line should be 6 inches up. If the chart has slipped half an inch, every new mark will be off by the same amount.
• Clear the floor in front of it. Kids need to stand flat against the wall, so move the toy bin or laundry basket now.
• Find the pen. Store it with the cap on, somewhere up high. Pen caps are small enough to be a choking risk for toddlers.
• Gather the rest: a tape measure, a flat hardcover book, a few sticky notes or a roll of painter's tape, and last year's card if you have one.

If you don't have a chart yet, you have three realistic choices:

• A door frame costs nothing. The marks stay behind when you move, though, and one coat of paint can erase years of them.
• An app is quick to update and easy to back up, but you still need a wall and a tape measure for the number, and there's nothing on the wall for kids to see between measurements. We compared the two in growth chart vs. growth app.
• A hanging chart keeps every mark in one place and moves with you.

We built our Canvas Kids Growth Chart ($44) for exactly this kind of once-a-year habit. It's 100% cotton canvas and starts at the 6-inch mark, so it clears baseboards. It comes with a fabric-safe pen and can be personalized with a name. It hangs from a single grommet, which means it comes down easily if you move. If you'd like more color, a rainbow version at the same price is in our canvas growth charts collection. Growth charts ship in 7–10 business days, so leave a few weeks if you want the first mark to go on January 1.

Canvas Kids Growth Chart

$44.00

View the Canvas Kids Growth Chart

Our guide to hanging a canvas growth chart without wrecking your wall walks through the one-anchor setup. In a nursery, secure the chart on a clear wall away from the crib, and never hang it above the crib.

How to measure your kids on New Year's morning

In short: take shoes off, put heels to the wall, set a flat book on top and mark right under it. If you can, make it a two-person job, with one person holding the book and the other marking and reading.

1. Pick a time and keep it. Kids can measure a little taller in the morning than at bedtime, so measuring at the same time each year keeps the marks fair. Right after breakfast on Jan 1 is easy to remember.
2. Take off shoes and socks and let hair down. Remove ponytails, buns, clips and headbands. A thick pair of socks or a top bun can add more height than you'd expect.
3. Put heels to the wall. Your child's feet go flat and together, with heels touching the wall right below the chart. Legs stay straight and arms hang loose at their sides.
4. Have them look straight ahead. Kids love to tip their chin up to look taller. Ask them to look at something across the room at their own eye level.
5. Lay a hardcover book flat on their head. Keep one edge pressed against the wall so the book sits level. Press down just enough to flatten their hair. A tipped book is the easiest way to get a mark that's off.
6. Have them duck out, then flag the spot. Hold the book still while your child steps away. Press a sticky note or a small strip of painter's tape right under the book's edge, or read the height off the chart with the tape measure. Leave the pen capped for now.
7. Measure twice, then draw one line. Repeat the whole thing. If the second reading lands somewhere else, keep going until two readings match. Then draw one short line along the top edge of the tape with the fabric-safe pen, and peel the tape off.
8. Write the number down. Read the height off the chart to the nearest quarter inch and put it on the card before anyone forgets.

If your toddler won't hold still, turn it into a game. Play "statue" on the count of three, or measure a stuffed animal, a sibling or a grown-up first so they can see how it works. If it turns into a struggle, take a short break and try again.

What to write next to each mark

In short: name, date and age, in the same format every year.

• Name or initial. Initials work well once there's more than one child on the chart.
• The full date, including the year. "Jan 1" on its own won't mean much in ten years. Something like "1/1/27" is enough.
• Age in years and months. "4y 2m" lets you compare siblings at the same age, even though they were all measured on the same day.
• The number, if there's room. Lines crowd together in some years, and a written height saves you squinting later.

A full entry looks like this: Sam · 1/1/27 · 4y 2m. Keep the text small and the line short, because siblings who are close in age will eventually land near each other.

If you have two kids, give each one a side of the chart. The oldest's marks go on the left edge and the youngest's on the right. With three or more, add initials to every line, or use a fabric-safe marker in a different color for each child. If you make a wrong mark, leave it and note the correction on that year's card. On canvas, a crossed-out line looks messier than the mistake itself.

Your one-page "Measure on Jan 1" tradition card

The chart holds the lines. The card holds everything around them: who measured, who guessed closest, and what your child cared about that year. You can copy it into a notebook, print it on a single sheet or save it as a phone note. Fill out one card per child every January 1. Keep all the cards in one folder so you can pull out last year's before you measure.

The one-minute interview. Ask these questions and write down your child's answers word for word. For kids too young to answer, a grown-up can fill in what they're into right now.

"My favorite food right now is ____."

"The best thing I did this past year was ____."

"This year I want to learn how to ____."

"My best friend is ____."

"When I grow up, I want to be ____."

"Next New Year's, I think I'll be ____ inches tall."

The grown-up line. Add one sentence from you for your child to read someday:

"One thing you did this year that I never want to forget: ____."

Morning-of checklist:

• ☐  Chart height checked in late December
• ☐  Floor in front of the chart cleared
• ☐  Pen, hardcover book, tape measure, painter's tape or sticky notes, and blank cards ready, plus last year's card
• ☐  Guesses written down before anyone measures
• ☐  Shoes off, socks off, hair down
• ☐  Two matching readings for each child before any pen goes on the chart
• ☐  Name, date and age written beside each line
• ☐  Photo taken from the same spot as last year
• ☐  Cards filed together, and pen capped and put back up high

Small extras that make kids look forward to it

The measuring itself only takes a few minutes. The extras are what kids remember, and you don't need to buy anything for them.

• Read last year's card out loud first. Kids love hearing that they once wanted to drive a garbage truck, or that their best friend was the dog.
• Run the family guess. Everyone writes down a number before the book comes out. Whoever guesses closest picks the New Year's Day lunch or the afternoon movie.
• Take the same photo every year. Photograph your child next to the chart from the same spot and height each time. Sitting on the same step or chair keeps the angle consistent. After ten years, the photos line up into a story of their own.
• Mark the grown-ups once. If the chart reaches high enough, measure each parent the first year. Those lines become the finish line kids are chasing, and they never need redoing.
• Add a handprint to the first mark. On a canvas chart, a handprint in non-toxic paint beside a child's first line is a sweet start. Do it once per child, not every year, or the chart will fill up fast.

If you decorate for New Year's, keep confetti and small party favors away from kids under 3. Keep uninflated or popped balloons and balloon pieces away from kids under 8. Light-up favors like glasses and necklaces often run on button batteries, so keep those out of reach of all young kids. The height check is fun without any of them.

Babies, trips and missed years

A baby who can't stand yet. Wall charts measure standing height, but babies are measured lying down at checkups. Until your child can stand steadily on their own, copy the length from their latest checkup onto the card and add "checkup, lying down." Their first standing line goes on the chart the first Jan 1 they can manage it. For more on timing, see our guide on when to start tracking your baby's height.

Away on January 1. Measure on your first morning back home, at your usual time, and write the real date. One late mark doesn't break the tradition. If you'd rather keep the date, a canvas chart can come down and travel with you. And if your family already does a Thanksgiving height check at Grandma's house, leave that chart there and make Jan 1 the at-home mark.

A missed year. Pick it back up the next January. Don't draw in a guessed line for the year you skipped. A gap is honest, and the card can explain it.

A sick kid. Wait a day or two until they feel like standing tall. Measure at the usual time of day and write the real date on the card.

Worried about a number. Kids grow at their own pace, and one year's gap can look very different from the next. A home chart is a keepsake, not a medical tool. If something about your child's growth concerns you, ask their pediatrician, who tracks height on a growth curve at regular checkups. The American Academy of Pediatrics' parent site, HealthyChildren.org, is a good place to read up before that visit.

The whole tradition comes down to three steps: check the chart in late December, measure after breakfast on January 1, and fill in the card. Set a reminder for January 1 now and put the blank cards in the folder you'll use every year, so this is the year the first line goes up.

Frequently asked questions