Both parents, one calendar
Invite the other parent or a guardian. You both see the same week and can add, change or move anything, from your own phones.
The family calendar
The family calendar for busy Irish parents
Hurling on Tuesday, dancing on Thursday, swimming on Saturday and a match on Sunday. Add the dentist, a birthday party, the car insurance renewal and a mid-term to plan around. Bopstars puts the whole family’s week in one calendar that both parents share, so nobody has to carry it all in their head.
Start your family calendar
Free, and set up in a few minutes. Sign in with Google, no new password.
Why families need one shared calendar
In most families, one parent ends up holding the whole schedule in their head: which child has what, who’s driving, what needs packing, when the school is closed. The rest lives in a WhatsApp thread, a note on the fridge and a work calendar that doesn’t know the kids exist. Things slip: the gear bag forgotten, two things booked for the same evening, the parent–teacher meeting nobody remembered.
A shared family calendar fixes that. Everything goes in one place, both parents see the same week, and the kids know what’s coming too.
Shared between parents, properly
See who added what
Every event shows who added it and who changed it last, so there’s no “I never saw that”.
Your plans and theirs
Mark an event for a child, for a parent, for a few people, or for everyone. Tap “Me” to see just your own plans for the week.
Notes for the other parent
Pin a short note on the other parent’s home screen (“Milo needs his gear bag tonight”) until the end of today, tomorrow night or Sunday. It can’t be missed, and it tidies itself away.
The whole week at a glance
Open Bopstars and your home screen shows what’s on this week, with the next few things first. Open the calendar for more:
- List, week or month. Scroll through everything coming up, see a week at a time, or get the big picture for the month. Swipe between weeks and months.
- A colour for every child. Each child has their own colour on every activity, so you can see at a glance who has what, and spot a clash or a free evening.
- One person at a time. Tap a child’s name, or “Me”, to see just their week. Whole-family plans always show.
- Every activity on its own card: the time and how long it takes, where it is, who’s going, and whether it’s happening now, up next or done.
- Trips and holidays run across the days they cover, so a week in Kerry is hard to miss.
Add things in seconds
Tap the round + button and just fill in what, when and who. That’s it. When you need more, the full form has:
- Where it is, and any notes (“bring the hurl and a water bottle”).
- A type, from sport and school to Irish culture and health, so each event gets its own picture.
- All-day events and trips over several days.
- Repeats every week until a date you choose, or every year for birthdays and other yearly days.
- Stars for turning up, if it’s one of the children’s activities (more on that below).
Set it once: weekly activities and yearly dates
Weekly activities
Hurling on Tuesdays, dancing on Thursdays, swimming on Saturdays: add each once and it repeats every week until the season ends.
Children’s birthdays, automatically
Add a child’s date of birth and their birthday appears every year, with the age they’re turning.
Birthdays and milestones
Granny’s birthday (her 80th, if you add the year), anniversaries and other milestones come round every year by themselves.
Cultural days
Diwali, Eid, Lunar New Year, Hanukkah, Samhain, or any day that matters to your family.
Home and renewals
Car insurance, the NCT, motor tax, the TV licence, the boiler service: the yearly admin, with a reminder a week before. The kids don’t see these.
A week’s warning
Birthdays, milestones and renewals in the next seven days appear on your home screen, so there’s time to buy the card.
Made for Irish families
- Every Irish bank holiday is already there, from St Brigid’s Day to St Stephen’s Day, worked out for every year and shaded on the calendar so the long weekends stand out. (Here’s the full list of Irish bank holidays.)
- The days families mark, like Pancake Tuesday, Mother’s Day, Halloween and Christmas Eve, are labelled too.
- Activity types built for Irish childhoods: GAA, camogie, Irish dancing, trad music and Gaeilge sit alongside school, sport and music.
Your school’s and club’s calendars, included
Many schools and clubs share their calendar as a link (a Google Calendar, “iCal” or “Subscribe” link). Paste it into Bopstars, choose whether it’s for the whole family or particular children, and term dates, closures and fixtures appear in your family calendar by themselves. It updates every few hours, so changes come through without you doing anything.
In your own calendar too
Already live in Outlook or Google Calendar for work? Each parent can make a private link that shows the family calendar right there, next to your meetings. Choose what it shows:
- Everything for the whole family,
- just your own plans plus whole-family ones, or
- one child’s week.
It works with Outlook (including work accounts), Google Calendar and the iPhone, iPad and Mac calendar, with one-tap buttons to add it. Weekly activities and birthdays come through properly as repeating events. Only you have the link, and you can switch it off or replace it at any time.
The kids’ side: their week, and stars for turning up
Children see their own week on their own screen (their training, lessons, matches and family birthdays), so they know what’s coming and what to get ready. And if you like, turning up can earn a reward: add stars to an activity, and after it’s over your child taps “I did it!”. You approve it with one tap from your home screen, and the stars go towards rewards you’ve chosen. Cold, wet Saturday-morning matches finally get the credit they deserve.
Private to your family
- Only the parents and guardians you invite can see your family’s calendar.
- Children see only their own week (their activities, whole-family plans and family birthdays), and can’t change anything. The grown-ups’ own appointments and the household admin stay with the grown-ups.
- Calendar links are private and can be switched off at any time.
- Children never receive emails from Bopstars. Read the privacy policy for the details.
Set up your family calendar in five minutes
- Sign in with GoogleNo forms, no new password. Name your family.
- Add your childrenA name and a date of birth, and their birthdays are on the calendar straight away.
- Add this week’s activitiesTap +, and set the weekly ones to repeat.
- Invite the other parentSend them an invite link from the Family page.
- Optional: add it to your own calendarMake your private link under Calendar → Manage calendars.
Why not just use Google Calendar?
Google Calendar and Outlook are great for work, and Bopstars works alongside them. But they weren’t made for family life. Bopstars gives you a colour for each child, a view for the kids themselves, weekly activities and birthdays that understand children, Irish bank holidays built in, notes for the other parent, and stars for turning up. And with your private link, you can still see it all in Google Calendar or Outlook.
Questions parents ask
Can both parents use the same family calendar?
Yes. Invite the other parent or a guardian and you both see and can add to the same calendar. Every event shows who added it and who changed it last.
Does it work if we co-parent from two homes?
Yes. Any parent or guardian in the family can see and plan the children’s week from their own phone, wherever they live, and pin a note for the other parent about anything they need to know.
Can I see the family calendar in Outlook, Google Calendar or on my iPhone?
Yes. Each parent can make a private calendar link and add it to Outlook, Google Calendar or Apple Calendar, choosing whether it shows everything, their own plans and whole-family ones, or one child’s. Your calendar app checks it for changes every few hours.
Can I add my child’s school calendar?
Yes. Paste the calendar link your school or club shares (often a Google Calendar or “iCal” link) and its events appear in your family calendar, for the whole family or just the children you choose. It refreshes every few hours.
Does Bopstars know Irish bank holidays?
Yes. Every Irish public holiday is on the calendar automatically, including St Brigid’s Day, worked out for every year, so the long weekends are always there when you’re planning.
Does it send reminders or notifications?
Bopstars shows reminders on your home screen, such as birthdays and renewals coming up in the next week and notes from the other parent. It doesn’t send phone notifications yet. If you add your private link to your phone’s own calendar, you can use that calendar’s alerts.
Can children see the family calendar?
Children see their own week on their own screen: their activities, family birthdays and whole-family plans. They can’t add, change or delete anything, and they never see events meant only for the grown-ups.
Can I add grandparents or a childminder?
You can invite another parent or guardian to the family, and they’ll see everything a parent sees. For someone who just needs to see the week, such as a childminder, the private calendar link is a simpler way to share it.
Does it work on Android and iPhone?
Yes. Bopstars works in any web browser on phones, tablets and computers. Add it to your home screen and it opens like an app, with nothing to download from an app store.
How much does it cost?
Bopstars is free to use.