If you have a child that feels less anxious, is more regulated and calm when they know exactly what their day looks like, this one is for you. Most people like to know what is planned, though some (not anyone in my house) seem to do just fine winging the day. Though I do have calendars on the wall for each kid and their events, they are in the kitchen. So when they first wake up, they have no idea. Because my oldest, Whitney, is school aged, she benefits the most from using Alexa to organize her day.
We have 6 Amazon Echo devices in our house…one being in Whitney’s room. I prefer the smaller Echo Dot version, but greatly enjoy the Echo Spot in the kitchen due to its screen which shows song lyrics, items of what I’m reordering, and games to play.
I also use Wall Mount Outlet Hanger holders for the Dots, which work perfectly for keeping cords out of the way.
Anyway, I have programmed Whitney’s Alexa to awake her on school days with a Good Morning phrase from Alexa, a joke of the day, a list of activities from the calendar for the day, and to play some fun music while she gets dressed. In this article, I will go into detail about how to link your calendar to Alexa and setting up an Alexa Routine so your child can benefit from knowing what the day brings.
This is particularly helpful for school aged kiddos because they will know if they need to wear something different because gym class is that day. Or if they have a doctors appointment, a play date, after school activities, or anything else you want to remind them of like a field trip. This can also be used for adults (my Alexa announced the first 4 items on the calendar and I really enjoy knowing what my day looks like), so feel free to program your own Alexa in your bedroom using these same steps.
First you must link a calendar you use to Alexa. I use the iPhone calendar, so this example will be based around that, but this will be similar for the other calendars Alexa links to.
Go to your Amazon Alexa app
Click on the three lines at the top of the app
Scroll down and click on Settings
Scroll down to Calendar and Email and click
Click on Add Account
From here you can click on the calendar/email account you use. I use Apple, so this is what I chose and connected to.
Go back to the home screen of the Alexa app, and again, click on the three lines
Scroll down and click on Routines
Click the plus sign at the top right to Add a new routine
Click the plus sign by “When this happens”
Because this is used as an alarm clock, choose Schedule. But you can see all the other ways you can use Alexa Routines to fit into your life. For example, choose Voice, and set up something like “Alexa, bedtime” and program Alexa so when you say “Alexa, bedtime” music starts playing from the kids bedrooms, and their lights come on, or whatever.
Click “At Time”
Set the time for the time you want your child to wake. Whitney wakes up at 7:40am on school days.
Choose the Repeat option and select the days you want this routine to happen. I chose Weekdays for a Monday-Friday option.
Click Next…
You’ve picked the time and days, now it’s time to Add Action, or what Alexa is supposed to do at the specified time and day.
Choose Calendar. But you can see all the options that Alexa can do. She can announce the news for you, turn on lights or outlets you have in the house, tell you the traffic when you specify your work location, she can even say things like funny jokes, a Good Morning, or just play music.
Because this is coming from our family calendar, and Whitney really doesn’t care or need to know what my day looks like, choose Next Event. I will show you how to program the calendar so it only reads what’s important to your child.
Click Next…
Be sure to specify which Alexa device you want the announcement to come from. So click Choose Device if you have more than one Alexa in the house.
Click Save and now the routine is set!
Go to the Calendar that you use, I use the iPhone Calendar, and open the app.
Click on the day. Because every school day is a different schedule for Whitney, I have to type in each day’s event: gym class, art, computers, etc. The items that are recurring, like every Tuesday is OT, I can set up as a recurring schedule. I know this sounds like a pain, but when I get her monthly calendar from school, I sit down and type out the entire month in about 10 minutes. Then it’s done.
Click the Plus sign at the top to add the new event.
This is the tricky part, so pay attention. The top portion is What Alexa says. The Time is the most important part. Because I have Whitney’s Alexa wake her up at 7:40am, I set the event for 7:45am. This way it is the FIRST event on the calendar for the day. Remember, we set up the Alexa Routine so it only reads the First Event (or next event), so if your child wakes up at 8:00am, set the first event on the calendar for 8:05am.
Also the calendar chosen must be the same calendar chosen on the Alexa app during the first part of the setup where we linked calendars.
And that’s it!!! As I mentioned earlier, use Alexa for yourself as well! It is so nice laying in bed and her telling me what my day looks like, rather than getting on my phone and looking at the calendar. Also, now that your calendar is linked, you can ask Alexa at any point “What’s on my calendar” and she’ll tell you the next event.
