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School holiday & Christmas split planner
Enter the dates of the break, choose how you want to divide it, and see exactly which nights and which big days land in each home. Print it, download it to your calendar, or send it over before anyone books anything. Everything happens in your browser — nothing is saved and no account is needed.
The break
Most schools break up shortly before Christmas and return in the first week of January — check your school's dates.
Use your own school’s dates — term dates vary by school, council and nation, so we never guess them for you.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in one home, then a handover on Boxing Day so New Year falls in the other.
Saved on this device and used for handover entries in the calendar download (11:00–11:30).
Use first names or “Mum”/“Dad” — we never store what you type.
Your holiday plan
Christmas holiday split (Christmas with one home, New Year with the other)
Holiday handovers that don’t go wrong
- Holiday handovers often mean longer journeys. Agree the meeting point and who travels before the break starts, not on the day.
- Pack for the whole block, including anything with a routine attached: medication, comfort items, sports kit, chargers.
- Keep the return time firm even when the days are loose — it is the bit that causes friction later.
- Say out loud who is doing presents, big days out and any travel, so nothing is doubled up or missed.
- Write the plan down somewhere both homes can see it. Memory is the least reliable part of any holiday.
Turn this into a living calendar
In Co-Parenting Harmony the holiday blocks sit in a shared calendar alongside work shifts and the usual custody pattern, handovers send reminders, and either home can propose a swap without a long message thread. Private entries only ever show as “Busy”.
Questions about splitting the holidays
How do most co-parents split the Christmas holiday?
Two approaches are common: alternating the whole break year by year, or splitting it so one home has Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and the other has New Year, then swapping the halves the following year. Both are in the planner so you can compare the actual dates.
Does the planner know my school's holiday dates?
No, and it deliberately doesn't guess. Term and holiday dates vary by school, council and nation, so you enter the first and last day of the break yourself from your school's calendar.
Can I get the plan into my own calendar?
Yes. Download the calendar file to import the stay blocks and handover times into any calendar app, or take the spreadsheet version. You can also print the day-by-day table.
What happens when the plan changes?
A printout goes stale the moment a shift or a train time changes. In a free Co-Parenting Harmony family the holiday blocks sit in a shared calendar, handovers send reminders, and either home can propose a swap instead of a long message thread.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is a planning tool to help you picture a holiday split before you agree it. Any arrangement should be agreed between you, or through the appropriate process where that is needed.
Co-Parenting Harmony is a coordination tool, not a source of legal advice.