Calendars
Where can I find information about calendars?
(Years 5-8)
Image: Calendar (close-up, shallow depth of field).jpg by Dafne Cholet on Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0. Image cropped.
Entry last updated: 20/05/26
Introduction
Calendars are used to divide and measure time. They have small units (days, weeks) that build into larger units (months, years). Calendars usually track the cycles of the sun (solar) or the moon (lunar).
Types of calendars
Over history, different cultures have used different calendars to track time and to have routine. Different calendars have been based on changes in the seasons and have tracked the movement of the sun, the moon or other stars. Here are some of the more well known calendars.
Gregorian: currently used in most parts of the world.
Julian: used before the Gregorian calendar.
Jewish: linked to the sun and moon.
Muslim: follows the moon.
Chinese: linked to the sun and moon.
Mayan: worked on 365 days as part of a 52 year cycle.
Aztec: worked on 365 days as part of a 52 year cycle.
French Republican: used 1793-1805. Had 365 days divided into 12 months of 3 weeks, 10 days each with 5 holidays at the end.
Perpetual: a calendar that is valid for many years. You can use it to calculate any given day of the month for a year.
Maramataka: traditional Māori calendar. Follows the moon.
General websites
Here are some websites that have great information about the history of calendars and how they developed over time. They also have information about days, months and years.
Britannica School is one of the EPIC databases. EPIC is a collection of reliable databases put together especially for New Zealand school students.
Enter the keyword 'calendar' into the search box.
Select the calendar article.
Read about different types of calendars and how people measured months, weeks and days.
Change the level on the navigator for more detailed information.
Tips: To use the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians.
Tips: Search words (keywords) are the most important words in our question, eg calendar. We can leave out small words like ‘the’ and ‘of’.
This website explains more about how we measure days, weeks, months and years.
Select the Measurement box.
Go down to the heading Time and Date.
Select the sub-heading Introduction to Days, Weeks, Months and Years to get started.
You can also select the top arrow to go to the next page.
You'll find a number of useful links here eg Days or Months.
Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the company’s mission and values are.
A well-known website for giving information about time, dates and time zones. It also has information about calendars.
Search for 'calendars' and go to the Calendar & Holidays Overview.
This page links to information about holidays, months and days.
Or, under the heading Calendar types, go to Read more about calendar types.
This has articles like What is a Calendar? and about the different types of calendars.
The History World website tells us about important events in history from around the world. It has an overview of how different calendars developed in different societies.
Use the keyword 'calendar' in the search box.
Select Calendar | History World.
At the top left of the page are shortcuts to information about different calendars, like the Julian and Mayan calendars.
Tips: Some sites have ads which tell us to buy something or ‘click here’. It’s best to ignore them and focus on what we’re looking for.
This site brings together lots of videos for kids. Each video has been carefully chosen and there are videos on all sorts of topics.
Find the magnifying glass and search for 'calendars'.
Watch the video How does Leap Year work?
This talks about why February sometimes has an extra day.
Books
Days, week, and months by Margaret Joy.
What time is it? by A. G. Smith.
365: how to count a year by Miranda Paul.
The calendar by Patricia K. Kummer.
SCIS no: 1905044
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