A potty chart can be as simple as a grid of boxes and a sheet of stickers, and this one stays that simple on purpose. It is the weekly chart from our Potty Photo Strip and Chart, free as a single page: seven columns, a name line at the top, and round spots sized for 3/4 inch (19 mm) stickers, a common size for dot and star stickers. There are no cartoon children on it, only outline stars.
What's in the free file?
- Page 1: how to use it. Print it, add a name, a sticker for each try, plus the sticker size and a 1-inch line to check your printer.
- Page 2: the chart. A landscape page with a name line ("______'s potty week") and seven columns, Monday to Sunday.
- A today circle at the top of each day. It is 1.1 inches across, for a star sticker or a drawn star that marks the day you are on.
- Five sticker spots under it, every day. 35 spots in all. Each is a 0.9 inch circle with an outline star printed inside, so it can take a sticker or be colored in.
- Two sizes: US Letter and A4, as two files. The chart prints at the same size on both papers, so the same stickers fit either one.
The chart has no prize box and no row to fill up. It is a record of tries for one week, and it starts fresh the next.
What goes in each spot?
| Part of the chart | What goes there |
|---|---|
| Name line | Your child's name, so it reads "Maya's potty week" |
| Day heading | Already printed, mon to sun |
| Today circle | A star sticker or a drawn star each morning, so your child can find today's column |
| Five spots | A sticker or a colored-in star for each try on the potty that day |
| Spots left over | Nothing. Five spots is room for the day, not a number to reach |
Which stickers fit the chart?
The five spots are 0.9 inch circles. A 3/4 inch (19 mm) round sticker sits inside the line with a little room around it, and 1/2 inch stickers fit too. A 1 inch sticker covers the line. The today circle is bigger, 1.1 inches across, and takes a 1 inch sticker.
Print at "Actual size" (or 100%), not "Fit to page", or the spots shrink. The bottom of the page has a 1-inch ruler line: if it measures 1 inch, the stickers will fit.
No stickers in the house? Your child can color in the printed star with a crayon or a marker. A laminated chart takes a dry-erase marker and wipes clean for the next week.
How to set up the chart
- Print page 2 on plain paper or cardstock, at 100% scale, with background graphics on.
- Write your child's name on the line at the top.
- Hang it where the potty is, on the bathroom wall or just outside the door, low enough for your child to reach the spots.
- Keep the stickers on a shelf above the chart, where you can reach them and hand one over after each try.
- Each morning, mark today's circle together. Put a star in it and say the day: "It's Tuesday. Here's Tuesday."
- After each try, your child adds a sticker to one of today's spots, or colors in a star.
- At the end of the week, start a new sheet, and keep the old one if your child likes looking back at it.
What do the experts say about stickers?
The advice differs, so here are both sides. Nemours KidsHealth, the children's health site of the Nemours pediatric health system, suggests small rewards such as stickers each time a child uses the potty, and a chart to keep track. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), on its page about when to start, says mastering the toilet is the best reward, to avoid rewards and punishments, and to avoid a power struggle, since children control when and where they pee and poop. Its plan page is a little softer: when a child makes progress, a hug, some praise and "perhaps even a small tangible reward".
Where the two agree is routine. The AAP's plan for parents says to keep the potty in the same place every day and the steps the same every time, wiping and hand washing included. KidsHealth describes sitting on the potty for a few minutes at regular times, such as after waking up dry and after meals, and never making a child sit there against their will.
So the free chart is plain on purpose: a record of the week's tries, with no prize at the end. How you use the stickers is your family's call. An empty spot at the end of the day is just an empty spot.
When do children start potty training?
The AAP says that, in general, children show signs of bladder and bowel control between 18 and 24 months of age, and that the average age toilet training begins in the United States is between 2 and 3 years. The readiness signs it lists include:
- staying dry for at least 2 hours at a time during the day, or after naps
- showing they are about to pee or poop, like grunting, freezing or squatting
- following simple instructions
- walking to and from the bathroom and helping to undress
- not liking wet diapers and wanting to be changed
- asking to use the toilet or potty chair, or asking for "big-kid" underwear
When to start is a family's call, and your child's pediatrician can answer questions about your own child.
A chart for the tries, a strip for the steps
The chart shows how the week went. It does not show the steps of going to the potty. In our full Potty Photo Strip and Chart, a strip does that, with a photo for each step. The sit-down strip goes bathroom, pants down, sit, wipe, flush, pants up, wash hands, dry hands; the stand-up strip has stand in place of sit, and no wipe. Each card comes off and goes in an all-done pocket as that step is done.
The photos are of things, never your child: the bathroom door, the potty, the toilet paper, the flush handle, the soap and the towel, each taken from your child's eye level. A handout on making visuals from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) at Vanderbilt University, a national research and training center, gives a tip that fits the potty exactly: when you photograph the toilet, leave the bathtub out of the picture, so the photo shows one thing.
More picture charts for home are on our visual schedules for kids page. A first then board puts two steps side by side, which fits the bathroom too: "First potty, then bath."
Frequently asked questions
What should a potty training chart have on it?
A name, the days of the week and a place for a mark or a sticker after each try. Ours adds a circle at the top of each day to mark today, so a young child can find the right column, and it leaves out prize boxes and point totals.
What size stickers fit this potty chart?
Each sticker spot is a 0.9 inch circle, made for 3/4 inch (19 mm) round stickers; 1/2 inch stickers fit too. The today circle at the top of each day is 1.1 inches across and takes a 1 inch sticker. Print at 100% scale so the spots stay that size.
How many stickers a day does the chart have room for?
Five spots a day, 35 for the week. Five is room, not a goal: some days will use none and some will use all five. If your child tries more often than that, print a second sheet for that week.
At what age do children start potty training?
The American Academy of Pediatrics says children generally show signs of bladder and bowel control between 18 and 24 months, and that the average age toilet training begins in the United States is between 2 and 3 years. It lists readiness signs such as staying dry for 2 hours and asking to use the potty. Your child's pediatrician can talk through your own child's signs.
Do I need a laminator for the potty chart?
No. You can print a new chart each week on plain paper. If you would rather reuse one sheet, laminate it or slide it into a sheet protector and color the stars in with a dry-erase marker, which wipes off.
Free printables come with a personal-use license: how you can use a printable.
Sources
We opened and checked every link on October 5, 2026.
- The Right Age to Potty Train, American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org). Children generally show signs of bladder and bowel control between 18 and 24 months; the average age toilet training begins in the United States is between 2 and 3; the readiness signs; avoid rewards and punishments, and avoid a power struggle.
- Create a Potty Training Plan for Your Child, American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org). Keep the bathroom routine the same: the potty in the same place every day, and the same sequence of actions, wiping and hand washing included, every time.
- Potty Training, Nemours KidsHealth. Small rewards such as stickers and a chart to keep track; a routine of sitting for a few minutes after waking and after meals; never make a child sit against their will.
- Tips and Ideas for Making Visuals to Support Young Children with Challenging Behavior (PDF), Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, Vanderbilt University. Photograph each item on a plain background from the child's point of view; for a potty photo, leave the bathtub out of the picture.
An educational support tool. Not a substitute for evaluation or treatment by a licensed speech-language pathologist or physician. Read the full disclaimer.