Anyone who has ever been a parent to young children will know what a relief it is to go to an event which is family friendly. You can relax knowing that there will be the facilities you need, as well as not needing to worry about your children disturbing other people (well, up to a point!)
Making your event more family could be good for your business, too. This will make your event accessible and attractive to more people, which could boost your visitor numbers. Parents like to recommend family friendly events to their friends, so if your parents have a good experience at one of your events it could lead to word-of-mouth marketing for your next event. Also, parents are always on the look out for things to do with their families so you may have an audience ready and waiting for you.
Here are some things you might like to include to make your event more family friendly.
Event timings
If your event includes performances and workshops, hold these in the morning or afternoon so that the children aren’t too tired to enjoy them. In fact, parents of young children are also pretty tired, so they’ll appreciate an early finish, too! Older children from around age 7 can usually handle early evening events as long as it’s not a school night.
Safety
It goes without saying that parents will want their children to be safe. The Health and Safety Executive has a wealth of information on running a safe event here. You’ll also need a trained first aider and if your staff are working directly with the children, say in a creche, you’ll need them to be properly qualified and police checked.
Facilities
Think about the facilities young families may need such as a quiet space for feeding, nappy changing facilities and if possible, a chill-out space for tired toddlers. A microwave is also good for heating baby food. If your budget will stretch to it you could provide a creche or a kids’ club.
Provide treats for children
You can help make children feel part of the event by giving out goody bags. These can contain sweet treats, but it’s also helpful to include things to keep children occupied such as colouring sheets and a small pack of pencils. Even better, hire someone in a mascot costume to welcome the children and hand out the bags. Your mascot could even pose for photos!
Keeping the kids occupied
Let’s face it, it won’t be too long before the children are tired and a little bored. By providing a table with some activities you can give the children a chance to sit down and stay occupied, which gives mum and dad a break, too. Try to make the activities suitable for a range of ages so small children can join in but big kids aren’t bored, either. Depending on the event you may be able to include more physical activities, perhaps a football or frisbee if you have lots of space, or if you have less space games involving throwing small beanbags or hopscotch can work well.
Good luck with your family-friendly event!
Image: Rudyanderson