When Boy Child was just two and I was heavily pregnant with Girl Child I started attending a toddler group. By the time Girl Child was a few months old it was threatened with closure because the lady who had been running it was moving. With a baby and a toddler to look after I wasn’t all that keen on the idea of running a toddler group but started doing a few bits to keep it open.
Those few bits grew every week until, somehow, I was running the group, despite never actually agreeing to it! I ran the group for nearly three years and, despite my initial misgivings, I actually loved it. When I first took over I searched online but didn’t find a lot of information. That’s why I’ve decided to create a how to post on setting up a toddler group for other people who are interested in running one.
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Why do you Want to Start a Toddler Group?
Before you get started it’s good to be clear about why you want to start a toddler group. This will help you when you are making decisions further on. I should say now that the sort of informal toddler groups we are talking about here don’t really offer much of a business opportunity. If making money is your goal then you’ll need to offer something more formal.
Some of the reasons that people set up toddler groups include:
- To give back to the community
- To have something to do that they can do with their toddler in tow
- So they have a group to take their own toddler to
- To make friends
- Because they are asked to by an organisation that they are involved with
- To get some work experience
Market Research
The first thing to do is find out if there is a need for such a group in your area. A good place to start is Facebook. If you aren’t already in some local parenting groups, join a few and then have a look and see if people are asking about informal toddler groups. You can also post in the groups yourself and ask of people would be interested.
Other suggestions for gauging interest include:
- Asking local parents you know
- Talking to your local children’s centre
- Contact local childminders
- Asking churches
Choosing a Suitable Venue
A good venue will be somewhere it’s easy for parents to come to. Ideally you want somewhere that has a decent sized car park and is on a bus route.
In terms of facilities you need a nice open space for running around and chairs for adults to sit on. Built in baby changing facilities are great but I wouldn’t discount a venue that didn’t have them. If necessary, you can set up a changing area in a corner of the hall. Baby and toddler groups have a lot of stuff and you won’t really want to cart it backwards and forwards, so a key priority is negotiating a storage area you can use. The most important thing when running a toddler group is, of course, a kitchen so that you can make teas and coffees!
Price will be a big factor in your choice. Ask the venue owner if they offer lower rates for non profit or community organisations. You could also look at partnering with another organisation that has space, for example a local preschool, nursery or children’s centre.
Funding for Setting up a Toddler Group
Assuming that your group isn’t aiming to make a profit there are some ways you might be able to to fund it.
- Approach your local council to see if they have any community grants available
- See if any large local businesses would be willing to support you, it’s worth approaching independent businesses and large chains who often have initiatives for supporting the community
- Investigate whether there are any community organisations who would offer you a space for free
- Consider Crowdfunding through a platform like Go Fund Me
- Approach your local National Childbirth Trust and see if they are willing to be involved
Equipment you need for Setting up a Toddler group
If you want to set up a toddler group there are a few things you will need. How much they will cost will depend on what your venue already has and how much you can get donated.
Toys
Toys, toys and more toys! You’ll want to try and lay your hands on a good range of toys including puzzles, small world toys, games, building blocks, a toy kitchen, dolls (ideally ones without hair as they end up in a terrible state), books, educational toys, dressing up clothes and walkers.
If you have the space, ride on toys are really popular. I would avoid soft toys because they usually end up pretty disgusting after they’ve been dragged around and chewed by a variety of children! If you plan to have a baby area you’ll need some mats to make the floor comfortable, bouncy seats, bumbos, play mats and baby toys.
Nearly new sales can be great for picking up toys for your group, check out Mum2mum Market and the NCT. You can also ask in local Facebook groups if anyone has anything to donate as well as asking parents who attend the group for donations.
Equipment for Refreshments
If the hall doesn’t provide them, you’ll need equipment to make hot drinks and you may also want to use *plastic cups and plates for the children.
Things for Running Activities
A basic set of craft supplies including, crayons, paper, paint, paper plates and brushes also helps if you plan to do some activities. Hopefully your venue will have tables that you can use, child sized ones are great but many groups manage with full size ones.
If you’re planning on doing some singing then the children love *instruments. I would suggest only having them out for singing time otherwise you’ll have to listen to them for the whole session!
A parachute is also great fun for playing games if you plan to have a circle time at your group.
The Practicalities of Running a Toddler group
Here are some of the day to day administration you’ll need to manage if you’re running a toddler group.
Toddler group Insurance
Unless you are covered by the venue’s insurance, you’ll need to get your group insured with public liability insurance. Morton Michel and Markel both offer policies. Shop around to make sure you get the price.
Keeping Track of Attendance
Many groups ask parents to sign in on arrival. This is useful as it provides a register in the event of a fire as well as a record of attendance numbers. You may also want to ask people for their email addresses so that you can contact them about the group. If you do that you will need to be aware of data protection regulations.
Health and Safety
Health and safety are important when running a toddler group and you’ll need to do a risk assessment for your group. This sounds daunting but basically just involves considering all aspects of your venue and what will happen at your group and highlighting any potential risks. You then need to examine each one to consider how it can be dealt with or minimised.
Common risks for a toddler group include:
- Trip Hazards
- Doors that fingers could get shut in
- Doors that children could run out of
- Hot drink that could be spilt
- Small items that toddlers could choke on
- Toys that could become damaged and cause injury
- Allergy issues that could occur at snack time
You might want to consider creating a buggy parking area, perhaps in the foyer or a corner of the hall. This will stop muddy wheels from making a mess where the children are playing.
Dealing with the Money
You’ll need to decide what you are going to charge people to come to the group. Many toddler groups offer the first session free and this can be useful to get new people to give the group a try. Check out other groups in your area to see what they’re charging, around the £2 mark is quite common. You’ll also need to consider your pricing structure. Some groups charge per family and some per child, offering a sibling discount.
You’ll have to work out how many people will need to come to your group for you to make enough to cover your costs. Is that number realistic? This is how you’ll decide if the group is viable. If you would need more families attending than you can fit in the hall or you would need to charge significantly more than other groups, then it definitely isn’t going to work.
Marketing your Toddler Group
It’s no good running a toddler group that no one comes to so you need to get the word out. It’s a good idea to set up a facebook page for the group. You can then join local parenting groups and let the members know about your toddler group. You can also ask your friends to spread the word on social media.
It’s useful to create some posters and even flyers for your group. These can then be taken to local shops, libraries, children’s centres, Pre schools and other child friendly businesses. Most places are happy to display posters for non profit groups.
You can also contact the local press about your group. Community activities are often of interest to them. It can help if you can suggest an angle like tackling social isolation amongst mothers.
When Will Your Group Run?
You’ll need to consider how long your group will run for, one and half to two hours is a common length. Most groups run in the morning to avoid with the early afternoon nap that is popular for nap time and the school run (because many toddlers have older siblings).
You’ll also need to decide what day to run on. This is another time when market research is useful. You can run a poll in Facebook groups to see what the most popular day of the week would be, although bear in mind you can never please everyone.
Many toddler groups just run during term times and stop during the school holidays because people with older children have other plans during the holidays so you’ll need to consider what you’ll do about that. Some groups run in the holidays but allow older siblings to attend. Some just stop during the long summer holidays.
The Structure of Your Group
Next you’ll need to consider what you’ll do in that time. Some groups just have free play for the whole session, others are a bit more structured. Here are some of the things that can feature:
- Free Play
- Craft Activities
- Messy Play
- Hot drinks for grown ups
- snack for the children
- Circle time (with songs or parachute games)
Crafts and Messy Play
Craft or messy play activities are usually best done early in the session when children are generally most ready to focus. It also gives you plenty of time to get it tidied up. You’ll need to decide if you’re going to make the hot drinks yourself every week or if you are going to set up a rota and ask the parents to take a turn.
Snack Time
For the children’s snacks you’ll need to decide how formal you want to make it. At some groups the children just grab a biscuit and carry on playing. At others they are encouraged to sit down and share a snack together. Don’t forget to consider allergies when planning for snack time. Make sure you hang on to packets so that parents can check for allergens if they need to. If you have children at your group with severe allergies you may need to put very strict rules in to place about food.
Ending the Session
Many groups end with circle time. Parents and children sit down together in a circle and usually sing some some songs. You might want to use *instruments if you have them. Children might take turns choosing songs or you might have a set list you always do. *Parachute games can also work well at this time. At most groups, parents and children are encouraged to help tidy up at the end. It’s good for the children to experience team work and they usually love it.
Trips and Nights Out
If you want to take toddler groups a step further you can do that in two ways. You can organise trips out for the group. These work particularly well if you don’t run during the school holidays and can be as simple as a meet up in the park or as complicated as a trip to the zoo with a prearranged group rate.
The other thing is to organise mums nights out. These can a lovely way to extend the friendships made at the group and give everyone a chance to chat without having to worry about keeping an eye on they children.
Getting Help – Recruiting Volunteers
It can be hard work doing everything on your own so I would encourage you to try and recruit some volunteers to help you. This doesn’t need to be a big commitment on their behalf and doesn’t need to be every week. A simple rota of jobs they could sign up to help with can work really well.
Jobs that can be done on a either a regular or a rota basis include:
- Making the tea
- Opening up
- Closing up
- Running a craft or messy play activity
- Leading the singing
- Reading a story
Support for Setting up a Toddler group
The Pre School Learning Alliance offers support for people running toddler groups, including a membership package. If you’re just starting out you could consider approaching you local branch of the NCT who may support you in opening a toddler group under its umbrella. Other potential sources of support or partnership include your local children’s centre, nurseries, Preschool’s and libraries.
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Hello;
I am looking to start a small baby class. But I am looking to run it from a log cabin in my garden- I am an early years practitioner and a mum, but no idea where to start on the business front! are the two essential “legal” things I need- public liability insurance and health and safety certificate?
I would not be providing snacks or food. But definitely a cup of tea or coffee for the mums!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
You’ll definitely need public liability insurance but I’m afraid I’m not sure beyond that as I’ve only ever run groups at rented venues rather than my home. I suspect you’d need to check with your local council (you might nee liable for business rates) and inform any mortgage company or landlord.
Are you still looking at running one I’ve set one up and I can talk you through it. You can email littlelambsbabytime@gmail.com
Such a helpful post! One question I have is does someone need to be first aid trained when running the group and if so is it a personal qualification or work qualification?
Hi Katerina we didn’t have anyone first aid trained. The fact that parents are with their own children means it’s not necessary.
Thank you for this post! It was really informative and helpful.
I bet these are very useful tips on anyone wanting to run a toddler group. You must have been so busy looking after your own young children and running a toddler group! Well done though 🙂
It was busy but I liked it because it gave me something to focus on.
You must have been mad to run it! It must have been so hectic. Good for you though, toddler groups are a life saver for some parents. I try to avoid them because I can’t control three kids all going off in different directions on my own 🙂
Funnily enough it actually helped to keep me sane, felt like I was still able to do something constructive! Wouldn’t be trying it with three of them though!
A really helpful post. I’ve never thought much about the practicalities of running the groups we attend.