Playing It Safe: Four Ways Software Can Help Keep Kids Safer at Camps, Sports and Afterschool Programs

Whether it’s enriching children’s lives with learning, giving kids a chance to be creative or challenging their physical abilities, your passion for youth is probably a big motivation for your career. That means that when it comes to your programming, the well-being of children is central to everything you do.

That being said, it can be a challenge running children’s programming that’s fun and exciting while reassuring parents that their kids are in safe hands. Plus, there’s always new norms to keep up with, which can be a challenge. But did you know there are tools out there to make it all easier?

What if we told you that it’s possible to automate almost all of it? Whether for your camp, your sports club, or your art class, keep reading to find out how you can easily upgrade the security of your programming with the help of technology, and make sure that kids and parents are reassured, happy and have everything they need to feel safe. Let’s get into it!

Ask the Right Questions Up Front With Your Digital Forms

Efficiently gathering the right information from parents about each of your participants is a huge way to reinforce how you keep your activity safe.

Along with medical safety information such as allergies, medical conditions, and medications, keeping track of other important individual details about your campers, athletes or students contributes to creating a safe environment.

With software like SmartRec™ that has customizable forms with over 250 fields, which can be set to mandatory or optional, you can create as many forms as you need. Whether it’s for basic information, specific age group requirements, introducing new activity or sport, or a permission slip for field trips.

But the potential added efficiency of digital forms doesn’t stop there: go with a software or eCommerce tool with forms that can be added as part of the registration process, and you won’t be chasing parents and children to bring in the printouts you handed out the week before! You’ll save staff time and declutter your back office by making them digital. Those aren’t the only benefits to having digital forms. You’ll see in the next section how they contribute to automatically building out detailed participant profiles.

Instant Access to Participant Profiles

So, once you have all the important information you need to make your activities even safer and secure thanks to digital forms, what do you do with it all? Well, with an activity management tool that auto-fills client profiles with the form data, you’ll have easy access to the information you and instructors need throughout your activities and at your fingertips.

Running a cooking class? Instructors can check the class roster for food allergies or intolerances on the spot. Heading out for practice on a particularly hot day? Coaches can keep a close eye on any players with asthma.

Parents will love your awareness of their child’s particular needs and will feel reassured that you and your team have a strong handle on these important details. Plus, with an eCommerce platform, parents have access 24/7 to update their child’s profiles in-real time, including emergency contact, authorized guardians, and participant photo which creates an easy and seamless experience for them.

Track Child Pick-Ups Efficiently & Responsibly With Access Management

Have you heard the term “access management”? It’s the technical term for all automated tracking that is done around the entrance and exit of facilities with software. At the basic level, it can help with monitoring the status memberships, class passes and flag profile issues right at the front door.

But when it comes to children’s programming, it takes on an especially crucial role. With software that has an access management feature, children can scan in and out, allowing you and parents to track attendance and the whereabouts of the child. Access Management can also help if there is a need to trace a child’s presence in the facility for potential exposure to a bug or illness.

But there’s more that this tool can do to upgrade the safety and security at your activity’s facilities. With the ability to keep records of approved guardians, an access management tool also allows you to monitor who is picking up your participant once your day, sport, lesson, or activity is over.

Streamline Processes So Staff Can Focus On What Matters: The Kids

Over the last few years, it’s become especially difficult for employers when it comes to hiring and training staff. Finding the right people is a lot more work and on top of that, there are a lot of new safety requirements to keep staff informed on. Part of making sure that your environment is safe for children is ensuring that you have the number of staff you need and that they have the right tools and training for success.

With an online platform that can support your need to screen applicants (by making it possible for you to add on tools such as Yardstik), you can reassure parents you are doing your due diligence. That’s because when software has an open API (a fancy way of saying that it can share and import data with other software), you can add on apps to your admin account which helps you do background checks and verify references, all in the same place you set up your activities, do your registrations and plan staff schedules.

Now you might be thinking that learning a new system can be hard for even the most technologically inclined! But there’s a solution for that as well. Once you’ve hired your dream (read: qualified) staff, an eCommerce platform with a robust learning platform, can help you make sure they know how to use all the tools at their disposal. This will help you quickly onboard new staff so that they know how to leverage the safety and security focused features like forms, client profiles and the access management features. With videos, quizzes, and webinars, your staff will be well set up for success in no time.

It's All About Making It Easier to Run Even Safer Programming

Upgrading your safety and security tools shouldn’t create more work. So, in addition to providing access to important safety and security features, like information capturing and management of participants’ medical information, a platform that can help educate your team is equally as crucial so that everyone can make the most of the tools you have and ensure kids are even safer while in your hands.

Parents will be more confident than ever, your staff will feel equipped, and you’ll be able to focus on what you’re passionate about: creating an environment that encourages, inspires and educates.