Thinking of starting a playgroup for knackered mums/parents/carers - would this work do you think?

[inthekitchensink]

I’m in the early stages of researching setting up a playgroup for preschoolers at the local hall, where adults can come and get shit done on their phones, or read or whatever with tea/coffee/biscuits - while I play with the children.

All the playgroups I went to with my toddler encouraged parental interaction and really all I wanted was somewhere I could get admin done for an hour or read mumsnet while my child had quality play & learning.

I’m a montessori practitioner with a few spare hours a week and really miss working with kids, but don’t want to do it full time. I would provide montessori materials to play with, arts and crafts, story time.

Would you be interested in something like this or am I just projecting? !

OP £3 is too cheap. You won't even make a wage let alone a profit!

Here it is £8 for a 45min baby class and no cake or brew. Those classes are in demand too x

In France I think you’d be called an “animateur” - usually an energetic young person who runs holiday clubs, after school / lunch activities, sometimes restaurants have them to entertain kids while parents eat.

I used to (voluntarily) run a big playgroup - anything between 10-20 kids per session, plus parents. It’s a huge job and tbh I can’t see how you are going to do the entire thing single handedly. Unless you have your own premises or you can secure storage at your venue you will be transporting all the toys / crafty / touchy stuff with you, setting up, running the whole thing, then having to clear / clean up and pack up. It’s very hard work, and the only way we could do it was to make clear to everyone that they were expected to help either set up or clear up and they were at least expected to keep an eye their own children during the session: doing this from a seat near the coffee machine was absolutely fine.

We always had coffee / tea and cake and no expectation that parents engage constantly with their child. Pretty much all of us were there for a natter and a cuppa, not to spend yet more time with our kids. There was a core group of eager beavers (including me) who enjoyed organising crafty activities or games or reading stories, but mostly we just chucked loads of toys and dressing up on the floor and called it a free play session. When we surveyed our members they told us that getting to meet with other parents was just as important as the children getting to interact (the main purpose of the group was to get the children speaking the language we shared).

So my advice would be to not underestimate the sheer workload involved and decide how it’s going to get done - will the parents be volunteering to help or are they paying for a service? Have you got any friends who are interested in teaming up with you? Many hands make light work etc.

To apply for grants, you have to demonstrate a real need for the service you want to provide - linked to some social / economic / environmental lack or gap or deprivation. You aren’t going to get any funding to provide an entertainment service for a bunch of otherwise okay mums who just want a break from their kids. That’s what soft play etc are for! Sure Start was funded because the research showed that there is a group of parents, often in deprived areas, who struggle to interact positively with their children and Sure Start aimed to address that and to Improve outcomes for the children over the long term.

So again, you need to decide if this is à voluntary project or a paid for service.