How do you find and book your kids’ activities these days?

[Chris111]

Hi everyone. I’m doing a bit of informal research into how parents discover and organise their children’s activities (anything from baby sensory and swimming to tutoring, football, dance, music etc.).

Would really appreciate your thoughts - even a quick reply helps.

A few questions I'd love to get your feedback on:

1. What kinds of activities do your kids do outside school?
2. How do you usually find out about new classes or tutors? (Word of mouth, Google, school, Facebook, etc.)
3. What’s the most frustrating part about organising or paying for them?
4. How do you usually book and pay - directly with the teacher, through a website, WhatsApp, or something else?
5. If there was one easy place to find, book, and pay for everything in one go - would that appeal, or do you prefer going directly to the providers?
6. What’s one thing that would make managing your kids’ activities easier?

Thanks so much - I’ll share a short summary of what people say if there’s interest.

I would ask Mum’s I know and maybe on local facebook parenting page. I pay using whatever system they use. There are lots of different systems out there which multiple kids clubs on but the quality of the club is much more important than the actual system.

@NearlyDec That’s a really good point…. the system doesn’t matter much if the club itself isn’t great. I guess the ideal would be something that helps parents find the good ones more easily, not just another booking tool. I do the same with Facebook groups, but it can take ages to work out which clubs are actually worth it!

So you would need to make a judgement call in the quality of the groups, monitor the quality and some how persuade those groups to join your platform but the franchaise groups won’t have that autonomy.

@NearlyDec Yeah, that’s a really good point. I think it’d need some kind of simple verification or review system so parents know what they’re booking. Independents would be easier to get on first, but the franchise ones might need more sign-off from HQ.

I hear about clubs from other nuns, DCs friends, community centre and Facebook community groups. I wouldn’t find and book through a central platform unless it was a local one.

@Overthebow Totally get that. I’m the same.... most of the good stuff I find is through school friends or local Facebook groups. Still hard and time-consuming!! I don’t think I’d want some big national thing either, it’s the local feel that matters. Are your Facebook groups pretty active for that sort of thing?

Yes they are, and information through the school too. The good clubs round here usually have waiting lists so I don’t think they’d sign up for something like this either as they do fine by themselves and if they have to pay for the service then either they’d take a hit on profits or it would be higher cost for parents.

DD does music, swimming, gymnastics, maths, singing, dance and a few things at her school. I don't have close mum friends and most families at the school live in a wider area, so I don't rely on word of mouth, I'd rather try to find something that works for us and our location than pick something just because someone else goes there. I use internet searches, notices in local venues, parenting blogs, apps like Happity, and some things I've just been aware of for years (eg I used to do adult dance classes where dcs now do their classes). If I'm interested in a specific activity I've just done a Google search. I don't use FB or much other SM. Sometimes I've booked something just based on a Google, if it doesn't work out it's fine, we just don't go back. I don't really see reviews of most classes so you just have to try it else you'll never know. I'm not bothered about whether something is local (some activities are linked to HE institutions which to me is a sign of high quality, and some things are part of national franchises.)

I prefer easy online booking, I dislike anything that needs to be booked by phone. There's one activity where I liaise direct with the teacher and send a bank transfer weekly, which I find a faff. I prefer just paying for a term in one go or direct debit, and not having to think about it.