Toddler Group, Toddler Time, Mummy & Me

[Selinemaratima]

I am a SAHM, I really didn't plan to stay home but I was supposed to go back when DD, (who's now 4 and just started reception) was 10 months old but I was breast feeding and didn't feel ready so didn't return to work as a teacher, I carried on breast feeding until I surprisingly fell pregnant with DS (2 next month) so, I'm still breastfeeding and in a nutshell I've stayed at home for nearly 5 years!!! It's been a bit of a blur TBH and it only really struck me what a length of time that actually is. I am obviously grateful to have been here for every moment and I know these memories will keep me warm when I'm a grandma but I got to thinking.... I have been to literally every single baby & toddler group available: drumming, poetry, singing, signing, stay & play, classical music, street dance, messy play (with cornflour) painting, treasure hunts, puppet shows, story reading, cardboard cities, pottery; seriously I could quite easily go on & on & on. However, THE best 'thing' I have been to is the simplest. A church hall for two hours. 1hr play with lots of toys. 15 mins singing. 10 mins snack for children & tea & biscuits for mamas. Then slides and ride on toys out for the remainder. The group is run by lovely old ladies who ring a bell for each section of the session - genius! I was sat there last week and got to thinking, there must have been 35 children there under 3, with approximately the same amount of adults. It's £2 for children £1 for adults. I would say there's a generous initial outlay of £1000 set up costs but the remainder is, well fairly significant for in this case church funds. What do you all think of me doing this two mornings a week somewhere? Maybe I could rent two separate halls/ spaces? In terms of insurance, legal stuff, admin etc what do you think I'd need. Seriously am I bonkers to think I could do this fairly easily? Please offer your wisdom, you guys must have all attended a shed load of 'groups' over the years?

That's expensive for a church playgroup. Ours is £1 per family. Would it make enough profit for you to recoup those £1000 costs?

I worked out that they were making roughly £180 per session, £2 per child £1 per adult , we live in north london and this is the cheapest thing I've ever been to, most being £7.50 for 45 mins! Maybe £1000 is too much, I mean I could always just get second hand toys etc...?

£7.50! Sounds like it would be popular if groups are that much round your way.

I know I'm from 'up north' but live 'down here' - needless to say, we only went the once for £7.50!

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Toddler group insurance is available. Try MortonMichel, PreSchool Learning Alliance.

Rent of premises and advertising are your main ongoing costs plus supplies and toyfund.

Staff is the other outlay. Many groups run due to having volunteers. Without them the group would not exist as could not afford to pay people.

Good point, thanks for the insurance link x

I help out at our local playgroup similar to yours: 2hrs in a church hall (two separate rooms & an outdoors area when fine weather), story time & songs, basic refreshments, one or two craft activities to make and take home plus playdough/messy play/all sorts of toys etc. You will need at least three ultra-reliable persons present to run something like this to keep things to keep things tidy(ish), set up activities, clean up after snacks, etc which can be a bit tight when providing refreshments as well.

Also you'll probably need one or two people to do stuff in the week before each session to prepare for craft activities or set up particular play activities if you would do that sort of thing. Also ideally keep up a rolling cleaning rota of the equipment & manage a membership list/basic newsletter. Depending on the set-up it could be half an hour either side of the opening times to get ready & tidy away. Depending on how it would be run it might be helpful to loosely theme the term times around a topic like animals, transport, weather etc so you can always think of stories, songs & activities to do. At Christmas & end of summer term it is nice to have a sort of low key party session with different snacks & activities to make more of an occasion of it.

Health & safety stuff, finances & insurance will most likely depend on the place you rent out. If any adult will be spending time alone with a child or group of children without another adult present will need to be checked (you can't hold a storytime in a separate room for example without other adults present for example).

You'd also need to decide whether you open to childminders, as they can each come with several children eating up spaces for others to attend, which is not a problem if there is sufficient space of course. Also age group: sometimes these sorts of groups have a segregated area where the older kids can't get in for babies to play on the floor. And would payment be casual per session or for the whole term - this can sometimes be a consideration depending on the numbers or if you get 3 people coming one week then 30 the next.

If you can sort out all the practical stuff it's very rewarding - but the main thing I'd say is that you do need reliable helpers to cover for illness, holidays, talk about ideas etc I'd love to help you if we were in the same area!

Idlevice you are a legend! I wish you lived near too! Your summary is amazing and is spot on! As I read your post I really don't think that it's probably something very lucrative/profitable on a personal level, but in terms of a co-op and something rewarding it would be lovely, like a social venture maybe... I remember a few years ago I used to go to children's centres a lot but there really doesn't seem to be the same level of activities available anymore, so I do sense a 'gap' for something,

I would be surprised if this made you any money TBH.

Staffing will take a major chunk of your takings; you would probably need 3 people per session, so 12 man hours a week, even at minimum wage puts you back £100 to start with. Add hall hire (£10 hour? More if they know you are running a business) adds £40 at minimum, and that is before insurance, all the costs of employing staff, snacks and drinks, toy replenishment (they will get beaten up and if you aren't a charity like the church people will expect good quality, no missing bits etc).

Do the sums very very carefully!

I run a group, but I don't charge for adults (I'm in the north west). By the time I've paid for rent, insurance, snacks, drinks, Easter eggs, craft stuff, birthday cards, selection boxes, replacement toys and a couple of special events like entertainers or a trip out in summer there's nothing left unfortunately.

I can see how by charging the adults there could be something left over though. Good luck with whatever you decide, let us know how you get on, I don't have the stamina for doing it more than one day a week!

Our local ones seem to be £1 and 50p for siblings. This includes a cuppa and biscuits for the grown ups and milk and snacks for the DC.

What I meant to add was, sometimes I can have £600 or so in the bank, then the insurance renewal comes (I think it's about £100), or I need £30 for Easter eggs, then we all go to the zoo because it's summer and it's all gone. We do only open during term time though because most of our children have older siblings and the parents would either want to bring the older ones, who we can't cater for in terms of toys or space, or not come at all.

If you could be more flexible, and not do Christmas and summer parties, it could possibly work if you didn't have to pay staff.

patriciaholm voice of reason, I know! Whenever I come up with "back-to-work" ideas, I never get the balance right: doing something which earns money and/or doing something for the greater good, it seems you cant achieve both....[ponders] Born are you a volunteer?!- you & your group sounds amazing! I'm not surprised you don't have any more stamina left, but you're providing a really lovely environment for your community which as idlevice says must be really rewarding. I expect most people find leaving SAHmothehood for the real world quite a stunt because although my DC's drive me crazy sometimes it's quite a lovely cute little bubble to be in most of the time; compared to the real work-places- bureaucracy & politics which really scare me now .... If only I could make a living singing wind the bobbin up JiltedJohnsJulie-£1!!! Amazing!

Yes, all I get out of it is a load of hassle and that I don't pay for my own child! You've got me wondering how I can make some cash out of it now though

I'm also wondering if the parents who come to the group think I'm running a business instead of a community group.

We went to a church toddler group just like you described, and it was also the best group I took my little ones to. I just work on the day it is on now though. It was free, and 80p for a tea and cup of juice, biscuits and fruit. I often dropped a couple of ppounds in the tin though. The toys were knackered though.

Born honestly I thought you were a volunteer, trips! Entertainers! Eggs! Selection Boxes! Honestly it sounds like the best group ever? I'd pay £7.50! What do your mums think? Idlevice mentions a little news letter... And I would definitely either charge for parents or have an 'honesty' dish - even just to cover for tea&coffee snacks, extra's, also I wouldn't be adverse to asking for toy donations you know. You have an established, loyal group, they kind of must see that it has to be worth your while ...

I think they like it, they keep coming anyway. They do pay £2 a week but I had been thinking it was too expensive compared to the other groups locally, but the other toddler groups are run by schools so they don't have rent to pay, whereas I have to rent a room from the church, like the weight watchers groups etc.
Good luck though if you decide to go for it, it wouldn't be a boring job, that's for sure!

CareForTheFamily have several pages of info about running a toddler group - may be useful.

I would not pay £7.50 for a toddler group. I refuse to go to the mini-soft play places in my area which charge that sort of amount for a bit of play equipment in a church hall.

I go to a great toddler group, £2 per family. Craft table, several tables with jigsaws, playmobile, construction toy. They have a playshop, ride on vehicles, ball pool, dressing up. A mini-cafe serving coffee/tea, snacks for children (such as cucumber, bread sticks, carrot sticks). Story time. Music/dance time. Tidy up time followed by Children's snack time, so the children help tidy up and then get a drink and biscuit as a reward.

It can get up to 50 children attending. It is so busy that they limit the size of the group - putting balloons out by the road to indicate they are full. They run two sessions, a morning and afternoon.

Groups like this can make quite a lot of money which they often reinvest into the group, so buying new equipment. Would it work as a business, I am not sure - it might but it's very hard to know how many people will come any particular week.

nannynick you're an untapped resource! Thank you that site is great! Ill have a good read/think. Your group sounds fabulous, a morning and an afternoon session is serious stuff, it most definitely turns over something, but their staff must be fairly significant in terms of the success of the group & their costs to the business .... Interesting thank you

Yes, staff wise I don't know how many volunteers (and paid staff) they have. There are certainly at least 5 people most time plus others but being at a church there are various people around who may or may not help out all the time.

More guides:

Setting up a Grandparent and Toddler Group (pdf)
Setting up a Toddler Group (pdf)

Insurers:
Albany
MortonMichel
Pre-School Learning Alliance
Scottish Pre-School Play Association (if in Scotland)
Wales Pre-School Providers Association (if in Wales)