2. Starting the Day
Kidz City Shift Bottom-liner/Structure
The day should be broken up into one or two Bottom-liner shifts (An important note of caution is to not have one person do too much and burn out/exhaust themselves in the process) that are done by Kidz City Core Collective members. Bottom-liners look out for the “big view,” watch over the room and help orient volunteers to what is going on. It’s easier for someone to be looking out for the room, over all, while others get immersed in activities. We are also accountable in this manner.
There is always at least one core Kid City collective member in the room. It’s a nice feeling when there is more then one collective member or when you know and have worked with other volunteers before. It's good to have a mix of folks you have worked with before as well as new folks.
No one is ever left alone with children. This is another way we are accountable and a safety and support feature.
Volunteers
There should be a high ratio of childcare volunteers to children: at least two childcare volunteers in addition to the Shift Bottom liner.
Children
We do childcare for all ages from babies to tweens. We do childcare for approx. 1 – 15 children usually so its not a large enough of a group that we have needed to divide based on ages. Older children can help with younger children and we have a range of activities. Once we had a heads up that a large group of tweens were coming so we built a hang out area for them with older radical books and also planned a collage workshop. By the end of the day they were helping with the smaller children, dressing up and putting on a play for the whole room.
Sign In Table
The Sign In Table should be the first thing you see when you enter the room. The Shift Bottom-liner—or another person in charge of watching who comes in-and-out of the room—sits behind the table. The person designated to this task should welcome folks and help orient them, although if other volunteers notice someone who needs help with orienting themselves or signing in, they can step up too.
Make sure caregivers register their children. Direct parents to the sign-in-sheet and make sure they fill out the form. It can help to ask them the questions for anything they have left blank or quickly go over it with them to make sure you can read their handwriting. Lunch? Potty trained? Special needs? Medical issues? Write on form, contact info—and fill it in more if they have not.
Welcoming Children:
- Make name tags with children
- Have a welcoming activity, such as art materials set up around a table everyone can join in, or stuffed animals and toys.
- Introduce child to others, activities, or a mini-tour of the space
-Look out for new children and welcome them into your activities, help direct a new volunteer to them, or simply keep an eye out.
-Let children warm up in their own time
-Play getting to know each other games or create a tree of intention drawing with goals for the room
Welcoming Volunteers:
-Childcare volunteers should also check in and out.
- Introduce volunteers to each other.
- Childcare volunteers should also have name-tags. (They can ask kids to help them make/draw them if they think it will be a good getting-to-know-you activity).
- Have clear set up, things to do
Stuff:
- Have an out-of-the-way place to put extra stuff, like behind the table, in a corner or a closet, shoes lined up by the door.
The day should be broken up into one or two Bottom-liner shifts (An important note of caution is to not have one person do too much and burn out/exhaust themselves in the process) that are done by Kidz City Core Collective members. Bottom-liners look out for the “big view,” watch over the room and help orient volunteers to what is going on. It’s easier for someone to be looking out for the room, over all, while others get immersed in activities. We are also accountable in this manner.
There is always at least one core Kid City collective member in the room. It’s a nice feeling when there is more then one collective member or when you know and have worked with other volunteers before. It's good to have a mix of folks you have worked with before as well as new folks.
No one is ever left alone with children. This is another way we are accountable and a safety and support feature.
Volunteers
There should be a high ratio of childcare volunteers to children: at least two childcare volunteers in addition to the Shift Bottom liner.
Children
We do childcare for all ages from babies to tweens. We do childcare for approx. 1 – 15 children usually so its not a large enough of a group that we have needed to divide based on ages. Older children can help with younger children and we have a range of activities. Once we had a heads up that a large group of tweens were coming so we built a hang out area for them with older radical books and also planned a collage workshop. By the end of the day they were helping with the smaller children, dressing up and putting on a play for the whole room.
Sign In Table
The Sign In Table should be the first thing you see when you enter the room. The Shift Bottom-liner—or another person in charge of watching who comes in-and-out of the room—sits behind the table. The person designated to this task should welcome folks and help orient them, although if other volunteers notice someone who needs help with orienting themselves or signing in, they can step up too.
Make sure caregivers register their children. Direct parents to the sign-in-sheet and make sure they fill out the form. It can help to ask them the questions for anything they have left blank or quickly go over it with them to make sure you can read their handwriting. Lunch? Potty trained? Special needs? Medical issues? Write on form, contact info—and fill it in more if they have not.
Welcoming Children:
- Make name tags with children
- Have a welcoming activity, such as art materials set up around a table everyone can join in, or stuffed animals and toys.
- Introduce child to others, activities, or a mini-tour of the space
-Look out for new children and welcome them into your activities, help direct a new volunteer to them, or simply keep an eye out.
-Let children warm up in their own time
-Play getting to know each other games or create a tree of intention drawing with goals for the room
Welcoming Volunteers:
-Childcare volunteers should also check in and out.
- Introduce volunteers to each other.
- Childcare volunteers should also have name-tags. (They can ask kids to help them make/draw them if they think it will be a good getting-to-know-you activity).
- Have clear set up, things to do
Stuff:
- Have an out-of-the-way place to put extra stuff, like behind the table, in a corner or a closet, shoes lined up by the door.
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