A calmer Sunday morning at kids check-in

Kids check-in is where a family decides whether your church feels safe. Get it right and nobody notices. Get it wrong and you have a queue, a worried parent, and a volunteer who doesn't want to come back.

Here's what we've learned about making it calm.

#Move registration out of Sunday morning

The slowest part of check-in is typing. Names, birthdays, allergies, emergency numbers: none of it needs to happen at the desk with a toddler pulling on someone's sleeve.

Ask families to add their children before they arrive, in your app or on your website. They can update the details any time, so a new allergy or phone number doesn't wait for the next visit. On Sunday, all that's left is a scan.

#Make the label do the work

A good label answers the questions a leader has in the first ten seconds:

• Who is this child?
• Is there anything I must know right now?
• Who do I call if something goes wrong?

Leslie Adams

Allergies or Other Medical Information:

Peanuts and tree nuts

Medications:

None

Emergency Contact: (555) 555-5555

VJJW

Print allergy and medical notes where they can't be missed. With Culminate Life, two-color printing on Brother label printers puts emergency numbers and allergy or medical notes in red, so they stand out from everything else on the label.

#Make pickup something only the right grown-up can do

Drop-off can be relaxed. Pickup can't.

Every check-in should create a code that only the parent holds, and that can't be copied or reused next week. When the grown-up arrives, the code matches or the child stays put. No guessing, no "I think that's her dad."

Drop-off can be relaxed. Pickup can't.

#Give first-time families a fast lane

A new family shouldn't stand at the desk filling in forms while the regulars scan past them. Let a leader add them in a minute, or let them do it on their own phone, and print a temporary label so the child can go straight in. You can tidy up the details on Monday.

#Look at the numbers once a month

Attendance history tells you things a busy Sunday won't: which rooms are getting crowded, which kids haven't been in for a while, and whether your youth groups are growing. Check-in records who came, when they arrived, and which parent checked them in, so a quick monthly look is enough to spot a family worth a call.

#Start small

You don't need a kiosk in every hallway. One tablet running the Check-In Portal, one label printer, and families who registered ahead of time will make a noticeable difference on the first Sunday.

Culminate Life Check-in is free for up to 50 check-ins a month. See how it works or read more about keeping kids safe on Sunday.