Do those of you who have free babysitting available have parents sign some type of waiver? I am trying to get this started at our PTO meetings, and the principal has serious concerns about liability.
We have considered offering free child care in the coming year. One resource we are going to ask is the 4H Jr. Leader club. They are always looking for good service projects. I will let you know how it works out.
We actually have a couple of parents provide child care during our meetings in our school library. They bring games and magis tricks with them. When these parents were new to the school community, they told me that PTO meetings aren't for everyone, including them, but they are always willing to support in any way they can. We got them background checks, and they never missed a meeting!
Thanks so much for mentioning using Girl Scouts! The girls ALWAYS need service hours, and the leaders are always looking for ways to connect with other groups! Please feel free to ask your local Girl Scouts to help out at events as well. While they are not allowed to fundraise for another group, they are happy to help with set-up, clean-up, running games, etc. Everybody wins!!
We have used our National Honor Society students and they perform the babysitting as a Community Service. We have also had students we have paid. Hope in the next school year to maybe utilize our middle school students as I had seen mentioned for vouchers. Great idea.
We have the Boys and Girls Club after school program at our school. I found 2 of the counselors were willing to help us out. The club meetings start after their time with the after school program so there is no conflict. They are trained in child development, cpr, first aid etc and they know many of the students whom they are watching over while we are in the meetings. The only problem is that they can not deal with toddlers and especially those who wear diapers. If more of toddlers (diaper wearing or not) show up we may have to call in a Girl Scout or perhaps a teen volunteer who does babysitting in the area.
