You've decided to start a playgroup but you don't want to spend a lot of money. No problem. First, start planning your playgroup by deciding the location and frequency of get togethers, age-range of children and if you will need to charge membership dues. You will also need to consider what type of activities, games and crafts the group will be doing. Once you've figured all this out, it's time to spread the word about your playgroup. Invite everyone you know with the proper age-range children. Sometimes your local community newspaper will let you advertise for free as well as church bulletins. Ask friends and family members to tell everyone they know about the playgroup. If you don't mind investing a little money, design a flyer on your computer and print out about 50 copies. Print the flyers on bright colored paper and add fun clip art to make them really stand out. Place these flyers in doctors' offices, parks, libraries, bulletin boards or anywhere else parents with children will see them. You might also want to distribute the flyers in neighborhoods. Be selective where you put the flyers in order to save money. Only place flyers at houses with toys in the yard or car seats in the vehicles. You could also print up some business cards with your playgroup's information to place on tables at kid-friendly restaurants and other places a flyer may not be appropriate. If after a few weeks you do not have enough interested parents, try advertising on an internet based mom website. You could also join local chapters of organizations for parents. Talk to local shops that sell children items to place your flyers or business cards in their store for people to take with them. Toy stores, maternity shops and gift stores would be good places to start. Once your playgroup has started, taking turns with the other parents to provide snacks will help with the cost. If you plan on doing crafts, you may need to charge a small fee for supplies. Search for crafts that are simple and try to buy in bulk when possible. Games would be great to do in the winter time since meeting at a park may be too cold. Have every parent bring a game of their choice for all the kids to play. You can also have it set up where the group takes turns at each others houses. Who ever is the hostess then would be responsible for the snacks, crafts and other activities. Let the hostess decide where the playgroup meets or what the activities will include. This way if they have a small house they can plan meeting somewhere bigger or if they are on a very tight budget, they can still participate by planning inexpensive activities without being embarrassed. Be sure to know exactly what you want to accomplish with your playgroup and don't let money stand in your way. The free or nearly free resources are endless if you are willing to do your research and put in a little work. |
