Having to take care of children does not always mean a mom or dad can’t attend that crucial meeting or event, as companies that specialize in onsite childcare are available to not only watch these junior attendees, but also provide them with engaging activities while the parents are free to participate as they normally would.
One such company is San Diego-based KiddieCorp, which has been a trusted childcare service provider at events nationwide and even beyond U.S. borders since 1986. The company even has a warehouse filled with toys and other supplies.
[Related: 6 Tips for Planning Family-Friendly Meetings]
“We pretty much have a Toys ‘R’ Us,” said Tyler Standley, CFO and vice president of KiddieCorp, who owns the company along with his wife Amber Standley, who is president and CEO. “Yeah, our daughter loves it.”
KiddieCorp flies its managers to the location of the event and then hires local childcare staff to support them, with the client providing the venue, which is typically onsite in a room in, say, a hotel, convention center or other meeting or event facility.
“They’re in there doing group games with the kids, arts and crafts, pretty much just keeping them engaged and having fun,” Amber Standley said.
“Give us a room and we do everything else,” Tyler Standley added. “We’ll have the staff there, the toys there, the crafts, the registration if they want us to carry the registration for the childcare.”
Amber Standley said offering onsite childcare opens the doors for many attendees who would not be able to attend otherwise, and KiddieCorp can accommodate as many children as the event needs, with the capability even to tend to 500 children at a time.
Although childcare is supposed to be a partnership, Tyler Standley said most of his clients come from organizations that skew female, such as the healthcare industry or medical associations. Recent examples have included the annual conventions of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Society of Hematology. Interestingly, professional sports teams are another major client, with onsite childcare even delivered in stadiums.
[Related: 4 Tips to Plan Better Family-Friendly Meetings and Boost Attendance]
Backgrounds in Childcare
All of KiddieCorp’s managers have a background in childcare, such as working with Boys or Girls Clubs, the YMCA, being retired teachers and similar backgrounds. All employees are W2 staff members, which adds an extra layer of protection versus other companies who may use contractors.
Each event carries a theme, such as a pirate theme that features pirate costumes and scavenger hunts. The program can also venture offsite, such as to amusement parks, museums or city tours. A typical program will feature lots of toys, games and crafts activities.
Amber Standley added that events in popular vacation destinations such as Orlando or Hawai’i typically draw higher interest and registration numbers for their service because many attendees want to bring their family along for pre and post stays.
Key Questions to Ask
Tyler Standley said a key question for planners to ask onsite childcare providers is the amount of space they will have dedicated, with 75 square feet per child being a minimum guideline. Conferences often will offer the service for a fee to attendees, with the parents paying either an hourly or daily rate to offset the cost of the service.
Other key questions for conference organizers include:
- How many children are you bringing?
- What age ranges are expected?
- What hours do you need childcare for, so the service can be staffed accordingly and not overcharge?
- Are there any allergies if meals or snacks are to be provided?
- Do any of the children have special needs?
Amber Standley added that it’s crucial for meeting planners to do their due diligence, as there are some companies that are trying to get into this highly specialized service from a background of merely providing daycare. It’s also critical to make sure whoever is hired has the proper amount of liability insurance.
KiddieCorp works with conference organizers on the back end to set up the event but is willing to collect the money from attendees on behalf of the client. A dedicated in-office program manager is assigned to each program and sets up any safety protocols in advance, with an onsite manager ready to handle any issues that occur during the actual program.
“We have online profile forms and onsite registration ready to go,” Tyler Standley said. “We’re ready for every curveball, ready for every scenario that could happen, because with kids and families, it always does.”
Programs can also flex with the needs of the conference.
“We’ll have some conferences that are typical 8-to-5 and the kids eat lunch with us,” Tyler Standley said. “We also have ones that are crazy—hours in the morning, hours late night, 20-hour days. But in general, we do have a typical activity guideline throughout the day, such as 45 minutes of crafts and it’ll be a snack time. They’ll have a book nook. They’ll have an active play time where we get out—getting the kids running and jumping. We’ll have quiet time sometimes depending on the age range, also. If they’re all infants, that’s going to be a totally different set-up than if we have a bunch of 8- or 9-year-olds. We’ll take them all the way up to 17 or 18, but our typical age range is six months to 12-year-olds.”
Dealing with teenagers is a whole other challenge, according to Amber Standley.
“A lot of times we’ll get them offsite for activities in order to keep them engaged, since they’re a little more difficult—they just want to be on their phones,” she said. “For the teen programs, we’ll also have video game systems and bean bag chairs.”
Karaoke even enters the picture for older kids.
“If it’s younger kids, maybe it’s face painting, a balloon maker or a magic show,” Tyler Standley said. “For older kids, it could be a DJ dance party at night or some kind of contest. It’s very customizable.”
KiddieCorp can also handle multiple age groups or flex to accommodate last-minute registrations by offering equipment that caters to all ages and setting up zones in the room for, say, an infant area and then other age groups. Children with special needs are also accommodated with specialized equipment and programming if needed.
“More times than not, it’s one bigger room—a typical conference room—and we’ll have, say, the back half being the infants, the front half being maybe the 3-to-8-year-olds; kind of the more rowdy, running around age range,” Tyler Standley said.
“We offer and go wherever the clients need us,” Tyler Standley offered. “It’s kind of like pop-up childcare.”
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6 Expert Tips for Planning Family-Friendly Meetings
Stewart Mann, CEO of Wild Rooster Events, plans 25-30 family-friendly events a year and says he is always surprised at the level of interest clients express for them. Here are some of his basic tips:
- Offer dedicated, high-quality programming: Avoid a “daycare” approach; instead, plan interactive, themed or skill-building activities.
- Provide quiet or relaxation spaces for kids: Include calm zones with couches, TVs, headphones or sensory-friendly features.
- Incorporate age-appropriate and tech-friendly engagement: Use gamification apps or team-based challenges for older kids/teens, and consider ways for them to take on leadership or mentorship roles.
- Choose venues with family amenities: Prioritize properties with diverse activities (pools, courts, game rooms), kid-friendly dining and accessible spaces so no one is excluded. Also prioritize accessibility.
- Plan inclusive F&B options: Ensure menus appeal to children, accommodate dietary restrictions and consider cultural preferences.
- Enhance connection: Add fun twists (e.g., finding bike parts for a family build) to encourage teamwork and parent-child interaction.
[Related: Road Warriors: 4 Wellness Tips to Keep You Happy and Healthy While Traveling for Work]
Other major onsite childcare providers that specialize in the meetings and events industry:
- Corporate Kids Events
- Destination Sitters
- Jovie
