Safe child check-in comes down to one rule: a child goes home only with someone who holds the matching code. At drop-off, each child gets a name label and the adult gets a pickup tag, both with the same short code. Allergies are written on the label so every helper can see them. At pickup, the helper checks the code before letting the child go. Everything else is detail.
Step 1: Collect the information before the first week
- Each child’s name and birthday, so helpers can see ages at a glance.
- Who the child lives with, as a household, so a parent can check in all their children at once.
- Allergies and anything a helper must know, kept short and specific (“peanuts, has an EpiPen”).
- A phone number for each household, so you can find the family quickly at the desk.
Step 2: Use a code that is hard to guess and easy to read
Four characters is enough. Leave out letters and numbers that look alike, like O and 0 or I and 1, so nobody misreads a tag in a busy hallway. Print the same code on the child’s label and the parent’s tag, and give every family a new code each time.
Step 3: Make allergies impossible to miss
Put allergies on the label itself, in a way that stands out, and show them on the check-in screen when the child is selected. A note in a binder that one person reads at 9 AM is not enough.
Step 4: Write down the pickup rule and stick to it
- No tag, no release: if the adult lost the tag, the coordinator handles it, not the room helper.
- Check the code on both the child’s label and the tag, every time, even for families you know.
- Record the pickup, so at the end you know every child left with someone.
Step 5: Choose your labels
Any label printer that prints from a web browser works, and plain paper with tape works in a pinch. A standard 3.5 × 1.25 inch address label fits a first name, a last name, an allergy line and the code.
Doing this in Kanbei
Turn on the Check-in tool in Settings. At the desk, search a family by name or the last four digits of a phone, tick the children, and Kanbei prints a label for each child and a pickup tag for the parent with the same code, with allergies flagged. Checking in also marks them present in Attendance. At pickup, type the code from the parent’s tag to release the children. Adults can check themselves in by scanning a QR code on their phone, and first-time guests are added as visitors. It is part of the $20 a month, with no extra charge.