When I was a registered child minder, I liked to take the children out as much as possible.

I would tell parents about this and explain about payment ( I added this to my contracts also). at the first interview

Outings to toddler groups, family workshops and the child minders drop-in were relatively cheap, but daytrips during the summer could be a lot more expensive.

I never had a parent say that they had a problem with paying for daytrips.

I am fortunate in living in North Devon so there are plenty of attractions to visit.

I was a member of the child minding network and the co-ordinator had contacted most of the companies to ask if they would give a discount to child minders. Many of them agreed to as we visited all year( between the dozen or so network child minders), The 2 biggest attractions said that it was local people who helped keep them afloat during the quieter months.

One of my parents told me that it was cost effective to pay me to take her daughter on these outings; as they only had to pay one entrance fee, whereas if they took her they would need to pay for themselves too.

Another said that by going with me her son had other children to enjoy the day with, but as he was an only child he missed out on that if she and his dad took him.

My son worked in entertainment and he managed to get me free tickets for 2 adults and 2 children for an amusement park. I used the adult tickets for myself and him ( he came along to help me).

One child’s ticket was used for my own younger son and the other I split between the 4 minded children: So each parent benefited by a few pounds discount.

We regularly went to a soft play session who allowed us a discount, but only for the minded children not our own.

So when I went with another child minder we instructed our own children not to call us mum, until we had paid and were inside!

When I took the children on daytrips I usually arranged to go with another child minder and her children as this made taking them to the toilet easier and safer; as one of us would wait outside with the children not needing the toilet.

Don’t forget to take a first aid kit and parent’s contact details along when going out for the day.

And ask for a receipt as the entrance fee for attractions can be listed as an expence when doing your accounts

Trips I took the children on here.

Whenever possible I took the children to places that were free or cheap more here

I would be interested to hear from child minders and parents as to how they make paying for daytrips work.

As always questions and comments are welcome.

Until next time.

Karen

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