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  1. #1
    Shy
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    Question Field trip advice

    Hello ladies. I am planning my first field trip with my dck. I mean I always take them to the park but this time I'm going to the children's museum. Since I have never done this, I have a few questions but was also looking for some tips.

    I have two 19 month olds, two 3 year olds, and one (my son) 2.5 year old. My husband would be coming along with us so there would be 2 adults. Do you think the 19 month old are too young for field trips? I didn't think anything of it until I started googling. I think they would enjoy it. I would take my double stroller for them for when they need it. I was really hoping to take all of the kids but now I am not sure if it is ok. Clearly one of the kid's parent is ok with it as she offered to drop off and pick up her son and 1 other child in her car. I'm pretty sure the other parents would be ok as well.

    Here is what the schedule is looking like.
    9:15 - drive there
    9:30 - arrival, washroom break
    9:45 - explore the exhibits/play
    11:15 - washroom
    11:30 - lunch
    12:15 - leave
    12:30 nap at daycare
    Do you think 1.5 hours is too much playing/walk around time?

    The entrance fee is $8 plus HST for the toddlers and $2.50 plus HST. Do you get parents to pay for the fee? I would of course be buying lunch just like any other day.

    Do you guys get them to sign a permission form? If yes, what should the form say? I always take them to the park so they do leave the daycare premises quite often.
    However, I've never gone this far before.

    If you have any other usefull tips that I may have forgotten, please share as this is my first field trip with this many kids.

    I would greatly appreciate some advice and hear about your experiences with field trips.

    TIA

  2. #2
    Euphoric !
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    Yes - you must have the parents written permission each time vs a general waiver. The form does not relieve you of negligence but it does provide you with permission to take the children off site and evidence that they were informed and agreed to their child participating. It should detail where you are going, who is going with you, how you are getting there, expected duration off site. If one person says no/doesn't sign, their child cannot go, that likely means no one is going and the trip has to be cancelled.

    You can pay for the entrance fee and get a receipt then claim that off your taxes as a business expense. Personally, while I know some provider's charge the parents, I would avoid that as you don't know someone's financial situation and if they decline based on cost (however reasonable we might deem it to be), then everyone misses out. I would just pay the fee myself - as I think more about this, there is always one family who forgets to pay for extras, is late paying extras, doesn't have the spare funds this weeks, etc so it's just easier for you to pay and then to claim it back off 2018 taxes. Don't forget to get a receipt for any parking too and your lunch as these can also be claimed as business expenses.

    I don't think your trip is too long time wise especially as you have a stroller for the smaller children. Since you plan on being out for lunch, the stroller is wise as I imagine yours normally nap soon after lunch when you are home.

    Make sure you have the children's emergency contact numbers both in your phone but also printed out. In the unthinkable event of a car accident, the emergency responders will need the printed version to be able to contact your clients if you are unable to do it/access your phone. Have a sticker with each child's name on their coat, (just their first name or maybe their initials), so they know which child is which.

    My only other comment is of course to make sure you have insurance to transport the children and the appropriate car seats which are correctly installed. If you are all going in one vehicle, that's fine. If you can't get all the car seats in one vehicle, make sure both are insured for this purpose and detail on that permission slip that not all the children will be traveling with you. You might already have this insurance cover since you mentioned going to the park but I wasn't sure if you normally drive or walk to the park.

    Have fun.
    Last edited by Suzie_Homemaker; 04-30-2018 at 05:13 AM.

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  4. #3
    Outgoing
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    Hi. If it helps you can attach that forms to your contract with a list of the places you might visit. (Museums, forest Park, farm etc. The places that you posible will be visiting) that way parents know from the beginning what your outings are.

    Also at the beginning of a contract you must explain if entrances or extra fees are going to be charged, some parents need time in advance to decide if they will commit in sendING their children and pay extra for outings. If you haven't it is fair to ask if that will be ok with them. Personally I include mine in my fees so no surprises and Noone can argue. But I also had very generous parents getting us free passes or free parking spots etc.

    Your schedule is fine, you're husband might need extra time to relax after all.

    I usually keep my group all together we visit things or activities as a group if I had one that runs a lot then I have a waist harness to keep him always close to me. (Mostly because I do it alone with my group). Once we have visited things as a group then I figure out to find a nice safe place to let them be free. So I can stand back a supervise. They absolutely learn a lot from outings. Enjoy your visit!!
    Last edited by Peacefulbird; 05-01-2018 at 05:14 AM.

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  6. #4
    Shy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Suzie_Homemaker View Post
    Yes - you must have the parents written permission each time vs a general waiver. The form does not relieve you of negligence but it does provide you with permission to take the children off site and evidence that they were informed and agreed to their child participating. It should detail where you are going, who is going with you, how you are getting there, expected duration off site. If one person says no/doesn't sign, their child cannot go, that likely means no one is going and the trip has to be cancelled.

    You can pay for the entrance fee and get a receipt then claim that off your taxes as a business expense. Personally, while I know some provider's charge the parents, I would avoid that as you don't know someone's financial situation and if they decline based on cost (however reasonable we might deem it to be), then everyone misses out. I would just pay the fee myself - as I think more about this, there is always one family who forgets to pay for extras, is late paying extras, doesn't have the spare funds this weeks, etc so it's just easier for you to pay and then to claim it back off 2018 taxes. Don't forget to get a receipt for any parking too and your lunch as these can also be claimed as business expenses.

    I don't think your trip is too long time wise especially as you have a stroller for the smaller children. Since you plan on being out for lunch, the stroller is wise as I imagine yours normally nap soon after lunch when you are home.

    Make sure you have the children's emergency contact numbers both in your phone but also printed out. In the unthinkable event of a car accident, the emergency responders will need the printed version to be able to contact your clients if you are unable to do it/access your phone. Have a sticker with each child's name on their coat, (just their first name or maybe their initials), so they know which child is which.

    My only other comment is of course to make sure you have insurance to transport the children and the appropriate car seats which are correctly installed. If you are all going in one vehicle, that's fine. If you can't get all the car seats in one vehicle, make sure both are insured for this purpose and detail on that permission slip that not all the children will be traveling with you. You might already have this insurance cover since you mentioned going to the park but I wasn't sure if you normally drive or walk to the park.

    Have fun.
    Thanks so mush for your advise. I have prepared the permission slip and will be giving it to the parents soon. Good advise about the emergency contacts. I will definitely do that. I'm not even sure how the car insurance works as I don't usually drive the kids anywhere. I can only fit 3 kids in my car. We usually walk to the park. But I will look into that as well. Thanks again. I'm very excited!!

  7. #5
    Shy
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peacefulbird View Post
    Hi. If it helps you can attach that forms to your contract with a list of the places you might visit. (Museums, forest Park, farm etc. The places that you posible will be visiting) that way parents know from the beginning what your outings are.

    Also at the beginning of a contract you must explain if entrances or extra fees are going to be charged, some parents need time in advance to decide if they will commit in sendING their children and pay extra for outings. If you haven't it is fair to ask if that will be ok with them. Personally I include mine in my fees so no surprises and Noone can argue. But I also had very generous parents getting us free passes or free parking spots etc.

    Your schedule is fine, you're husband might need extra time to relax after all.

    I usually keep my group all together we visit things or activities as a group if I had one that runs a lot then I have a waist harness to keep him always close to me. (Mostly because I do it alone with my group). Once we have visited things as a group then I figure out to find a nice safe place to let them be free. So I can stand back a supervise. They absolutely learn a lot from outings. Enjoy your visit!!
    Thank you very much for your advise. I will definitely be looking into updating my policy. I think it's fair for parents to budget $20/year for field trips and I can also pay for some. All of my parents are pretty good so I don't think they will have a problem paying. But I do see what you are saying. If we never discussed this ahead of time, then it's really not fair for me to expect them to pay. For this trip, I will be asking them to pay and also ask them if they are ok with it. If there is a problem, then I will take it from there.

    The thing that I like about the children's museum over here is that each exhibit is in a small to large room in itself. Also, it's pretty much free play and exploring for every room so the kids will be roaming around on their own within the room. It's one of the reason why I chose this as my first field trip. Hopefully, it will be fairly easy to contain them in a group. I do have a preschooler who is a runner. He is very high energy so I do sometimes worry about him. I am planning as much as possible. The rest, I'll just have to learn through experience Thanks again for the tips!

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