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Kids check-in: how it works

Churchday gives your church one link and one QR code for the kids desk. Parents set up their family once, drop kids off with their phone number, and get a short pickup code on screen and by text. Teachers run the morning from the Check-in tab. No label printer, no separate app.

Before you begin

  • You need the Check-in tab. Admins have it already. To give it to a kids volunteer without making them an admin, open Check-in, click the gear icon, and use Invite under Access.
  • Kids check-in is on by default for events tagged Service and off for everything else (a run club, a prayer meeting). Flip it either way from the same settings page or in the event editor under Check-in.

The Sunday loop

  1. A parent sets up the family once. They open your kids check-in link, enter their phone number, and add each child with a birthday, grade, and allergies. See Kids check-in for parents.
  2. On Sunday they drop off. Same link, same phone number. They tick the kids they are dropping off and tap Check in. A pickup code appears on screen and is texted to them. From the same screen they can also edit a child's details or add a note for the teacher.
  3. Teachers run the room. The Check-in tab shows every child here now, with age, grade, an Allergy marker, and the pickup code. Teachers can text one parent or every parent to come pick up. See Running the kids desk.
  4. Pickup. The parent shows or says the code. The teacher types it in, sees that family's kids, and taps Pick up.
  1. Open Check-in from the dashboard menu.
  2. Find the Kids check-in link card at the top of the page. Click Copy for the address, or tap the QR code to style it with your logo and colors, save it, and download a PNG you can print for the kids desk. The Shared iPad at the desk address under it is the same page in station mode, which clears itself after each family.
  3. For a shared iPad at the desk, open the Shared iPad at the desk address from that card on the iPad. It clears the screen after each family.

Good to know

  • Every church texts. Pickup codes and pickup requests go by text from your church's own number when you have one, otherwise from Churchday's number. They are requested texts, so parents do not tick a box; they are never added to your church's general text list by checking in. When a number can't be texted, the code is emailed, and it always shows on screen.
  • The other parent can pull up the code by entering their own phone number on the kids page, as long as they are on file in the household. The setup form has an Other parent or guardian section for exactly this.
  • Kids count as attendance. A kid drop-off also marks the child present for the event, so the event's Checked in count and attendance trend include children.
  • Nothing to do at the end of the day. Any child never marked picked up is closed automatically that night and the record shows no checkout was recorded.

What's next?

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