Kids Check-in gives children a safe drop-off and pickup at your classes, camps, clubs, services and events. Parents register their children once. On the day, volunteers check children in at a station on their own phone, each family gets a pickup code, and a child is only released when the code matches.
It has its own page in the sidebar: Kids Check-in. It is included on every plan, including Free. Each parent counts as 1 member of your plan; children don't count.
1. Create a program
- 1Open Kids Check-in.
- 2Type a name for the program, for example Sunday Kids or Summer Camp, and click Create.
Each program gets its own contact list for the parents, its own registration link and its own daily station. If you run more than one, the programs appear as tabs at the top of the page.
2. Share the registration link
Copy the Registration link, or click Send on WhatsApp to post it in your parents' WhatsApp groups. Each parent registers once with:
- their name and WhatsApp number, with the country code (+1 ...)
- each child's first name and age group
- any allergies or care needs (optional)
When they finish, they see two buttons:
- Confirm on WhatsApp opens WhatsApp with Check in typed to your number. Sending it confirms their number.
- Open my family check-in code opens their family QR code. It stays the same every week, so parents can save it or take a screenshot.
3. Print the desk sign
The Desk sign card has a QR code that opens WhatsApp with Check in typed to your organization's number. Click Download sign to print and put it on the check-in desk.
The sign is what keeps pickup messages free. When a parent scans it and presses send, they have messaged you, so for the next 24 hours MsgOrb can reply in that chat at no cost (Meta's 24-hour window). See What parents receive on WhatsApp.
4. Settings
Click Show settings at the bottom of the page.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Room or program name | Shown to parents and on the station, for example Kids Room or Toddlers. |
| Paid backup for the pickup pass | Optional. Used only for confirmed parents who didn't message you that day. See below. |
The paid backup template
Parents who scan the desk sign, or message you within 24 hours, get their pickup pass for free. The backup is a Meta Utility template for everyone else, and each one is a paid Meta message.
- Automatic: Kids Pickup Pass uses the Kids Pickup Pass template from Templates → Built-In Library → KIDS once Meta approves it.
- Off: free messages only never sends a paid message. Parents who didn't message you get the code from the volunteer, written on the child's sticker.
- You can also pick another approved Utility template.
You don't need the template for Kids Check-in to work. If Meta rejects it, the free pickup pass still works, and you can delete the rejected template.
5. Look after families
The Families card lists every registered family. Open one to:
- add or remove a child
- add a staff note, for example who may collect a child. Volunteers see it at drop-off and pickup only. It never appears on a label or in a message.
- Mark number confirmed if you checked the parent's number in person
- Remove family, which also removes their children and check-in history
Allergy and care notes are shown to volunteers and never sent on WhatsApp. Check-in history is kept for 12 months, then deleted.
Turning off or deleting a program
- Turn off Kids Check-in closes the registration link and the station. Families are kept, so you can turn it back on later.
- Delete this program removes every family, child, note and check-in history, and closes the registration link, desk sign and station. Type DELETE to confirm. Leave Also delete the contact list ticked to remove the parents' contact list too; parents stay in your contacts. Deleting cannot be undone.