InitialA-VICE PRESIDENT 5 months ago
ActivityRank: 36

As some of you know, we had a new addition last year. We introduced the 'kids room', with kid-friendly anime showing, as well as activities for the littles to enjoy under supervision while parents and guardians could go and enjoy the convention.

We are going to do this again this year, with more staff members in the room to assist and to make sure nothing happens.

Some attendants have emailed in the past for our schedule to be posted in enough advance so they can arrange for a babysitter for the time they will want to be at the convention. Our plan for this year is to have certified babysitters, or at the very least have staff members who are certified by the American Red Cross in first aid and CPR.

The purpose of this room is NOTto leave your children with us all day. We are not certified to run a day care service. The purpose would be for parents to be able to participate in a more adult activity, such as fighting the crowd for merchandise in the dealer's room or attending the shounen-ai panel, for a while without worrying about their children.

We will most likely be keeping track of when children are dropped off and picked up, and by whom. There may be a time limit for how long you may leave your child with us unattended; of course you are also welcome to stay in the kids room and relax away from the hustle and bustle of the convention. Specific details have not been finalized as of yet.

Activities will be run for that time, such as coloring and origami, and also kid-friendly anime will be shown all day, such as Beyblade, Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh!.

Details so far are still really sketchy, but this is the idea we have for now. I personally will be heading the committee in charge of it, and I will also be popping in and out of the room all day amidst running other things.

If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please feel free to discuss it here! =3 I can't think of everything, and what we had last year went over very well.

OhioKimono 45 days ago
ActivityRank: 32

THANK YOU!
As a parent with kids at a con, I can say first hand that this kind of service is a life saver! Having a place that I can leave the kids behind, and go have some fun or attend a panel is soooo important.

What age ranges are you looking at?

Vysey-WEBMASTER 43 days ago
ActivityRank: 34

I'm guessing 5 to 12 years? (plus or minus?) but I don't think it matters that much. Though I'm not too sure if we are going to be changing diapers and such lol. We're just providing a nice area where kids can have fun so parents can have fun too!

OhioKimono 43 days ago
ActivityRank: 32

You will def want to include information such as that. That is a great age group

InitialA-VICE PRESIDENT 43 days ago
ActivityRank: 36

No children under the age of 4, and no children over the age of 12. In my own babysitting experiences, four-to-five is generally a good age where they are alright with being left with strange sitters for an extended period of time. Also, it's more probable that they will be well out of diapers by then, and while I have a great list of volunteers for the kid's room, I don't think they'll enjoy diaper changing just yet.

As the convention grows, and our volunteering staff, as well as our facilities, we may be able to extend these services in the future, but for now, on limited staff and space, it's not possible at this time.

There will be a rotating staff, two in the room at a time, (so if there's any bathroom issues, one person can stay while the other goes with the child) and I will be checking as often as possible that everything is under control. There will be a first aid kit in the room, against any possible accidents, and there will be a walkie talkie with the staffers at all times, so if anything more pressing occurs, one of the convention heads or a security staff member can be contacted immediately.

The kid's room is on the second floor, in a very visible area, and the only room to that side. It's an outside room, meaning one wall is windows facing the outside, and the entrance to the room is also glass, so you can see what's going on inside at all times. I believe there will be a regular security pass around the room as well.

I also have the list of anime (either movies or several episodes of each) that we will be showing on a TV in the room:
Pokemon the movie 3
Cardcaptors
Pokemon season 1
Naruto
Naruto: Ninja Clash in the Land of the Snow
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Beyblade
Digimon the Movie

The schedule of when each anime is showing will be in the program.

The kid's room will be closing at 10:30pm at the latest. If there aren't any children in the room for an extended period of time in the evening, I will authorize it to close for the evening.