Becoming a Group Leader

If interested in becoming a Group Leader you should:                       

1. Have good organization and event planning skills
2. Be familiar with your own community
3. Have effective communication skills
4. Have a high level of integrity, professionalism and sensitivity to the needs of individuals.
5. Able to organize and prioritize in a timely manner.
6. Able to take initiative to help unite a team, set and achieve goals, and anticipate needs and be able to help with any conflict resolution.
7. Have patients for getting a group started and for planning events, sometimes it takes time to get the group going strong. No event is easy.
8. Be willing to put in the time needed to get your playgroup established. Generally 1 to 2 hours a week.
9. Motivated to recruit members by getting the word out about your playgroup.
10. Be proficient on the computer and home access to the Internet

How to Start a Playgroup                   

1. Decide on where you would like your playgroup to meet. We suggest first meeting in a public place such as a park, kids play area, or reserving a room at your local library, recreation area, or church.
2. Carry playgroup cards or fliers and introduce yourself to parents when you are at the park, taking classes, church, and families in your neighborhood who have children and give them your playgroup information so they know how to join.
3. During the first few meetings, make sure to discuss with the other parents the activities you want your children to engage in during playgroup and what you would like to accomplish.
4. Ask for volunteers to help you in recruiting members. You may want to bring some playgroup cards so you can give them to the
   parents to also hand out when they are out with their children or in their neighborhood.

Posting Your Playgroup         

1. Name your playgroup something that will help other parents make a connection. This will help make your group unique and will help others identify your playgroup.
2. Add a brief description of your playgroup under your playgroup posting. Make it fun and offer some detail.  Members will be able to get more detailed information once they view your playgroup calendar.
3. Select a day and time that you can commit to. Successful playgroups stick to the original day/time posted so try not to switch it.  If you post Monday as playgroup, you shouldn't assume that members joining are available on different days of the week.
4. Do NOT post any personal information such as your email address, address, or phone numbers under your posting description. We have reserved a separate "Additional Playgroup Description" box under your "About this Playgroup" page we assign you once your group has been successfully posted called your "Playgroup Portal".
5. If you have a website that you would like your members to check out you may add the link within the Playgroup Portal pages. You MUST direct your members to "Join" and only from your playgroup description page can they can proceed on to your website.

Group Leader Tips: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4