5 Things to Consider Before You Teach Kids’ Yoga at Drop-in Events

For many new children’s yoga teachers, drop-in events are the easiest gigs to land. They are prolific (practically every family on earth is looking for something to do on the weekend), they are usually free (who doesn’t love free?), and they teem with potential clients (make sure you have plenty of fliers!) That being said, it’s important to go in prepared. Let’s dig in:

1. Do you understand your legal liability in the event of an injury or accident?
   
   If you’ve ever gone to a yoga studio, you know the first thing you have to do (or click, if registering online) is your agreement to the studio’s liability waiver. Typically, a liability waiver indemnifies — lets the studio off the hook, legally — an individual, organization, and/or business in the event that someone gets hurt. Before you teach a drop-in kids’ yoga class, make sure you understand the potential legal ramifications of an injury that occurs during your class. Reach out to the event organizer and ask them if they collect liability waivers. If they do, have your attorney review it to ensure you are covered (indemnified) in its provisions. If the event does not have a liability waiver for each participant (adults and minors included), you should consider having an attorney draft one for your portion of the event — and in this case, you need to ensure every adult signs for themselves as well as any children for whom they are legally responsible. This may seem intimidating — it is! But as our attorney reminds us, “If you can’t afford legal services, you can’t afford to be in the business.”
   

2. Are you prepared to handle large groups of children?
   
   It’s not uncommon for adults to bring entire groups of kids (not just their own) to drop-in events. For instance, they may hear that there’s free drop-in yoga on Saturday at the library and use that as a free activity for their child’s birthday party. So now you have twelve 6-year-olds on your hands — and the adults already peaced out to get Starbucks. Are you ready for this? Thinking of #1 (legal liability), what is your plan if you need to turn the group away because you are not willing to accept the potential legal ramifications of having a group of unattended minors without waivers? In advance of a drop-in event, make sure the organizers put specific guidelines in place to prevent this situation. They have many options: (a) specify that each child must be accompanied by a legal parent or guardian; (b) specify that class is limited to __ participants, (c) explicitly prohibit the use of class for group (i.e. girl scouts, run club, birthday party) activities.
   

3. Are parents required to stay or can they drop their kid off?
   
   Make sure you (and the event organizers) have answered this question BEFORE advertising the event. If the event is open to all ages, we recommend requiring adults to stay with any children under 5 years old. If you advertise the event as a drop-off class, make sure to clearly state the start and end times and make sure you have at least 2 emergency contact numbers for each child in the event that there’s an accident (injury, bathroom accident, nose bleed, etc.) Understand that it is neither uncommon nor unreasonable to charge fees for late pick-ups (even if the event itself is free).
   

4. What will be going on before, during, and nearby your yoga class?

   
   This is incredibly important in order for you to plan effectively. If you are teaching a yoga class at a street festival and there’s a parade marching through the background, you won’t have many participants — or at least, you will not have their attention. If you’re doing yoga on a stage, what show/event/performance precedes you? If a band precedes you, expect that stage hands will be running equipment back and forth across the stage while you teach, and that’s also incredibly distracting to kids. If you want to reap the benefits of a drop-in event (primarily, reaching potential clients) don’t take opportunities that undermine the quality your class experience. Parents/caretakers will not be impressed or have a positive experience with you class if the conditions are all wrong for participation.
   
   5. How will you convert the opportunity into sales and/or new clients?
   
   Make sure you communicate with event organizers to align on expectations for advertising and follow-up. Make sure that they have incorporated your name, company and/or branding into the event’s marketing package. Ensure that you are allowed to pass out business cards or flyers. And have a clear strategy for converting contacts into clients. The surefire way to get the most juice for the squeeze is to collect contact information such as emails, social media accounts, or cell numbers and reach out IMMEDIATELY after the event — not a day later, not a week later — hours later.
   

Where do you plan to teach next? Tell us! jill@missionpropelle.com