Invite parents and carers to join your meet-up

Roll - up! Roll-up! - this is your opportunity to bring together friends and peers in your community to collaborate and share parenting ideas to support you and the wider EasyPeasy parenting community. Your meet-up can be made up of 5 or more members. Once you’ve invited your folks to join your meet-up, you’ll need to decide a convenient time to meet, and help them get premium access to the EasyPeasy app.

Tip: You can use the free scheduling tool Doodle to help you and your group agree on when and when you will meet. You could also create a WhatsApp group to coordinate and stay in touch.

Allocate a meet-up leader- this will be a person who loves organising and bringing people together (it may well be you!). The meet-up leader will be responsible for scheduling and preparing for the meet-ups, as well as liaising with ChangeX and EasyPeasy teams where needed. Our Community Manager will be on hand to answer any questions, offer support and guidance as well as resolve any technical queries.

Invite your parents to download the EasyPeasy app. Visit the App Store or Play store to download the app for free. You and your Pod Members can register using your individual emails or via Facebook, Google or Apple, and it only takes a couple of minutes.

Once registered, each meet-up member should head over to their ‘Profile’ and add a profile image and About Me details, as well as adding their premium access code, which will be given to the Pod Leader by the EasyPeasy Team. This will ensure all Members receive unlimited access to all the tips, activities and games on the app.

Find a location

Finding a location is going to be really important as this is where you will meet-up over the coming weeks.

To get the most out of your meet-ups, we highly recommend finding a time when you can come together without children! This might mean meeting up when children are in nursery or childcare. If you are in receipt of ChangeX funding, we recommend you consider allocating funding to pay for creche or childminding services during the meet-ups. Having time to spend together without the childcare responsibilities makes a huge difference, and will help your parents get to know each other, create, and share in the best possible way! If you need help finding childcare, try tiney.co for a great directory of childminding services across the country.

To help you and your group find the best location for your needs we’ve listed out a few things to consider when selecting the perfect space:

• Is it a safe space where everyone will feel comfortable?
• Is the space free, or do you need to pay? If you are in receipt of ChangeX funding, consider allocating funds to pay to hire a venue for 1.5-2 hours.
• Select a location that is convenient for everyone to get to (ie consider parking, public transport, centrally located and not intimidating) - You might even want to ask your meet-up members where they usually go to meet friends and family.
• Does the location have WiFi?
• Can you easily access refreshments during your meet-up?
• This could either be through a cafe, or through a venue with a tea point or kitchen facilities available to you.

Meet-up location suggestions could include:

• Local coffee shop
• Soft play centre
• Cafe or restaurant
• Community Centre
• Library
• Church hall
• A friend’s home

If you would prefer a hybrid meet-up option, then do consider using Zoom, Teams, Google Hangouts alongside in-person meet-ups if you are able to.

There are a few bits of homework for meet-up leaders to do before your meet-up happens as well:

• Read through the Create Toolkit they have received via email - to understand the suggested structure of the meet- ups and the other aspects they will need to lead on in the meet-ups.
• Share links (iOS and Android) to download the EasyPeasy app with the other parents
• Share the Pod Code and how to use it on the EasyPeasy app with the other parents. This will ensure everyone gets full, premium access to the app.
• Invite parents in your meet-ups to explore the EasyPeasy app by searching Topics and Moments, and find a few activities ideas and tips you like and add them to your favourites. 

Meet Up 1: Create Challenge

You’ve made it! You’ve assembled your parents, downloaded the app, found a great place to meet, prepared your materials, and now it’s time to get your meet-up members together! 

Ahead of your first meet-up, do check that everyone has downloaded the app, created their profile, and added an activity or two to their ‘Favourites’. This will help you to jump straight in when you meet-up for the first time.

We’ve broken down a meet-up guide to help you plan out your time together. Have a look in the resources section for more information.

Try it at home!

Now you’ve had your first meet-up and shared your tips and activity ideas, it’s time to go home and try them out with your little ones. This is a time for getting playful, and getting reflective!

We also encourage you all to explore other content available on the app as this will provide inspiration for future ideas as well as suitable activities to try out with your family. Have a look in the resources section for more information.

Meet Up 2: Share Challenge

Congratulations, you’re now ready to create and publish the tips, ideas and activities you’ve come-up with on the app! You can do all your creating within the app and once your content is ready to go, you can add a description, assign relevant development and age tags.

Once a parent or caregiver creates a tip or activity via the EasyPeasy app it is immediately published which means it becomes available to the whole EasyPeasy parent and practitioner community. This content is easily accessible and shareable by any user on the EasyPeasy app and can be shared externally via digital channels e.g. WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

We’ve broken down a meet-up guide to help you plan out your time together. Have a look in the resources section for more information.