. Safety Procedures Adult/Child ratios goals of no more than 6:1. in the mornings and 9:1 in the afternoons. Although the flexible nature of the membership makes exact attendance impossible to predict, we will try very hard to maintain this ratio at all times. E.g. during summer 2008, we had on average a 4:1 ratio for those under 5 yrs old and a 7:1 ratio for those 6 yrs and older. Sign In/Sign Out sheet. The parents and/or caregivers are responsible for signing your children in and out at the Club.  This is super important as we use the sign in sheet to match up and count the children throughout the day.  The Sign In & Out sheet is on a clipboard and on site every day.  Our coaches are also responsible for monitoring your sign in and sign out every day.  Please write your child's full and last name, the time you are dropping them off/picking them up, and your initials EVERY TIME YOU COME. It would also help if you gave us a direct wave and verbal acknowledgement, especially when picking them up-- as they tend to disappear quickly into your cars at the end of the day. New boundaries. (At Speedway Meadow) Please help us keep the kids away from the road, bike path, and top of the hill! There will be blankets at the top of the hill for GROWN UPS ONLY, and for jackets, backpacks, etc. But we will be asking children to stay down toward the flat part of the field, no higher than about halfway up the slope. For the preschoolers, we will physically mark out a line by use of our red flags or cones. Further down the hill will be blankets for the kids to rest on, and for parents who want to participate in the activities. Parents, PLEASE encourage your children to participate and DO NOT allow them to hang out with you or GO TO YOUR CAR. If they must be with you, please let us know directly that you have them, then let us know again when you are sending them back to us. Snacks.  Please help insist that the kids in the morning program eat only our food, until at least Noon each day.  We provide fresh fruit, pretzels, and water every day.  After 11:45AM, children may tap the coaches on our shoulder, then can go up to their parents/caregivers to eat lunch.  But, they MUST sign out and officially leave Kids Outdoor Club before doing so. In the afternoon, with the bigger kids, PLEASE send them to the Club with extra snacks, if you think they'll want it.  We will always provide our usual fruit and pretzels about halfway through the session, but, many of them tend to be ravenous right away, after school, and burn up a lot of energy out there, so extra fuel would be appreciated. Bathroom Breaks.  As always, since we began in October 2006, we take kids to the public bathroom, check the stalls to be sure no one is present, clean seats if we have to, and then wait outside for them to finish.  We'll change diapers and help the little ones if needed and with parental consent.  The big issue more recently is that it has become unclear at times which kids are going to the bathroom, and with whom. Thus, I'd like to ask Parents to PLEASE TAKE ONLY NON-MEMBER kids to bathroom (ie, younger siblings and toddlers).  PLEASE HELP US INSIST that ONLY the coaches take the participating, signed-in children to the bathrooms.  In other words, if your child asks you to take them, please have them come to us instead. Kids Too Young. This is a family club and we encourage family participation.  In fact, soon we hope to have a service outdoors for babies 9 months to 2 years for drop off in a very safe environment.  However, until this begins (which will take a huge effort), we would like to see if we can all help to set up an area for 0-2 yr olds, so that we can separate the ages at least for half the morning sessions.  I'll need some help from Moms or Dads to encourage play outside of the other group.  Perhaps we try to make it closer to the Huge tree across the field as it will be getting pretty hot on the side of the road we are usually on. Adventure Walks. On walks, where perhaps 18 children might go, we will go as a large group, but we will have at least 3 coaches (6:1 ratio) and each coach will be assigned 6 children (or 9 if older) for the walk.  We will use wristbands and utilize walkie talkies on the walks.  While we adventure throughout GG Park, we will count kids before any pit stops (e.g. bathroom, look at turtles or birds, climb a rock mountain, etc...) and we will count again right after we begin the walk again.  these counts will be performed by two different coaches simultaneously so that we have double counts for safety.   For the mornings where we have more than 10 on a walk, we'll outfit them in a Kids Club red t-shirt.   Thanks so much for your help and understanding! We are grateful for your help in keeping the Club running smoothly and safely.