The Family/Child Check-In is a fantastic way to make your nursery, preschool, and children's areas safer and more efficient. But it doesn't stop there! You can use check-in for older children, youth, and adults too. In fact, you can check-in an entire family and generate check-in labels, security (pick-up) labels, and name tags-all while marking family members present for an event. With check-in you can:

• Check babies, children, youth or adults into an event.
• Generate labels for children which includes important information, such as allergies, medical issues, or special needs.
• Provides emergency contact information and special instructions from the parents.
• Facilitates the check out process by ensuring that only authorized people can pick up a child.

When properly utilized, you can quickly check in an entire family, mark them present for an event, print the children's info labels, and print the parent's pick-up label. For a family already entered in your database, this entire process can take less than 10 seconds. Here's a list of a few things that you'll need for an effective check-in station:

• A device with a minimum of 768 vertical pixels. We recommend using a higher resolution touchscreen device, like a Microsoft Surface, but check-in also works well on Macs, iPads, and touchscreen Windows laptops. We have found that Chromebooks do not work well (if at all) with dedicated label printers.
• A browser without any extra toolbars, plug-ins, etc. that may reduce the amount of usable screen space. There is also an option (that we highly recommend) to use the Chrome browser in 'Kiosk Mode'. This automatically removes toolbars and address bars, and simplifies printing. For more information and setup instructions see our article on Chrome Kiosk Mode.
• At least one label printer. We fully support the Brother 810W and 820NWB, as well as the Dymo LWW. You will just need to install the printer drivers from the manufacturer's website for the labels to print correctly. Review our Label Printer Setup article to get detailed setup instructions and guidance.
• A friendly person who can smile and make people feel welcome (optional, but highly recommended!)

To begin, go to the Events/Attendance Screen and select the Attendance & Check-In tab. You can either add an attendance date or select one that you have already made.

Check-In & Tags

Check-in works with any tags that you've configured for attendance tracking. Be sure to see our article on setting up your tags for attendance if you need help with this.

Next, select the tags for this event, including any tags you want to use for check-in. For example, if you are doing check-in for your Nursery class, the Nursery tag must first be added to that event.

Once you select the Attendance Event you would like to start Check-In for, click the Check-In Mode button to start.

The Check-In Screen will open in a new tab in your browser. Some browsers may block or prompt you--be sure to allow the new tab to open.

Up Next: Using Check-In.