As a children’s activity provider, communication is one of the most important parts of your job. Not only do you need to communicate with your instructors for lesson planning and students for teaching, but also you need to communicate with families to give them necessary information before and after your classes. 

Efficient and effective communication is not always easy, though. Parents are busy and often have inboxes flooded with emails. The first battle is getting them to open your email and then you need to make sure that what you say within the email is clear and to the point.

Luckily, at Sawyer, our goal is to help children’s activity providers run their businesses smoothly so they can spend more time doing what they love. In this guide, we will outline the best ways to communicate with families, email subject line examples and best practices, and more.

• What is the best way to communicate with families?
• Email subject lines
• ~Email subject line examples & best practices
• How to communicate with families
• ~Email examples

What is the best way to communicate with families?

There are a few different ways you can choose to communicate with families before a class begins. Before working with a class registration system like Sawyer, many providers might rely on one-off emails and phone calls to communicate with families. 

But, with the automated rosters on Sawyer, providers can easily message all families registered for a class and send the necessary information that they need before attending. For example, packing list, agenda, needed supplies, and more. Providers can also send urgent messages in case of a canceled class, new location or meeting point, and other changes.

We recommend sending email messages with important information because families can access a message at any time. They can easily refer back to the email as a reminder of what they need to send with their child or where they need to meet you for the class. Likewise, email communication leaves less room for misunderstanding.

Email subject lines

Email is the best way to communicate with families, but it is still not foolproof. Millennial parents are digital natives and their inboxes are overflowing. It is your job to write emails with subject lines that will break through the noise so your messages do not get overlooked. Use these email subject line examples and best practices to make sure your emails get seen.

Email subject line examples & best practices

• Be direct. If your email has important information in it, make that known in the subject line. Don’t hide behind cute or silly subject lines if the body of your email is full of necessary information that the families need. Examples:
• ~Important information for Thursday’s art class
• ~Packing list for July sports camp
• ~Reminder: Camp is nut-free this summer
• ~Meet at the southeast corner of the park for class‍
• Create a sense of urgency. Urgency is useful when you are sending sales emails, but it can also be helpful when you want to make sure your email gets opened. Here are examples of both types of urgent subject lines:
• ~Don’t forget: Pack a nut-free snack for tomorrow
• ~Last chance: Add on late pickup for camp
• ~Camp starts tomorrow! Don’t forget to send your child with these items
• ~Only 1 spot left in Thursday’s art class! Book now!‍
• Keep it professional. Try to avoid being overly silly and overusing emojis in your email subject lines. Every time you communicate with families, you are giving them a look at how you work and how you will interact with their children. Be professional first and fun second.

How to communicate with families

Now that you have some subject line examples, we can move onto the body of your message. There are a few different types of emails you can send based on your goals. In this section, we will outline different types of emails and provide examples so you can see what is right for you.

Before an activity

Emailing a family before an activity should focus on providing important information in a direct way. Make your email as easy to skim as possible and keep it professional. Remember: Parents are busy. They just want to know what they need to pack and where they need to go.

Email example

Subject: Important information for Thursday’s art class

Hi [parent’s name],

We are so excited to welcome your child to our art class on Thursday! Please see below for the packing list, drop-off and pickup information, and more important details.

Packing list:

• Smock (any large shirt that you won’t mind getting paint on)
• Nut-free snack
• Water bottle
• Comfortable shoes

Drop-off and pickup

• Drop-off will go from 9am to 9:15am at our studio, 123 Apple Ave
• We will not be able to accept students who arrive after 9:15am
• Pickup will go from 11:45am to noon at our studio, 123 Apple Ave
• If you are not able to pick your child up by noon, please let us know at drop-off!

We are excited to see you and your child for a fun art class on Thursday! If you have any questions before class or after drop-off, feel free to email us here and we will get back to you.

Best,

The Apple Art team

After an activity

Once an activity has occurred, you can email the students to ask for feedback and encourage another booking. This is a great opportunity to take one-off customers and turn them into lifelong fans. If you have the ability, you can even offer a small discount for customers who book again within 1 week.

Email example

Subject: Did you enjoy class? Leave a review & get a discount!

Hi [name],

Thank you so much for attending our art class on Thursday! We had such a good time exploring colors and textures and learning along the way.

We would love for you to leave a review of the class so families like yours can hear about your experience. If you have a minute, please leave a review for us on Sawyer. 

If you would like to book another class with us, please use this discount code (REPEAT) within the week to get 15% off your booking. 

We look forward to seeing you again!

Best,

The Apple Art team

We hope that this guide has provided you with guidance and support so you can communicate directly and efficiently with families who book your activities. For email marketing and sales email tips, see our full guide. If you are looking for additional guidance on managing and running your business, the team at Sawyer is here to help. Use our resources for support as well.

With our suite of tools, like custom forms to record allergies and t-shirt sizes, flexible payment options like gift cards and installment plans, and seamless scheduling and registration on any device, Sawyer saves business owners 28 hours per month. If you are ready to spend less time on admin and more time doing more of what you love, see how Sawyer can help with a free trial or demo.