Modern families need flexibility and options when they are looking to book activities for their children. Their schedules are packed and as a children’s activity provider, you are fighting for space between school, other extracurriculars, family time, and more.

When you have the ability to offer a variety of options, you can capture the demand of each unique family in your community. With Sawyer, you can easily and simply schedule recurring and one-off appointments, semesters, camps, drop-ins, parties, and so much more. 

How to offer flexibility in your schedule with Sawyer

• Recurring and one-off appointments
• Semesters and camps
• Class packs and memberships
• Drop-in activities
• Free trials

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Recurring and one-off appointments

If you run an academics or tutoring business, language learning business, music lessons or education business, or any other children’s activity business that takes one-on-one and group lessons, then adding appointments to your schedule is a no-brainer.

With recurring appointments, you can easily give parents the option to book the same session time week over week with a few clicks. Then, not only are you getting predictable revenue each week but also you can build stronger connections with your students, cover more ground with your lessons, and ensure your schedule is booked in advance.

One-off appointments are also beneficial to you and your customers. Leaving room for these individual appointments offers flexibility for families that cannot fully commit. Plus, these one-off appointments are easier to fill last minute so you don’t end up with gaps in your schedule.

Semesters and camps

Another way to ensure predictable revenue is by offering semester-based classes and camps. These long-term activities are a great way for you to get revenue upfront and keep your schedule full. Like recurring appointments, semesters and camps are great when you want to build a curriculum and work through it with the same group of children.

Just remember, semesters typically book 3-6 months in advance and summer camps book 6+ months in advance. Therefore, it’s important for you to publish these semesters and camps early so parents can see your activities when they are researching and booking.

Class packs and memberships

Class packs and memberships are another great way to build up your community and keep your revenue steady. Class packs allow customers to buy a certain number of activity sessions at one time, often at a small discount. This gives you the full cost of all of those classes upfront and gives your customer a commitment to your program. Class packs are most commonly used for activities that work well with drop-ins, like play spaces, art classes that offer open studio time, and similar.

Likewise, memberships allow you to establish a strong community and maintain a steady income stream. When you have active memberships, you can do special events, offer promotions or discounts, and lean into referral programs to grow your customer base. Like class packs, play spaces with open play options, art and dance studios with open studio time, and sports programs where children can practice independently all work well with memberships.

Drop-in activities

Adding drop-in activities to your schedule can help make sure you don’t leave any empty spots in your activities. Drop-ins are a very useful option for families who need to fill time in their own schedules and they help you fill your schedules as well. You can offer drop-in activities on their own or as an option on your semesters and camps so you don’t leave any empty spaces.

When you offer a drop-in option, make sure you price it accordingly. Since drop-ins are generally not booked as far in advance as semesters and camps, you can price them a bit higher. For example, if your semester is $100 for 10 classes, you can price the drop-in activity at $12 to make up for the “last minute” booking.

Free trials

Like drop-ins, free trials are a great way to get customers in your door and make sure your classes are full. Don’t let “free” scare you: Free trials are great for your business! In our 2025 Children’s Activity Industry Trend Report, we found that 30% of customers who attended a free trial booked a paid class within 30 days.

It is important to nurture these free trial customers after their class and encourage them to book a paid activity with you. Send a personal follow up and keep these customers on your email list to let them know about upcoming activities on your schedule. Check out our guide to learn more about how to convert free trials into customers.

These are just a few of the many features and options that Sawyer offers to help children’s activity businesses ensure flexibility for their customers and grow their revenue. If you are looking for additional guidance on managing and running your business, the team at Sawyer is here to help. Check out our many resources for support as well.

With our suite of tools, like custom registration 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.