Playgroup roster
A playgroup roster that keeps up as families come and go
Set up the playgroup morning once, add the families, and FairTurns shares set-up, morning tea and pack-down between them. When a family moves on to kindy, the roster adjusts without starting over.
Free, with no limit on people or dates. No card.
The same three parents always end up stacking the mats
A community playgroup runs on goodwill and a borrowed hall. Someone has to get there at nine to drag out the climbing frame and the sandpit cover, someone brings the fruit and cuts it up, and at half past eleven the mats need stacking, the floor needs sweeping, and the toys have to fit back in the cupboard before the next hirer arrives at twelve.
There’s rarely a formal roster, because there is rarely a formal anyone. The coordinator is just the parent who said yes first. Families start and finish all through the year, a new baby means a few weeks off, and the jobs drift onto the same three parents who always stay late.
A small roster on one link fixes most of it. Everyone can see whose week it is, new families slot in, and nobody has to be the one asking.
How FairTurns fits a playgroup morning
The morning in three jobs
Make teams for Set-up, Morning tea and Pack-down, each repeating every week on your playgroup day with its own times.
New families join by link
Switch on the join link and post it in the group chat. A new parent confirms their email and is on the roster. Switch it off again when you like.
Families moving on
When a family leaves for kindy, untick them and run Redistribute. Their turns go to others, and you see every change first.
A few weeks off
A parent with a new baby marks themselves away for a stretch of up to 92 days, and Fill leaves them off until they’re back.
Term time only
Fill one term ahead. When the holidays come, cancel those weeks, and bring any back if the group decides to meet.
The roster in the chat
Share the public roster link. Families see who’s on next Tuesday as a list or calendar, without signing in.
Set it up
- 01
Create the playgroup
Create the organisation and a team for each job.
- 02
Add the families
Paste the names you have, then share the join link for the rest.
- 03
Set the morning
Click your playgroup day, set each job’s times and choose “Every week on” that day.
- 04
Fill a term
Press Fill for the next 3 months and look over the result.
- 05
Post the link
Turn on the public roster and pin the link in the group chat.
When you want it to run itself
Pro emails a reminder to each parent who has accepted an invitation before their turn, and lets them reply “I can’t make it” straight from the email when a toddler is sick. The next family in line is asked, and the coordinator gets an email.
A$1 a month per organisation, paid 1 to 5 years at a time. See Pro and pricing
Good to know
- Two families on pack-down makes it a fifteen-minute job instead of half an hour. One each for set-up and morning tea is usually enough for a group of ten to fifteen families.
- Families don’t pick their own weeks: FairTurns shares the jobs out and everyone sees the roster on the link. Anyone can still be moved by hand.
- Use first names on the public roster. It shows names and dates to anyone with the link, never email addresses or who is away.
- There are no text messages. Families check the link, or on Pro get an email if they have accepted an invitation.
Questions
Our playgroup is tiny. Is this overkill?
Six families with three jobs is a perfectly good roster. It takes about ten minutes to set up, and from then on the link answers the “whose turn is it?” question for you.
Can a dad and a mum from the same family share a turn?
Add the family once by name, such as “Kofi and Brooke”, and they take turns as one. Or add both parents separately if they want their own reminders.
We meet twice a week. Can we have both days?
Yes. Add a Tuesday and a Thursday morning, each repeating weekly. Within the playgroup, Fill won’t put one family on two jobs at overlapping times.
Who can change the roster?
Administrators can change anything, and you can make another parent a team moderator for one job. Everyone else sees the roster and marks their own away days.
Does it cost anything?
The roster is free, with no limit on families or dates. Pro, with reminder emails and automatic cover, is A$1 a month for the playgroup, paid 1 to 5 years at a time.
Free templates and guides
How to make a volunteer roster
Roles, headcounts, away days and a roster people can check: a volunteer roster that lasts the season.
Roster template
A blank roster with date, time, job and name columns. Print it, or open it in Excel or Sheets.
Redistribute
Someone leaves or joins mid-season? Share the dates out again and see every change first.
Similar rosters
Kindy and preschool parent help
Fruit, laundry and parent help days for each kindy group, with one link for every family.
P&C, PTA and parent associations
Uniform shop, fete stalls, discos and working bees: every P&C roster in one place, on one link.
Community garden roster
Summer watering, compost turning and working bees for a community garden, shared between members.