A corporate kids event that actually worked

Corporate family days are hard to get right. You are running an event for two audiences at once: children who want noise and movement, and parents who want somewhere to stand with a drink. This one worked, and it is worth writing down why.

Pick a theme the kids already care about

The theme was K-pop and demon hunters, which the organisers took straight from what the kids were watching that winter rather than from an events catalogue. That single decision did most of the work. Costumes turned up without being asked for, and the prop table we brought got used properly because the props matched something the kids already had opinions about.

If you are planning one of these, ask three parents what their kids are into right now and build from that. A theme invented in a planning meeting is a theme nobody dresses for.

Give the room a reason to move

The venue ran performers and activities in rotation rather than one long programme. Kids moved between stations, which kept the energy up and stopped any one queue from getting long enough to be a problem.

The photo booth sat at the edge of that rotation, which is exactly where it belongs. Families came to it between activities, got a print in about ten seconds and moved on. Nobody queued for more than a couple of minutes.

The booth part

We ran the open-air booth with studio strobes, which matters more at a kids event than people expect. Children do not stand still and a flash freezes them. A tablet camera in a dim function room produces a blurry photo of a moving eight-year-old, and that print goes in the bin.

We printed unlimited 2x6 strips with the company logo on them, so every family left with something that had the employer's name on it and that they actually wanted to keep. That is the whole argument for a booth at a corporate family day, and it is why we treat the branded design as part of the package rather than an add-on. There is more on how that works on the corporate photo booth page.

Why companies run these at all

A family day is a benefit that the employee's household sees. The employee already knows the company exists. Their kids and their partner mostly do not, beyond it being the thing that takes someone away five days a week. An afternoon that the kids talk about for a month does something a gift card cannot.

The photo strip is the part that stays on the fridge. That is not a small thing.

If you are planning one

Budget three hours of booth time rather than two if there are more than about a hundred people. Families take longer per session than adults do, because somebody is always adjusting a child's hat. Put the booth somewhere people pass rather than in a corner. And let the attendant run the line rather than assigning a staff member to it, because your staff should be at the party.