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How to Prepare for Spring Break as a Martial Arts School

How to Prepare for Spring Break as a Martial Arts School

Late March/early April opens up a whole week for students from preschool to college to have a week off school. This time away could be a great opportunity for you to get creative and offer Spring Break programs and camps for students to sign up for. While some families take vacations during this time, many parents are still working and scrambling to find something to occupy their kids’ time during the day.

Here’s a chance for you and your martial arts school to be a hero. Provide a resource for these parents while retaining current students and potentially even gaining new ones. It’s not too late to get something put together for Spring Break, so here are some quick tips to help you make it a success!

Structuring the Week

First things first: structure your Spring Break week. You’ll need to decide how you’ll run classes during the week. Will it be an all-day program with a variety of activites, similar to a shortened summer camp? Or, will it be one-hour, two-hour classes to fill portions of the kids’ day? 

If you are simply running standard classes, then most of the day is business as usual. But you may want to consider supplementing your usual after-school class times with additional sessions during the day. This gives parents options to choose from. Maybe they’re able to leave work in the mid-day to be home, but could use an activity in the mornings for their kids. Consider reaching out to current parents and picking their brains about what Spring Break class times would be most beneficial.

If you decide to execute a more robust day-long camp, you’ll need to prepare for managing and executing the whole day. From drop-off to pick-up, an agenda must be planned out and balanced to make sure it is productive, entertaining, and takes student needs into consideration.

Agenda Tips

  • Start the day with a simple physical activity (basic fitness routine like ladder drills, push-ups, sit-ups, etc.)
  • Use the 50/10 rule – 50 minutes of an activity followed by a 10 minute break
  • Along with martial arts activities, incorporate other fun games and free play time
  • Have an established time for lunch break

While it might feel intimidating to plan these activities, it’s a good opportunity to mix things up and keep kids engaged with games and unique ways to spend their time. Whether that’s an outdoors activity (a water balloon or water gun fight is an easy one if it’s warm!), St. Patrick’s Day-themed events, etc., switching it up could be good for students who are in their own adjustment period to a week off.

Promotion

It’s one thing to build out and plan your special Spring Break program, but you want to be sure your students and parents actually know about it! First and foremost, make sure to tell kids and parents during and after classes leading up to Spring Break. But your promotion doesn’t and shouldn’t stop there. Here are some additional ways to drum up interest in Spring Break at your martial arts school.

Build Dedicated Landing Pages

You can use your Kicksite software to create Spring Break themed landing pages. Use these to collect Spring Break registrations and even take payments for additional Spring Break fees. For additional assistance, check out the guide in our Knowledge Base on how to create a landing page.

Create a Flyer/Graphic

Making flyers and graphics that can be printed and used online is crucial for promoting Spring Break at your school. Be sure to include a QR code on your flyers – this allows parents to go to your landing page straight from their to get signed up. And luckily, you can create downloadable QR codes for your Kicksite landing pages right in your Kicksite software! Check out an example for how to make QR codes for flyers and graphics HERE.

Consider hanging your flyers up at nearby coffee shops, grocery stores, community centers, and other local businesses where parents are likely to be spending their time. You may even be able to work with local school districts to promote your camp!

Social Media and Online Listings

Social media is one of the most important places to promote your business all year long, and this goes for Spring Break as well. Publish the graphics you’ve created, provide details in the caption along with a link to your landing page, and encourage sharing.

Along with your standard platforms like Facebook and Instagram, consider less conventional sites like Reddit for promoting online. Most cities have a dedicated Subreddit where people share event info or ask questions. Your city may also have various websites dedicated to parents with a calendar of event listings. Reach out and see if you can get added!

Pricing

When setting up your pricing, don’t overcomplicate it. You may think you should set up a low price point to try and attract more customers, but that could undersell you and the value your business brings to kids. Set a fair price for customers that reflects the program you’re offering.

Other Pricing Tips

  • Research other local Spring Break camp prices to establish a baseline
    • Don’t just research martial arts schools, but check out all kinds of sports programs. This will give you a better indicator of how parents perceive the value of these types of offerings
  • Offer discounts to those attending more than one day
  • Offer sibling discounts to parents sending multiple kids

Talk to your Clients

Don’t just listen to us – talk to your clients! Gathering ideas from both your younger students and their parents could assist in forming a thorough plan. They could help you determine the best possible timing by identifying overlapping Spring Break periods. Or, the parents have already discussed fun activities for their kids to enjoy that might help fill in gaps on your agenda. Either way, their feedback is very important to take into account to make this break a can’t-miss time at your school.

Other Considerations

  • Encourage parents to send them with a sack lunch
  • Be sure to take note of students’ allergies and ensure they bring necessary items like EpiPens
  • Discuss any specific needs certain students may need with parents
  • Keep the dress code simple – comfortable athletic gear!

Check out all of Kicksite’s resources to help you plan for your Spring Break activities, including our webinar on preparing for Summer Camps, and our Spring Break Events live session!