What a welcome kit is for
A kids club welcome kit has three jobs. It tells parents the hotel is ready for children. It gives the child something to do and wear from the first hour. And it introduces the kids club — its name, its mascot, its programme — so children want to go. Everything in the kit should serve at least one of those jobs.
Plan by age group
Children aged two and twelve want very different things, and safety rules differ too. Most hotels work with two kits:
- Younger children (about 3–6): a small backpack or drawstring bag, a cap, a colouring book with chunky crayons, stickers and a soft toy of the mascot.
- Older children (about 7–12): a backpack, a cap or T-shirt, an activity or puzzle book, a "passport" or stamp card for kids club activities, a reusable bottle, a keyring or lanyard.
For babies and toddlers, a separate small gift — a bib, a soft comforter without small parts, a bath toy — is often better than a cut-down kit. Teenagers are hard to please with kits; a cap, a branded bottle and access to activities usually work better.
What to put in the kit
A useful structure is one item to wear, one to do, one to keep and one practical item:
- To wear: cap, bucket hat or T-shirt in the club colour. Staff can spot their group by the pool or on excursions.
- To do: colouring or activity book about the hotel and its surroundings, crayons or pencils, stickers.
- To keep: a plush or keyring of the mascot. This is the item children carry around and take home.
- Practical: a reusable bottle, a swim bag, sun cream for the right markets, a small towel.
Avoid items that create mess in the room (slime, glitter), perishables that housekeeping cannot store, and anything that needs batteries.
The role of the mascot
A character turns a bag of items into a story. Children remember a bear or a turtle called by the hotel's name better than a logo. The same character can appear on the colouring book, the cap, the stamp card and the plush, and at a mini-disco as a costume. If you do not have a mascot yet, our guide on hotel mascots explains how to create one.
Safety first
Children's products supplied in the EU must meet toy safety rules. In practice:
- Toys and plush are tested to EN71 and carry CE marking, an age warning where relevant and batch identification.
- For children under three, avoid small parts: plush eyes should be embroidered, not glued or attached.
- Bags with cords have length limits for young children.
- Crayons and paints should be suitable for the age group.
Outside the EU, other rules apply — in the United States, for example, children's products need testing to US standards and a Children's Product Certificate. Ask your supplier for the documents for your market before you order.
Branding the kit
Use one design system: the club name, the mascot and one or two bright colours. The hotel logo can be smaller than you might expect; children respond to the character, and parents will see the hotel name anyway. Bags and caps take embroidery or print; books are printed; plush carries an embroidered or woven logo on the foot or a ribbon.
How many kits to order
Count child arrivals, not rooms. Use last season's data for children per arrival and arrivals per season, then split by age group. Add a margin for returning children, birthdays and kits handed to visiting families. Kits are a seasonal stock: ordering the whole season at once usually lowers the price per kit, but storage space and the risk of changing the design next year should be weighed.
When to order
Work backwards from the first day of the season. Plush takes longer than the other items — typically 8–10 weeks of production after the prototype is approved — so a kit with a plush mascot needs to be ordered four months or more before the season, including samples and transit. Kits without plush can be planned about three months ahead. For summer resorts in Europe and the Mediterranean, that means briefing in the first months of the year.
Handing it out
How the kit is given matters as much as what is in it. A short welcome from a kids club animator at check-in, or the kit waiting in the family room with the child's name on a card, makes it feel personal. Keep a few spare kits at reception for late arrivals and walk-ins to the club.
Measuring whether it works
Watch kids club sign-ups in the first days of stays, family review scores and mentions of the club or the mascot in reviews. If the plush sells well in the lobby shop, consider offering a larger version as a souvenir.
See our kids club kits and the page for family resorts for the products and timelines we work with.