What started in 1992 as Take Our Daughters to Work Day by the Ms. Foundation for Woman is now called Bring Your Child to Work Day. This day will be celebrated on April 28, 2022, a national day that gives children in the United States a glimpse into the working world.

Here are some ideas for the office and virtual programs. These activities may need to be separated into age groups and should always have adult supervision.

• Start with a planning committee.  Have all levels of your workforce on it.
• Be inclusive.  Invite daughters, sons, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, godchild, and neighbor kids.
• This is a fantastic learning opportunity. Talk about the organization, industry, and career opportunities. 
• Make it more than job shadowing.  Put them into work process.  Make it interesting and interactive.
• Build in breaks.  Always end the day with reflection.
• Logo Coloring or Design a New Logo – Make coloring sheets or design stations for kids to be creative.
• Scavenger Hunt/Tour – Set up your company tour as a scavenger hunt with their chaperone.  This could be a good end of the day exercise when everyone needs to move around.
• If I Were a CEO – ask them to create a plan if they ran the company.  What rules would they have? 
• Quality Control - Set up a focus group and see what you learn.
• Salesperson for the Day - Have kids work in teams and create a sales pitch and present it.
• Job Fair – Have each department at a table.
• Social Media Takeover – Let the students create some posts for your company social media. 
• Have wellness breaks. 
• Still not back to the office?  Start with virtual onboarding.  Do this by departments, age groups, or whatever works best for your virtual platform.
• Plan a company wide virtual social event.  Trivia contest, snack breaks, zoom mixers, bingo, mystery rooms, or team building in virtual break out rooms.  Even some of the ideas above could be done virtually.
• Give them all access to your organization.  Use pre-recorded videos or live feed into what each department does.  If you have a production floor, a mobile device is all you need to Zoom live footage for a look at what each department does.

Remember the whole idea of Bring Your Child to Work Day is to give them an idea of what their parents do at work, and to expose them to career possibilities for themselves.  Most of all, have a fun day and build memories.

Sources: thebalancecareers.com; teambuilding.com