Student parents want inclusive opportunities to participate in activities that matter to them. By offering family-friendly events, you empower student parents to engage meaningfully while balancing responsibilities. In the planning of events that cannot be family friendly, reduce the barriers that prevent student parents’ full participation.
Host Family-Friendly Events
Design events with families in mind.
Offer Activities for Children
Consider child-friendly activities that will help parents participate.
Enable Independent Participation
Offer supports for student parents to engage and participate.
Provide Child Care Supports
Help student parents access child care support.
Provide Clear Messaging
Clearly communicate whether family members can attend.
Offer Embedded Programming
Consider offering programming for student parents.
Host some events or workshops that student parents can participate in along with their families. Identify when events and spaces can accommodate children, proactively design activities that include families, and clearly communicate when families can attend.
What Students Told Us
Our research shows that students feel let down when opportunities are not inclusive of students with families or cannot accommodate children. Students with partners shared that their partners experienced feelings of isolation, especially international students and others who relocated for their studies. Including student partners in events decreased feelings of isolation. Students also told us that bringing their families along to some events on campus allowed them to feel better supported in both realms: supported by the university in their family life and supported by their family members in their studies.
Suggestions and Examples
When promoting a family-friendly event, clearly signal to student parents that they are invited to bring along family members, including children.
Offer a box of children’s activities such as colouring pages, crayons, and books for children to engage with during the event as they sit near their parent or caregiver.
Create an activity table for children within the same room so that student parents may bring their children, as appropriate to the nature of the space and/or event.
Hire students to engage with the children at the activity table and to assist with activities.
If offering food, consider the allergies and dietary requirements of the participants.
Discover more
Offer Activities for Children
Consider child-friendly activities that will help parents participate.
Enable Independent Participation
Offer supports for student parents to engage and participate.
Provide Child Care Supports
Help student parents access child care support.
Provide Clear Messaging
Clearly communicate whether family members can attend.
Offer Embedded Programming
Consider offering programming for student parents.
During workshops and events, create an activity table for children within the same room so that student parents may bring their children, as appropriate to the nature of the space and/or event. Alternatively, offer children’s activities that children can take to their seats near their parent. Where possible, actively include children and give parents an opportunity to share campus experiences with their families.
What Students Told Us
Our research showed that students wanted their children to be more involved in the activities they attend and their identities as parents to be acknowledged. One student expressed feeling let down and frustrated when they could not include their family to share the opportunity. Another student explained that if faced with the choice between parental and academic responsibilities, they would prioritize the former, but wished that the university would better account for the needs of students with children.
Suggestion and Examples
Set up a space for simple crafts like paper masks or bracelets, or create an event-specific craft, to spark creativity.
Offer sensory toys for children to play with.
Provide colouring books, blank paper, and crayons or markers to keep children creatively engaged.
Borrow children’s books from the Family Care Office library to have available for children during your event.
Offer stress balls and spinners to entertain and calm children.
Place mats on the floor near the children’s station.
Clean and disinfect children’s area regularly.
Discover more
Host Family-Friendly Events
Design events with families in mind.
Enable Independent Participation
Offer supports for student parents to engage and participate.
Provide Child Care Supports
Help student parents access child care support.
Provide Clear Messaging
Clearly communicate whether family members can attend.
Offer Embedded Programming
Consider offering programming for student parents.
Consider student parents’ needs when scheduling and deciding on the format of events. Offer flexible options such as multiple time slots, remote or hybrid participation, and activities that do not have a firm time commitment. Despite students’ desires to become more involved in academics, professional development activities, and extracurriculars, they felt restricted by busy family schedules.
What Students Told Us
When students had more freedom to participate in university events without their family members, they felt supported. Students told us that it is especially difficult for student parents to attend events outside of school and during child care hours, for example in the evenings and on the weekends. Students shared experiences of academic events regularly being scheduled in the late afternoon when many student parents need to pick up their children and prepare dinner. Students said that unexpected family care, for example to care for a sick child or due to an unanticipated lack of child care, frequently prevented them from participating in university events.
Suggestions and Examples
Offer a remote participation option either by offering events as hybrid or allowing students to request remote participation.
When possible, avoid scheduling events outside of school/child care hours.
When events are scheduled outside of school/child care hours, include language about child care options and/or supports in event descriptions to enable student parents to participate during times when their children are normally in their care.
When possible, offer events in a drop-in format to allow students to arrive within a window of time or provide multiple time slots throughout the day.
Offer video recordings or informational material after events for students who were unable to attend.
Resources
Back-Up Child Care & Babysitting
Explore back-up and occasional child care options for student parents.
For non-family friendly events that take place outside of school/child care hours, provide information about child care options and provide child care supports. For large events, consider offering child care.
What Students Told Us
Our research showed that when childcare support was provided, student parents were able to balance their academic and personal responsibilities more effectively. Access to flexible child care and resources helped alleviate the stress of unpredictable family needs, and enabled students to focus on their commitments while supporting their family responsibilities.
Suggestions and Examples
Consider offering child care when hosting large events.
Offer child care expense reimbursements to student parents who participate in events outside of their regular schedules for which they require paid child care.
In event descriptions, include information about accessing occasional child care in the community.
Share information on financial assistance for child care. Many U of T student unions provide some support for child care. Also encourage students who are also unionized employees to check if their union has any child care financial supports.
Explore back-up and occasional child care options for student parents. Questions about options for offering child care for an event? Email the Family Care Office.
For family-friendly events, prioritize communication that actively encourages family participation and includes clear messaging that welcomes children and families. Provide information on nearby family-friendly facilities (such as change tables or infant-feeding spaces) and highlight features that make the event suitable for parents or families. If an event is not family friendly, indicate so while offering child care supports if the event is outside of school/child care hours.
What Students Told Us
Students told us that they had read about events and hoped to come with their children as the event seemed family friendly in nature, but were disappointed when they were told that they could not bring their children.
Suggestions and Examples
Make it clear in the event description whether the event is family friendly rather than making students ask. Include the information about in what ways children can participate (e.g., “children can participate alongside their parent in the activities” or “there will be an activity station for children to engage in quiet play during the presentation”).
For events in which children will participate in an activity, put a suggested age range for children participants and allow student parents to make decisions accordingly.
If an event is not family friendly, but students could request to bring their children on an exceptional basis or request to participate remotely, make it clear to whom students should make the request.
Provide visual clues such as signage during the event so that all participants are aware that the event is welcoming of family members, including children.
Download Posters
Every Family Belongs
Display posters to help student parents and families feel welcome to participate in and around your space.
Support for student parents should be spread across the university rather than exclusively in one office. Faculties, colleges, and departments can offer programming for student parents and other student caregivers to support their full participation in their field of study. Create environments where student parents can openly share their identity and connect with other student parents in the community.
What Students Told Us
Programming for student parents is offered by the Family Care Office, but students told us that they would benefit from also having programming specific to their academic field. Students said that this would allow them to bridge their identities rather than siloing them. Students also noted there are discipline-specific challenges to thriving as a student parent.
Suggestions and Examples
Organize workshops that are tailored to your specific community’s needs.
Invite guest speakers, like faculty members, professionals or other student parents, to speak on topics like work-life balance, mental health strategies, or advocacy for best practices to support student parents.
Address discipline-specific concerns in your programming. For example: conducting research abroad or doing a placement with family members and managing unpredictable or a culture of long hours in lab research.
Facilitate informal peer-led support groups for student parents.
Provide workshops to familiarize student parents with available resources.
Offer time-management and self-compassion workshops for student parents to learn tips on how to organize their priorities.
Resources
Family Care Office Programming Resources
Connect with the Family Care Office to discuss partnering with us to offer embedded programming or to consult about programming and resources. In addition, you can invite a Family Care Advisor and/or peer mentor to speak at one of your events.
