Should I allow children who are not Potty Trained to enroll in my Summer Camp?

In this episode of the Preschool Dance Teacher’s Podcast by Dance to Learn®, host Jessica Strong dives into a timely and often tricky topic: should dance studios allow children who are not potty trained to attend summer camps? Inspired by multiple posts in her Facebook feed, Jessica shares her approach to handling these common parent concerns with empathy, clarity, and professionalism.

She discusses the legal limitations that prevent most dance studios from offering diapering services, the importance of communicating those limitations thoughtfully, and why turning families away isn’t always the best solution. You’ll hear real-life examples of accommodations that worked, how to reduce class disruptions caused by accidents, and why it’s better to include than exclude—when done responsibly.

Key takeaways include:

• How to respond to potty training questions with empathy
• What licensing restrictions mean for your studio
• Ways to include non-potty-trained children safely and professionally
• Why a flat-out “no” may damage your studio’s reputation
• A free email response template to help you navigate this issue with ease

If you’d like to have your own questions featured on the show, join us in the Preschool Dance Teacher’s Forum on Facebook and participate in our weekly #askthepod and #podtalk threads. Check the show notes for your free potty policy email template and to learn more about joining the Dance to Learn® Community.

 Links Mentioned:

• Join the Membership: https://library.dancetolearn.co/pages/join-us
• Join the Facebook Forum: https://www.facebook.com/groups/preschooldanceteachersforum
• Email your questions: podcast@dancetolearn.co
• Learn more about Dance Dance Hooray: https://www.dancedancehooray.com
• Free Potty Training Email Templates: https://dancetolearn.kit.com/30d4827074

Thanks for listening — and until next time, Happy Dancing!

Transcript

Welcome back to the Dance to Learn® Podcast — the Preschool Dance Teacher’s Podcast! I’m your host, Jessica Strong, and a big thank you to our Season 6 sponsor, Dance Dance Hooray!

Today’s topic was inspired by my morning doom scroll. As I was scrolling through my facebook feed, I saw at least 4 posts about allowing young children who aren’t potty trained to participate in summer camps. While this wasn’t a direct listener question, I thought it would be a great topic to discuss today!  Before I dive into that, I want to talk about the new format of the Dance to Learn® Podcast.  My goal for the Dance to Learn® podcast is to elevate real voices from our dance teaching community — yours! I want to hear your stories, answer your questions, and address your challenges, and help you feel more confident in your classroom. This is a new layout for the podcast, so it’s going to take me talking about it for the first few episodes to get the word out! I’m so excited to answer a listener's question today. 

Do you want to be featured on the show?
 In order to do that, you will want to join the Preschool Dance Teacher’s Forum on Facebook, where you’ll find our weekly Ask the Pod post every Friday. Drop your questions there through Monday evening. Then on Tuesday, I open Pod Talk, a chance for your fellow teachers to chime in with their tips and advice.

If your question is selected, I’ll feature you using your first name and last initial — or you can remain anonymous by emailing me at podcast@dancetolearn.co and I’ll post on your behalf.

Be sure to check the show notes for the link to the Forum. I can't wait to hear from you!

Let’s get into today’s topic - potty training! For me personally, every  year I have at least one mom reach out concerned that their child isn’t potty trained, but hoping they can still participate in our summer camps. The answer for me is very simple. I want to get into what I feel is the best practice for addressing these situations. Before I leap into this topic, let’s hear from our Season 6 Sponsor, Dance Dance Hooray! 

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Thank you to Corey at Dance Dance Hooray for creating our library of Tap Dance EdVentures for our Dance to Learn® Community! 

How do I handle these potty training questions? First, I like to show empathy to the parents and make sure they know that they aren’t alone and aren’t the first one to ask this question. Every year we get a parent with the same situation. This is important because parents may be feeling some guilt that they’ve been struggling with potty training with their little one - when in fact this is very normal and very common among young children. That first step of acknowledging, letting them know they aren’t alone in the situation, can help alleviate some of those feelings of guilt or shame. 

The second item I address is licensing. Dance Studios are not licensed day care centers by the state. Therefore we are independently owned and operated  business entities. Since we do not have licensing from the state, none of our staff is trained or authorized to change diapers. That’s because we usually only have young children on a short-term basis (a couple hours) and they aren’t in our care all day like they would be in a licensed child care facility. Due to this, no one on our team will be able to change a diaper. 

It’s important that this point is understood by the parents. If we just respond and say - we don’t change diapers. It could come off as a simple refusal to accommodate. When we explain there are legal reasons behind our inability to change diapers - we aren’t licensed to do that - it’s easier for parents to understand the stance from the studio’s perspective. 

Now does this mean we can’t let the child participate in the summer camp? No, absolutely not! We should accommodate and provide the parent with a couple options rather than turn them away altogether. 

I always let parents know that we will require a parent or guardian to remain in our lobby for the duration of the camp upon the event we need to address a diaper change. In most cases the parents had a grandparent, nanny or another adult who could accommodate that request. There was a situation a few camps ago where a single mother wanted her daughter to participate but she didn’t have another adult and needed to work. After careful discussion, she shared that her work was about 10 minutes from the facility and she would take care to leave and address a diaper change if needed. She also was sure to make sure her child used the restroom before camp each morning. She was never needed for a diaper change. 

This approach:
- Show empathy
- Providing licensing restrictions
- Sharing Accommodations

Is a much better approach, in my opinion, than turning children away. A flat out refusal to accommodate may result in a negative experience for the parent and parents will share their frustrations with friends and perhaps even publicly in online reviews or forums.  You could explain that your center isn’t licensed to handle diaper changes without any accommodations and turn the  child away. However, from my viewpoint, I would much rather have a little one come in a diaper than risk having an accident. 

Accidents do happen and every time they do, I have to stop the class or camp. Move the kids safely away from the fluid. Get cleaning equipment and clean up the studio so it’s safe to dance again. If the child doesn’t have a change of clothes then I also have to call a parent to come pick up the child early, or we have to get dancewear from our merchandise store and charge parents for new dance outfits. It’s more a disruption to risk a child having an accident than it is to allow a child to wear a diaper under the premise that the parent knows it’s their responsibility to change it. 

There were quite a few requests on the posts I saw today about how to respond to these families, so I have created a free email template for you to use in response to these questions. The link to the download has been shared in the show notes! 

That’s all I have for you on today’s episode of the Dance to Learn Podcast If you’d like to have your questions answered or challenges addressed on the show, join us in the Preschool Dance Teacher’s Forum on Facebook and look for the #askthepod and #podtalk!

The link to join the Forum is in the Show Notes as well as your invitation to unlock a library of Dance Educator resources when joining me and other like minded Dance Edventurists in the Dance to Learn® Community! I hope to see you there.