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Set Up Children's Ministry Check-In

This guide walks you through everything needed to get a children's check-in system running at your church — from entering families in the database, to configuring age-appropriate groups, to printing name tags on Sunday morning. By the end, parents will be able to check in their kids at a kiosk tablet and receive a matching security tag.

Before You Begin

  • Create your church account at admin.b1.church
  • Make sure you have admin access — see Roles & Permissions if needed
  • Optional: Prepare a CSV file of families if you're migrating from another system

Step 1: Add Families to Your Database​

Before check-in can work, the system needs to know about your families. Each child needs to be linked to a parent through the household feature.

Follow the Adding People guide to add at least one family. Be sure to:

  • Add the parent(s) first
  • Add each child
  • Link them in the same household using the household editor
tip

If you have more than a handful of families to add, use the CSV Import tool instead of adding them one by one. You can import your entire directory in minutes.

Step 2: Create Children's Groups​

Groups define the classes kids check into. You'll typically want one group per age range.

Follow the Creating Groups guide to create groups like:

  • Nursery (ages 0–2)
  • Preschool (ages 3–5)
  • Elementary (ages 6–10)

You can adjust the names and age ranges to match your ministry structure.

Step 3: Configure Campuses and Services​

Check-in is tied to specific service times. You need at least one campus and one service configured.

Follow the Attendance Setup guide to:

  1. Add your campus (e.g., "Main Campus")
  2. Add a service (e.g., "Sunday Morning")
  3. Set the service time (e.g., "9:00 AM")
  4. Assign your children's groups to the service

Step 4: Set Up the Check-In App​

Now connect everything by installing the check-in app on a tablet.

  1. Install the B1 Checkin app — see the Check-In article for download links
  2. Sign in with your B1 Admin credentials
  3. Select your campus and service time

See the full Check-In article for detailed setup steps.

Step 5: Get Your Hardware​

You need a tablet for the kiosk and optionally a Brother label printer for name tags.

At minimum:

  • One Android or Amazon Fire tablet — see recommended tablets
  • One Brother label printer — the QL-1110NWB is recommended for its Bluetooth and WiFi support
  • Brother DK-1201 labels (1-1/7" x 3-1/2")
warning

Only Brother label printers are compatible with the B1 Checkin app. Other printer brands will not work.

Step 6: Run a Test Check-In​

Before Sunday morning, do a test run:

  1. Open the B1 Checkin app on your tablet
  2. Select your campus and the correct service time
  3. Search for one of the families you added
  4. Check in a child and verify:
    • The attendance shows up in B1 Admin under Attendance
    • If using a printer, a name tag prints correctly
tip

Train your welcome team volunteers on the check-in process before launching. A quick 5-minute walkthrough is usually all that's needed.

You're Done!​

Your children's ministry check-in is ready. Parents can search for their family, select their children, and check in at the kiosk. Attendance is automatically recorded in B1 Admin.