Play and Swim × OmceanBooking | Swim Class Bookings

Play and Swim’s story began when one family made a home in Taiwan.

In 2013, founder Lan Xi returned to Taiwan from the UK with her husband and two young children. They had planned to stay for a short time. As the family put down roots, she founded Play and Swim and began teaching babies and young children to swim.

What began with spending time with her own children grew into a place where other families could learn together. Family life and her work gradually found their way into the same pool.

At Play and Swim, parent-and-child swimming gives everyone something to learn. Children get comfortable in the water and practise swimming. Their parents are beside them, learning how to watch, how to encourage, and when to give their child a little room to try.

Families set aside time to come to class together. They go home with something to practise and a little more understanding of each other.

Making that time together possible week after week takes skilled teaching in the pool and plenty of small, thoughtful arrangements outside it.

Children Learn to Swim, and Parents Learn Alongside Them

The Chinese name for Play and Swim, 汐游, sounds like a phrase meaning to play and roam. It reflects the idea that children can learn through play. In its parent-and-child swimming classes, a parent joins the child in the water. Classes are grouped by age, and lessons give families time to build trust and learn to respect how each child responds to the water.

As a parent, you get used to preparing everything. There’s a class to choose, a bag to pack and a schedule to work around. You can already feel rushed before anyone’s left the house.

Once you’re in the water, you get to be a learner too. With the instructor’s guidance, you can watch how your child responds to something new and gradually find the kind of support that suits them. Away from the everyday tasks of getting everyone fed, dressed and out the door, you have a little time to pay attention to your child.

If they’re ready to try a little more, you can celebrate together. If they still want you close, you can stay beside them while they get comfortable. Those small moments are part of what families take away from a class.

As children progress, an instructor can assess whether they’re ready to move into a swim skills class. Those who are ready can start taking lessons independently in a pool they already know.

Going from getting in together to watching your child take part on their own takes time. The child gains confidence, and the parent grows more comfortable stepping back. An instructor who knows how the child has been learning can help the family decide when to take that next step.

A Family Swim Class Starts Before Anyone Gets in the Pool

The experience of a parent-and-child swim class begins when a family arrives.

There are clothes to change and bags to put away. After class, there’s rinsing off and getting dressed again. By the time you get there, you may already have checked the bag three times to make sure the towel is in it.

Play and Swim provides changing platforms, showers and storage, along with a play area and a reading area. These spaces help families through the whole visit, from arrival to the moment they’re ready to leave.

A place to change your child and somewhere to put your things can make the visit feel less rushed. It’s often only after you’ve been there with a child that you notice how much someone has thought through for you.

Preparation in the pool matters too. Play and Swim has staff with lifeguard certification and maintains pool cleanliness and water quality. Its safety reminders also ask parents to keep watching their children in the water and at the poolside. Swim instruction and on-site supervision each need attention.

Families build trust through details like these. The booking process can carry that same care forward. When parents can choose a suitable class, confirm the time and find out what to bring, they can set aside the time with confidence. That’s one less thing to sort out before heading to the pool.

Behind 4,000+ Monthly Bookings Are Families Making Time to Swim Together

Play and Swim manages more than 4,000 bookings a month through OmceanBooking. Each booking represents time a family has set aside to be together. Looking after those bookings starts with understanding how children’s classes work.

A parent contacts the swim school, and the child attends. Siblings may be in different classes. Once a family enrols, there’s a full term of dates to keep track of, along with absences and changes. Updating one booking can affect the child’s lessons, the parent’s plans and the instructor’s class list.

When you run a children’s programme, it’s natural to want to help families with all of that. Over time, everyone may start relying on the one person who remembers where a detail was recorded or which date a parent agreed to.

An instructor might remember that a child hesitated last week and was ready to try on their own this week. The front desk may know what each family needs. Those are things worth remembering. Class dates, the names on each booking and rescheduling records can live in the system.

That’s the daily work we want OmceanBooking to support. When booking details are easy to find, whoever takes over can see what was last confirmed. When a parent calls, staff can pick up from there and spend the conversation finding out what the family needs today.

How OmceanBooking Can Support Parent-and-Child Class Management

Play and Swim’s classes show how much a family programme needs to coordinate. Booking has to be easy for parents, each child’s information needs to be clear, and classes have to account for age, skill level and available space.

For other children’s programmes with similar needs, these are the everyday tasks OmceanBooking can help with.

One Parent Account Can Manage Bookings for Several Children

When siblings take lessons, parents are already coordinating more than one schedule. Keeping their bookings in one account makes that a little simpler.

With OmceanBooking’s dependent feature, parents can create a separate profile for each child under one account and choose who will attend when making a booking. Staff can see who to contact and which child is coming to class.

Once a date of birth is saved, the system can display the child’s current age. That helps staff check class placement details as children grow and saves them from asking again or recalculating a baby’s age in months.

Parents can manage their children’s bookings together, and instructors can still see each child’s details. The system keeps the age and booking information in order. The instructor assesses which stage of learning suits the child.

Enrol for a Full Term and See the Upcoming Dates Together

Play and Swim offers one-off trial lessons and term programmes. Families can get to know the teaching approach, find a suitable class and decide how they’d like to continue. Once they enrol for a term, having the dates upfront makes it easier to keep that time free each week.

With OmceanBooking’s class series feature, a school can link a pass to a set of sessions. Depending on the settings, the corresponding bookings can be created when the pass is purchased. The team can check the dates and class capacity in advance and handle the term’s bookings together.

Parents can confirm the upcoming lessons in one go, and staff spend less time entering names and dates for each session. At the start of a new term, that gives the team more time to welcome new families and help returning swimmers find their classes.

Over time, a regular class becomes something the whole family can look forward to. At the familiar time each week, they come back to practise and see what’s changed since last time.

Clear Absence and Waitlist Rules Help Families Adjust Their Plans

Children’s routines, how they’re feeling and family commitments can all change at short notice. A swim school can give families some flexibility and still make the process clear for everyone.

Explain the cancellation deadline, which make-up classes are available and how a missed session affects a pass before families enrol. Parents know what to do if plans change, and staff have a shared policy to work from. Cases that need individual attention can be discussed directly.

For full classes, OmceanBooking’s automatic waitlist keeps families on the list for the session they want. When a spot opens, the system handles notifications and offers or fills the spot according to the school’s settings. Front desk staff can see who’s waiting without searching old messages to work out who asked first.

A make-up lesson still needs to suit the child’s age and level and follow the class rules. The aim is to give families room to adjust and help the child return to a lesson that works for them.

Class reminders and schedule changes can also be sent through whichever notification channels the school enables. When parents are busy looking after children, having clear details to check means one fewer thing to chase up.

Plan Class Capacity Around the Space Each Family Needs

A booking for a parent-and-child class often means a child and an accompanying adult will both arrive. When setting class capacity, consider the available space, how the instructor will teach the group, and how one class hands over to the next.

OmceanBooking’s scheduling and booking tools keep times, instructors, class descriptions and capacity limits together. A venue can set the number of parent-and-child pairs it can accommodate. If it also needs to allocate pool lanes, rooms or shared equipment, equipment management can help check when those resources are available and how much capacity they have.

Planning that space in advance gives instructors room to see how each child is responding and gives parents room to participate. The system helps organise bookings and resources, while the professional team oversees safety on site.

FAQs About Booking Management for Parent-and-Child Classes

Can One Parent Account Book Separate Classes for Siblings?

Yes. OmceanBooking’s dependent feature lets a parent create separate profiles for their children in the same account and select who’s attending when making a booking. If siblings want to attend the same session, check the account’s booking limits, class capacity and the rules for any passes they’ll use.

Can First-Time Families Ask for Advice Before Booking Online?

Yes. With OmceanBooking’s LINE integration, families can start a conversation through the venue’s LINE Official Account. A new member registration form can also help the team collect relevant information. Staff can ask about the child’s age, experience and needs, then help the family choose a class. Once that’s clear, the family can use online booking for the next steps.

Can OmceanBooking Support Other Children’s Classes and Family Venues?

Yes. Parent-and-child movement classes, children’s gymnastics programmes and music schools can start with the features that suit the way they teach. These might include bookings made by parents on behalf of children, term enrolment, waitlists or managing limited space. Each venue can set them up around its own class groupings and teaching approach.

Making Time for the Work That Helps Families Learn Together

What began with one family settling in Taiwan has grown into a place where many families come to learn together. Play and Swim’s care for children and parents shows up in the lessons and in all the details before and after class.

That’s the work we want OmceanBooking to support. When parents can find their bookings and front desk staff have the right class information, instructors can give their attention to the children. A few minutes saved checking dates or looking up a booking might be a few more minutes to hear what a parent has noticed lately, or to explain what their child is ready to try next.

If you run a parent-and-child swim programme, teach children’s classes or manage a family venue, tell us how you handle enrolment and scheduling today. We can start with the work that takes the most back-and-forth, whether that’s registration for a new term, keeping track of siblings’ bookings or arranging make-up lessons.

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Make Time in the Water Something You Look Forward to Each Week

If you’d like to get to know Play and Swim, tell the team a little about your child’s age and experience. They can help you find a class that suits them.

Get in the water together, follow the instructor’s guidance and see what your child does a little differently in the pool. As they get more comfortable, they’ll find the courage to try things for themselves, and you’ll get to know another side of them.

Years from now, the time you spent learning together may be one of the things your family remembers as fondly as the skills your child learned.

Explore Play and Swim’s parent-and-child swimming classes →