For day camps and youth programs

How to create a kids summer camp waitlist

Registration is a Google Form with a dropdown for the week. The form does not know week two is full, so it keeps taking names, and you find out when you print the roster. Then you call four families to ask if week three would work instead. Every June.

Week two has fourteen campers and one counselor. 7 steps, about five minutes, or one click with the recipe below.

Step by step

Set up the Summer day camp yourself

These are the exact values the recipe applies. Change any of them to match your line.

  1. Create the waitlist

    Sign in, click New waitlist, and name it "Summer day camp". It starts as a draft, so nothing is public until you publish.

  2. Set capacity to 40 in total

    In Settings, set the capacity to 40 in total. When the 40th person joins, the form reads as full and says so.

  3. Leave the hours open

    Under Hours, leave the schedule off so people can join at any time. You can pause the list by hand whenever you need to.

  4. Add the form fields

    Email is built in. On the Form tab, add Parent or guardian (required), Phone (required), Camper's age (required). Labels and help text render as plain text.

  5. Add the "Week" time slots

    On the Form tab, add a Time slot field named "Week" with June 15 to 19 (10), June 22 to 26 (10), July 6 to 10 (10), July 13 to 17 (10). Each slot fills on its own and reads as full when its spots are taken.

  6. Hide the counter

    In Settings, leave the counter off. The form still refuses signups past the cap; it just does not show the running total.

  7. Publish and share

    Click Publish. The Share tab has the hosted link, a QR code, and the script tag or iframe for your site. The submit button reads "Reserve a place".

Or do it in one click

Use the recipe

The "Summer day camp" recipe creates the waitlist with every step above already done. Sign in, click once, and it is live as a draft you can publish.

Create this waitlistSee the recipe page

Recipe

Summer day camp

  • 40 total
  • Open any time
  • 4 capped slots
  • 5 fields
  • 40 campers in total. The form reads as full at 40.
  • Four weeks with ten places each. A full week is greyed out on the form and rejected by the API.
  • No opening hours. Open the list when registration starts and pause it when camp begins.
  • Asks for parent name, phone, camper's age, and which week.
  • Parents see their number on the success screen.

After you publish

How the list runs

Cap each week

Four weeks, ten places each, on one form. A full week greys out and the API refuses it.

Cap the summer

Forty places as the backstop. The form says full when they are gone.

Camper's age

A number field between 6 and 12. The form rejects anything outside the range.

Numbered registrations

"You're #14." Parents stop emailing to ask if the form went through.

The roster

Export the CSV, sort by week, and the roster is done. Send the health forms from your own email.

Next summer

Rename the weeks in the slot field and clear the entries. The link stays the same.

FAQ

Questions people here ask

Can a parent register two kids?

Each entry takes one place. Ask them to register each camper with a different email, or add a number field for siblings and lower the caps to leave room.

Can I take the deposit here?

No. Unwaited does not take payments. Send the invoice or checkout link when you confirm the place.

What happens when a family cancels?

They can leave from the status link in their confirmation email, or you delete the entry. The place in that week opens for the next family.

Can I collect the health forms?

Not on the signup. Keep the form short, then send the paperwork from your own email once the place is confirmed.

Related

Keep reading

Five minutes by hand, or one click.

Free for 100 signups a month. Unlimited waitlists. Every setting above stays editable.

Create this waitlist