Playground Reviews & Product Details

I really like that Playground is a one-stop shop for staff, families, and billing. The new updates that allow us to send and assign paperwork to families have been a game changer for meeting our annual paperwork requirements. I also appreciate that we can post multiple photos to families, along with updates and reminders, from both teachers and admin. Since moving to Playground, we’ve eliminated email and two other software systems, which has significantly increased our efficiency as a center and led to more positive feedback from families (plus budget friendly!) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

My only ask, and I know the team is working on it (another awesome feature of playground is that you can suggest improvements and the team actually works on them and tells you what is under review, in progress, etc.), is staff scheduling. In KS and for our NAEYC accreditation, we have to show which staff are in the room at all times and prove who is first aid/CPR certified, plus make sure we have enough for ratios, meetings, staff out sick, etc. I do still use an excel spreadsheet that has our day broken into 30-minute intervals to note who is in each room when and adjust as life happens. I would love a Playground solution to/for this! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The ease our families have with using Playground is a huge plus. From submitting paperwork to signing their child in and out each day, and receiving messages in the app, our parents have a much more elevated experience than with the previous company we used. I also love how easy it is to get help from customer service and how knowledgeable the agents are. On top of that, switching from the previous system to Playground was straightforward and easy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

As a cooperative preschool, we’ve run into a few challenges because our business model is different from most preschools. Our parents work one teaching shift each week and need a way to sign up for it. We were able to find a workaround, but it isn’t the cleanest solution. We also have challenges with students signing up for summer camp on a week-by-week basis. It works fine at first, but if anything changes, we have to manage it on our end, and families don’t have an easy way to add weeks or request changes themselves. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

We switched all four of our centers from ProCare to Playground, and we’ve really appreciated the change. We love the flexibility to charge families with different schedules, along with the “set it and forget it” approach, so we don’t have to manually push charges through each week. The CRM portion of Playground has also been amazing—it’s helping us track leads, move leads to tours, and then tours to enrollment, all in one place. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There’s nothing I dislike. We’ve had a few small issues with the CRM, but the moment we bring them to their attention, they’re addressed. Their customer service is incredible, especially compared to anyone we’ve worked with in the past. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like that we can use the chat feature to send parents messages, and the Feed option to do mass notices to parents, staff or both. It makes my work simpler. Our parents love it, and most pay directly through Playground. The help staff are phenomenal and I get a response in minutes. They also have a lot of good documentation for the most common issues. The reports are for the most part sufficient for my needs and the ability to enter the food menu and have it let me know if it is reimburseable for CACFP is great! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It is not really set up for staff, so there are things it can't do. For example, I can assign a staff member to a classroom, but there is now way to run a report that shows the staff names and what classrooms they are assigned to, and what classroom they worked in on a particular day (if it was different than the assigned class). The classroom ratios are always incorrect; I think it uses the assigned classroom not the current classroom to determine the ratio. We cannot stop parents of children from seeing how much money we have received from state childcare support, so we cannot bill those children in Playground, making for a rather lop-sided system where most children are tracked in Playground, but children recieving state scholarships have to be tracked in QuickBooks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I really love that families check their children in and out with the Playground App. All billing is funneled through Playground and it makes tax time so much smoother. I can track my expenses, pull reports with extensive search filters, allow families to enroll into my wait list online, which includes an enrollment fee they pay online. I can also utilize observations to integrate milestones reached or ones we are continuing to work on for each child. Any pictures posted are only viewable by the families I choose to have as recipients (you do not need to include all children in every post if you have, say, a drop-in child, you can select their name for the day they are there and have those pictures posted, but then the drop-in child does not see the day-to-day photos). The customer service is top notch and they ALWAYS reach out to make sure I was able to figure out what I was needing help with. The FAQ tool and search bar are impecable. Playground listens to the ones utilizing their system to better the programming to make our lives easier. It is super convenient to have all immunizations listed so I know which ones the child is coming due for, all paperwork is online in the event something with my paper copies doesn't work (which are printed once families fill out online). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

If I had to pick something I disliked about Playground, I would say the lack of an option for having reminder messages popping up to families when they sign their child in or out for the day. I am still using sticky notes and chat to remind them, but I think it'd be a better way to communicate in case I forget to mention something like a physical I am missing, needing new signatures, etc. I do also wish they could store my IQ4K (Iowa's Quality Rating System) paperwork there. It really is an all-in-one system and it would be so convenient to have that integration since I do utilize Playground as "proof" of activities we are doing, how I reach out to families, etc. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I love that playground is a one stop shop. I recommend it to all my peers. As an owner I love that I can upload forms and paperwork for both staff and children. I like that I can chat for help quickly. I love that my staff can play around and add post types, we have had a blast adding "birthday today", "special event", etc for fun posts. I love that the billing is easy, it's cost effective and much more affordable for me than other competing programs. I love the CRM and that has saved me so much time automating which was my 2025 goal. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I am ALWAYS submitting ticket requests for a staff PTO bank. I like the PTO bank from my previous payroll processor GUSTO. It is difficult to manually keep up with time off requests for paid time off when the staff don't have a bank, they have to take manual notes in their profile of time used. I also would love an integration form the playground calendar to my website, right now I am using my google calendar integrated in the website. It would be awesome if in paperwork there was a style of form like google forms that we could use to generate data from surveys and parent fill out forms. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The best thing about playground is the constant innovation and continued help from the support chat. The site is easy to navigate (Especially with regular and frequent use). Additionally, because other systems have similar features, the integration of the site/ app is an easy one. With regular use, anyone is sure to pick it up in no time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Because this is a larger company, on occasion it can be difficult to get your specific requests taken care of (In terms of implementation) and so you are best off putting in a feature request and waiting for the next update (Usually at the end/ beginning of the month). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Playground has been very useful for my childcare business because it helps me keep track of all students' hours and calculates their bill at the end of the week. I really enjoy how it allows me to send my CCA hours to the State with very little issues, and it's super easy to use! I appreciate having a contact person at Playground who can walk me through any problems I encounter and fix them right away. The initial setup was very easy, especially because Janey walked me through it personally. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I wish they could add the dollars up weekly instead of me having to calculate it manually. Playground tells me how much each student owes per day, but does not add up their costs per week. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find the customer service and chat feature to be outstanding. The chat is fast and easy, and the reps are incredibly responsive and helpful with any issues or questions. Billing for families is simple and straightforward, making it easy for them to pay their bills on time or even in advance. The registration process is very family-friendly and easy for families. Playground was a huge improvement over our previous system, and the initial setup was a breeze! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Reporting has been a struggle. We find the reporting features to be a bit limited, constrained, and difficult to navigate. I would like to have more control over what information we sort by and how the reports are laid out. It would help if it operated similar to Access or Excel. I also cannot find reports that generate nice print versions of rosters. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

While I'm new to Playground, I really like the payment and pickup systems. The payment system is straightforward, with all payments clearly outlined, making it easy for parents to follow along. It's very seamless and family friendly. We can effortlessly add or remove a credit card. The pickup system is intuitive too, with a family using one PIN to manage pickups, and it's great that they can designate who picks up the child using a dropdown menu or a QR code. The 'on the way' feature is also really helpful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I hate the fact that Playground does not have "grade level" supports ( i.e. 3rd grade). Everything is age-based, which doesn't allow for sorting by grades. It's not after school friendly at all, despite being promoted as a feature used by a lot of after school programs. This lack of functionality, like tying to a grade or setting a grade group instead of an age group, seems like an easy fix but it's not available. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.