Purpose

This is the children’s program playbook we use at Borgo Santolina. It covers family preparation, rooms and shared spaces, food, equipment, activities, childcare and medical coordination.

Principles

• Make travel with children easy by planning around the actual children in the group: ages, allergies, feeding, sleep, diapers, equipment and childcare. For babies, use high-quality items and ingredients that reassure parents their child has been thoughtfully considered.
• We do not operate a formal kids club. Activities connect children to the same food, animals, land and culture adults came to experience. Parents can join; otherwise a booked babysitter or activity coordinator supervises, not our small operating team.
• Keep the program thoughtful but uncluttered: durable, easy-to-clean equipment, few loose parts and toys that support imaginative play.

Roles & Ownership

• Anna: owns the Children’s Program, including the pre-arrival checklist, equipment readiness, printed materials, childcare coordination and open decisions.
• Guest Journey / reservations: collects child-specific information and hands requests to the operating teams.
• Housekeeping / property readiness: room setup, childproofing, sleep equipment, arrival items and requested in-room gear.
• Food & Beverage: baby/child food, formula or requested foods, and allergy labeling.
• Babysitters / activity coordinators: supervised care and activities within the qualifications, written instructions and ratios below.

Family Setup

Pre-Arrival

• Every family: confirm children’s ages, allergies or dietary restrictions, likely activities, and whether babysitting or a staffed activity is wanted. Offer relevant room/property equipment before arrival.
• Babies age 0–2: ask formula brand and stock it when locally available; ask whether solids have started and collect food preferences; ask diaper brand/size and source the same or a comparable Italian product, or tell the family to bring its own.
• If infant babysitting is requested, document feeding, sleep and care schedules before arrival for the sitter to follow in writing.
• Children ages 3–12: offer cots with OEKO-TEX linens and waterproof mattress covers; also offer a waterproof cover for the main bed when a younger child may sleep there. After arrival, remind families that additional items remain available through the item menu.

Babies, age 0–2

• Use the quietest suitable room when possible. Before arrival, cover outlets, remove breakables, protect obvious sharp corners, leave extra baby-proofing items, and set up all requested crib/baby equipment.
• When babies are staying, the current plan is to use the room next to the audio room as a baby-safe common area for parents and sitters; final furniture setup remains open.
• Arrival basket: baby soap; diaper cream and spatula; wet wipes; baby-friendly bug spray; bug-itch reliever; baby-proofing items; and an item menu with simple images and make/model details where useful.

Little kids, age 3–5

• Cover outlets and remove breakables. Set up the requested cot, waterproof cover, white-noise machine/fan and snack mini-fridge.
• Arrival basket: child-friendly bug spray; bug-itch reliever; stuffed animal; compass/property map; animal dossiers if available; and the children’s amenities/activity booklet.

Kids, age 6–12

• Set up a high-quality cot if requested. Arrival items: stuffed animal, compass/property map, animal dossiers if available, and the children’s booklet explaining amenities, activities and meal options.

Teens, age 13+

• Offer high-quality cots and the pillow menu as needed. Teen take-home gift remains open; ideas include tote bag, backpack, water bottle, keychain, journal or skincare.

Food & Snacks

Allergies

• If any child has a food allergy, clearly label the child and adult food relevant to that allergy. Detailed allergen controls and food-safety execution belong in Food & Beverage.

Babies, age 0–2

• Maintain a group-specific 24-hour baby bar. Stock requested formula when available locally. For babies on solids, prepare nutritious options based on parent preferences and keep them available 24/7 in the communal fridge.
• Use a mini-fridge near the communal fridge labeled “For the Babies” when needed. The earlier “minimum 4°C” breastmilk-fridge standard must be verified before launch.
• By day 2, learn which buffet foods parents prefer for the baby and set aside appropriate portions. Provide an optional card on the Italian approach to starting solids and foods commonly offered to children; it is informational, not prescriptive.

Little kids, age 3–5

• Maintain a group-specific 24-hour snack bar with healthy adult-bar choices plus toddler-friendly options: sliced fruit, veggie cups, animal crackers, PBJ sandwiches, and single-serve milk or juice.

Kids age 6–12 and teens

• They generally eat adult food. With three or more children, set a kids table at dinner unless the family prefers otherwise. Keep simple food available; working examples are grilled chicken and sandwich fixings at lunch, and white/red pasta and burgers at dinner. Final choices remain open with the chef.

Equipment, Toys & Shared Spaces

Sleep & Baby Gear

• Maintain two cribs with OEKO-TEX mattresses, waterproof covers and natural-fiber sheets, preferably 100% cotton or linen. Sourcing preference: German, Danish or Italian brands rather than products manufactured in China; product-safety verification still controls.
• Open sleep decisions: sleep sacks versus blankets, and a possible Borgo Santolina-branded take-home blanket/swaddle.
• Baby room gear by request: crib; baby bath; white-noise machine/fan; breastmilk mini-fridge once temperature standard is confirmed; bottle warmer; yoga ball; baby monitor; crawling mat or other clean floor-play surface.
• Property gear: off-road stroller for villa grounds only, not the farm; baby hiking sling; extra hats; sunscreen; and child-friendly bug spray where age-appropriate.

Cabinets

• Games cabinet: dining room or cafe; tabletop games, cards and a designed guide to popular European/American card games. Confirm final location during furniture installation.
• Toy cabinet: second-floor common area near the audio room; wooden train/building toys, large-piece puzzles and other durable imaginative toys with few loose parts. Confirm final location during furniture installation.
• Outdoor sports cabinet: near the bocce court or another convenient outdoor location; final location open.

Toys, Gifts & Library

• Babies: safe, non-toxic teethers/rattles from a local woodworker if possible, otherwise a trusted European brand; buy individually per reservation so they have not been used by another baby.
• Stuffed animals: donkey, sheep and boar; children from about age two can choose one to keep. Supplier and exact age cutoff remain open.
• Ages 3–5: toy cabinet plus wooden hobbyhorses or similarly cleanable imaginative toys. Ages 6–12: toy cabinet plus kids/YA library; books may be read or taken home and are stamped inside with the Borgo Santolina logo. Teens use the YA/adult library rather than a separate toy program.

Activities

Operating Model

• No advertised kids club. Activities should echo the adult experience; parents can join or a booked sitter/coordinator can supervise. In Year 1, coordinator-led activities are charged separately because they require dedicated staffing above ordinary babysitting.

Little kids, age 3–5

• Petting-zoo time with property animals.
• Adopt an animal: choose the animal on day 1; offer morning feeding and light grooming; use a chore card the child can check off; give a printed note/card from the animal at departure.
• Organic garden / dig pit: farm-area dirt space for digging, “planting seeds,” trucks and construction toys.
• Water table: attractive, shaded water play. Original options were the pergola in shade or pool area; final location open.
• Inside: puzzles and an I-Spy booklet using objects/features around the villa.

Kids, age 6–12

• Food/drink: farm-juice “wine” tasting focused on flavor identification; Italian Bar with useful ordering phrases, iced “coffee” drinks using chocolate/flavored milk or Italian sodas, and whipped cream; junior cooking class for kids only, with adults observing but not participating.
• Farm/nature: feed animals, plant vegetables, adopt an animal for the week, and take supervised nature walks with simple science observations or experiments.
• Creative: kids art studio in the cellar, outdoors or another messy-work location; terrarium building.

Teens

• Food/drink: juice tasting using adult-style flavor identification; alcohol-free mocktail making; Italian Bar with useful coffee phrases, milk steaming and latte art.
• Farm/nature: feed animals, plant vegetables, adopt an animal, and take supervised nature walks with natural-science learning.
• Creative/active: art studio, terrarium building, races and skills courses, and orienteering/survival skills.

Post-Stay

• About six months after an adopt-an-animal stay, send the child an update from the animal. Children’s Program owns the concept/content; Guest Journey, Sales & Marketing owns CRM delivery.

Babysitting

Staffing, Rates & Limits

• Maintain a reliable local sitter pool and pay above market so strong sitters keep accepting work. Infant sitters require CPR/first-aid certification and real experience with changing moods, scheduled feeding, soothing and rocking to sleep.
• Working guest rates: infant care $45/hour; other ages $40/hour. Reconfirm guest pricing and sitter compensation before publication. Older-child sitters use the age-appropriate activities in this playbook.
• Limits: age 0–2, one child per sitter; age 3–7, two; age 7+, four. The source overlaps at exactly age 7, so finalize which limit controls before launch.

Infant Care

• Give the sitter the baby’s written schedule before arrival and have it followed as written.
• Outdoor care is limited under the current plan to Domus / the olive picnic area so the sitter is easy to find. Set up carpets and a wooden playpen; activities include grass exploration, feeding fish at roughly age 1.5–2, outdoor toy cars, and a small splash pool near the fountain / Domus in shade.
• Indoor care: baby-safe common room near the audio room or the family’s room; board books in excellent condition; tactile, non-electronic toys; singing; tummy time; walking support.

Medical & Injury Response

Emergency Response

• Suspected emergency: call 112 immediately; do not wait for an internal assessment. Non-emergency injury: discuss care options with parents and provide first aid only within the staff member’s training. The original plan assumed a certified EMT employee would assess injuries; access to that level of trained staff remains open.

Pediatric Care

• Identify a dependable pediatrician or pediatric service in Siena. Medyca was a lead, but prior experience did not produce reliable on-call pediatric care. Create the children-specific guest medical page only after provider and emergency information is verified.
• Historical assumptions to verify before publishing: Pronto Soccorso about 45 minutes from the property; excellent care comparable to U.S. hospitals; a specialized pediatric unit with children seen by pediatric specialists rather than general ER doctors; emergency visits free; non-emergency “white ticket” about $30–$60 out of pocket with no insurance. Verify facility, route, staffing and current fees, and use euros for current guest-facing costs.

Quality Control & Training

Operating Checks

• Before arrival: verify ages/equipment, allergy handoff and labels, childproofing/sleep setup, baskets/printed materials/gifts, and any babysitter’s time, rate, qualifications, child count and written instructions.
• During stay: keep the baby/little-kid bars stocked; complete the day-2 buffet check for babies on solids; remove broken, stained or incomplete toys/books/equipment from circulation.
• Between family stays: clean/inspect reusable gear; replace single-use baby items and restock basket items/take-home gifts; return sports/play equipment to its designated storage.

Training

• Reservations/guest experience: know which questions trigger each setup. Room-preparation staff: childproofing and crib/cot/waterproof-cover setup. Food & Beverage: 24-hour baby/little-kid offer and allergy labeling. Babysitters: written family instructions and child-to-sitter limits before accepting an assignment.

Supporting References

Working source leads, not mandatory products or current benchmarks unless reverified.

• Off-road stroller / bug-screen example from a resolved comment: Amazon Italy.
• February 2026 babysitting benchmark from a resolved comment: $45/hour at Four Seasons Florence, with a suggestion to pay above market; recheck before relying on it.
• Linens lead: Technolav for possible OEKO-TEX / bio-friendly options; confirm current products. Pediatric lead: Medyca, but prior on-call experience was unreliable.

Out of Scope

• Food & Beverage: detailed allergen controls, HACCP, food storage and kitchen procedures; this playbook owns the child-specific service standard/setup.
• Housekeeping & Property Readiness: cleaning, laundry, crib/cot sanitation and routine equipment cleaning; this playbook owns what must be ready.
• Team & Management: childcare hiring, contractor classification, compensation, employment documentation and training records; this playbook owns qualifications, guest rates and operating limits.
• Safety, Security & Compliance: emergency plans, first-aid standards, water safety and formal child-safety compliance; this playbook owns family-facing coordination and the emergency trigger.
• Guest Journey, Sales & Marketing: post-stay CRM delivery, including the six-month animal follow-up; this playbook owns the children’s experience content.
• Landscaping & Agriculture: animal care, feeding rules and what guests may safely do with farm animals; this playbook owns the coordinated child experience.

Next Steps

Next Steps

Track unresolved Children’s Program work in Asana or the launch plan. The main tab states the operating standard; this tab holds sourcing, decisions and launch work.

Staffing & Pricing

• Build the local infant/child babysitter pool; include daycare teachers during school breaks as a sourcing lead.
• Confirm CPR/first-aid and infant-care requirements, the legal/contracting model for sitters/coordinators, and sitter compensation.
• Reconfirm guest rates of $45/hour infant and $40/hour other ages; decide whether activity coordinators use the sitter pool or a separate pool and set Year 1 coordinator pricing.
• Resolve the age-7 ratio overlap: age 3–7 currently allows two children per sitter; age 7+ allows four.

Rooms, Storage & Equipment

• During furniture installation, finalize the games-, toy- and outdoor-sports-cabinet locations, the baby-safe common room next to the audio room, and the preferred quiet guest room for families with babies.
• Source two cribs, high-quality cots and waterproof covers; confirm OEKO-TEX mattresses/natural-fiber linens; check Technolav and other suppliers for OEKO-TEX or more bio-friendly options.
• Decide sleep sacks versus blankets and a possible branded take-home blanket/swaddle; verify the breastmilk mini-fridge temperature standard and replace the earlier “minimum 4°C” wording.
• Complete the purchase list: baby bath; white-noise machines/fans; mini-fridges; bottle warmers; yoga ball; baby monitors; crawling mats; off-road stroller; hiking sling; hats; sunscreen; child-friendly bug spray; bug-itch reliever; water table; sports equipment; and all other baby/child amenities in the main playbook.

Toys, Gifts & Materials

• Find a local artisan for safe non-toxic teethers/rattles or a trusted European alternative; source donkey/sheep/boar stuffed animals and confirm supplier, price and age range; select the teen gift.
• Purchase toy-cabinet stock, including wooden train/building toys, large-piece puzzles and cleanable hobbyhorses; build the kids/YA library and Borgo Santolina inside-cover stamp.
• Create the children’s-amenities booklet, baby-item menu with images/make-model details, animal dossiers, property I-Spy, adopt-an-animal chore/departure cards, Italian starting-solids card, and European/American card-game rules book.

Activities

• Choose the art-studio location; create the organic garden/dig pit; choose the water-table location using the original pergola-in-shade or pool-area options and complete any needed pool-adjacent safety review.
• Set up the six-month adopt-an-animal follow-up in the Guest Journey / CRM workflow once content and ownership are final.

Food & Beverage

• Have the chef finalize simple lunch/dinner choices; define formula and diaper sourcing when requested brands are unavailable in Italy; finalize baby-food, 24-hour baby-bar and little-kid snack-bar containers, labels and replenishment ownership.

Medical & Safety

• Identify and verify a dependable pediatrician/service in Siena; do not list Medyca unless confirmed.
• Verify the pediatric emergency facility, route and travel time. Earlier assumptions: about 45 minutes, specialized pediatric unit, and children seen by pediatric specialists rather than general ER doctors.
• Verify fee rules. Earlier assumptions: emergency visits free; non-emergency “white ticket” about $30–$60 out of pocket. Use current euro amounts in guest materials.
• Decide whether we will have access to a certified EMT or similarly trained employee for non-emergency assessment; draft the children-specific medical page only after provider, facility, travel-time, staffing and fee information are verified, including an accurate explanation of pediatric care in Italy.

Final Readiness

• Before opening, walk the property with the finished furniture plan and confirm every children’s storage, common-space and activity location.
• After decisions are resolved, reread the main playbook and convert open items into current operating standards..