Most parents will appreciate the stress of taking one or two preschoolers on a public outing to the supermarket.
The idea of taking 880 children under the age of 5 into town just does not bear thinking about.
Nonetheless, it was a challenge tackled successfully by staff of the Dunedin Kindergarten Association yesterday when they took all their pupils to Forsyth Barr Stadium to celebrate the association's 125th anniversary ... and then got them all home, safe and sound.
So what was the secret to their success?
Association general manager Christine Kerr said the trick was ''colour-coding the kids''.
Each of the 23 kindergartens had its own coloured T-shirt so that staff could easily identify which kindergarten a child was from.
''It was a military performance. We had all the T-shirts printed so it was easy to spot the kids trying to get away.''
Of course, there were also more than 120 staff and parents on hand to help herd the children.
Mrs Kerr said the event was the culmination of the year-long 125th celebrations.
''It started at the beginning of the year with the Prime Minister opening our big administration building in Forbury Rd.
''We've done lovely things all year, and this was specifically for the children.''
The group spent two hours at the stadium yesterday morning, having a parent/teacher sack race, a group sing-along, some dancing and a picnic morning tea.
Mrs Kerr was extremely grateful to DVML for providing the stadium at no charge.
''So few of the children have actually been there, so it was very exciting for them.
''A few of the little boys hadn't been able to sleep because they were so excited.''
