The problem
Children's classes need fresh warm-ups and games every week or the 6-year-olds drift off, and planning usually happens on the phone between school pick-up and the first class. An instructor running 4 kids' classes a week who spends 15 minutes planning each is using an hour a week, about 4.3 hours a month, mostly hunting for game ideas.
What the AI does
Meta AI is built into WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and Facebook and is free for everyday use, so you can ask for ideas in the app already open on your phone, by text or voice. Give it the age group, class length, mat space and this week's theme, such as balance or listening, and ask for 3 warm-up games and 2 partner drills. You pick what fits, swap in techniques from your own syllabus and write the plan in your usual notebook or app.
A worked example
A martial arts school in Swansea runs 4 kids' classes a week for ages 5 to 11. The head instructor opens a chat with Meta AI in WhatsApp before each class and asks for games around the week's theme.
Before
About 15 minutes planning each kids' class: about 1 hour a week
After
About 5 minutes per class to pick and adapt ideas: about 20 minutes a week
What it's worth
About $96£72€86A$138C$135 a month in time saved, at no cost. Planning drops from about 60 to 20 minutes a week, and 40 minutes times 4.3 is about 2.9 hours a month at an assumed $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour.
How to set it up
- Update WhatsApp and start a chat with Meta AI from the chats list (it may also appear in Messenger or Instagram; use whichever you have).
- Keep a short brief in your phone's notes and paste it at the start: 'Kids' martial arts class, ages 5 to 7, 45 minutes, 12 children, padded mats, no equipment except pads and cones.'
- Add the week's theme and ask for 3 warm-up games and 2 partner drills, each with one safety point.
- Pick what suits your group, replace any technique with the version from your own syllabus, and drop anything that involves throws, strikes to the head or contact your rules don't allow.
- Keep the games that worked in a list, so the next term's plans are quicker still.
What goes wrong
- It doesn't know your style, syllabus, insurer's rules or the children in front of you. Every activity is your call; leave out anything you wouldn't be happy to explain to a parent.
- Meta AI is a free consumer service with no business data terms. Never type children's names, medical conditions or behavior notes into it.
- Meta says not every feature is available to everyone and it is testing usage limits on heavier features. If Meta AI doesn't appear, the free ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini apps give the same kind of ideas.