Au pair host family handbook: a free template

Which school bag goes out on Wednesday? Where is the bike kept? If the children want to play after dinner, is the au pair still responsible for them? An au pair host family handbook makes everyday information easy to find without expecting someone to remember everything on arrival day.

This free template is for host families in the Netherlands. Copy the eight text blocks, replace the square brackets and read your version together.

What should an au pair handbook include?

A handbook explains who you are, where to find information, what you will practise together and how to ask for help. House rules are one part of it. Use our separate house rules template for visitors and shared spaces.

Link to the current weekly schedule so you only update times in one place. Make instructions specific: “take the blue lunchbox from the bottom drawer”.

Separate the candidate introduction from the private handbook

A candidate needs enough information to decide whether life with your family might suit them. They do not need your alarm code, children's medical information or school address to have that conversation.

Share sensitive details only with people who need them. Keep passwords and identity documents separately. Check photographs for visible names or documents before sharing them.

This template is for the private handbook after your match. Make a shorter copy without private details for candidates.

Copy this eight-part host family handbook template

1. Welcome to our family

Describe an ordinary week, including busy mornings. Your au pair needs a picture of everyday life as well as family outings.

Welcome, au pair's first name. We are family members' first names and we live in town. Our children enjoy interests. At home we speak languages.

A typical weekday feels like this: two or three sentences about everyday life. We would love to learn about your language, food or traditions. Please tell us what helps you feel comfortable in a new home.

2. Our week and your free time

Point to the agreed schedule and explain who takes over. This section does not replace the weekly schedule required by the IND.

Our current weekly schedule is here: link or location, version date. It shows task times, breaks, days off and which adult takes over. We review next week's schedule together on day.

Outside your scheduled responsibilities, you are free to make your own plans. Joining a family outing during your free time is optional. We will not treat joining us as being available for childcare. If plans change, we discuss them before changing your responsibilities.

3. Children's routines and practising together

Write out one routine fully and add others separately. Seeing a task once does not necessarily mean someone feels ready to do it alone.

Our morning routine is: short steps, with times and where things are kept. On day, the routine changes because reason. The full instructions are here: location.

We will practise school run / lunch preparation / bedtime together. Parent will show you first and stay available while you practise. Tell us what you would like to repeat. If something is unclear or a child will not cooperate, contact parent.

4. Feeling at home

Include what you will do as hosts to respect your au pair's privacy and independence.

Your room is your private space. We knock and wait before entering, except in an emergency. You can use shared spaces and facilities. We will show you how appliances work.

Food and dietary preferences to discuss: preferences. Our shared household agreements are here: location. These include what each person does in shared spaces. Please tell us if an arrangement makes you uncomfortable or you need something for your room.

5. Getting around our neighbourhood

Give useful route details without treating an estimated cycling time as a guarantee. Practise together, particularly with an unfamiliar bike or cargo bike.

Your bike is description and storage location. We will practise the route to destination together before you travel with the children. Bike problems: contact person.

Useful places: supermarket, station, language class and their locations. Our checked route links are here: links. Check the current journey and last connection home in the transport planner before travelling. If you get stuck, our agreed backup is who to contact and what to do.

6. Practical arrangements and expenses

Use your actual agreements. For every amount, explain what it covers and when it is paid.

Pocket money: agreed amount, frequency and payment date. Transport arrangements: what we provide or reimburse. Language course arrangements: agreed support.

For household purchases, use agreed payment method. Discuss purchases above amount beforehand. Keep the receipt and send it through method. We reimburse agreed expenses on day or timeframe. We will arrange a way to pay for family purchases without relying on your personal money.

7. Contacts and help

Keep this section private. Go through emergency information together and make essential numbers available without an internet connection.

Our home address is address. Parent contacts: names and phone numbers. If we cannot be reached, contact agreed backup person and number.

Emergency instructions and essential child information are kept at private, accessible location. We will go through them together before you help care for the children. Our agency contact is name and number. You can contact the agency yourself if you need advice or would prefer to discuss a concern with someone outside the family.

8. Talking, reviewing and changing things

Leave space for answers you did not anticipate. A shared document is not evidence that everything was understood or accepted.

Our regular check-in is on day and time. We both bring one thing that went well and anything we would like to change. You can also raise a concern sooner through contact method.

Questions we still need to discuss: list. What you would like us to know: au pair's input. This handbook was reviewed together on date. Our next review is date. We discuss changes together and keep the current version at location.

Make the welcome guide useful in daily life

Read the handbook on your phone. Can you quickly find whom to call and where the schedule lives? Then invite your au pair to add questions and practise the important routines together during the first week.

Check the schedule and duties against the Dutch au pair hour limits. The au pair residence permit requires, among other things, a weekly schedule signed by both parties. Your welcome guide does not replace it. See the IND requirements.

To prepare your introduction digitally, Opairly lets you select the text and week blocks to share, review the English version and send a candidate their own link. See how Prepare together works.