Best Practices

Best Practices

Mascots are everywhere. They represent teams, schools, organizations, products and events. They fill theme parks, have their own mascot games and their own Mascot Hall of Fame and are on tv, movies and stages.

Mascots are a big industry. Big industries have safety standards and learning opportunities.

Perceiving the need for standardized safety guidelines was the genesis of the National Mascot Association, the rock – or rather, the fuzz – on which the NMA stands.

Here are the Big 3:

1-  Have a handler or spotter at all times when performing.

• A mascot handler performs several functions to enhance spectator interaction and ensure both mascot and spectator safety.

2- Have a Performance Plan in place that includes the following:

• Maximum performance time length inside each mascot suit before a break.
• Minimum time length of breaks with at least the performer’s head exposed out of costume.
• Additional protocols for reduced performance time in hotter conditions (high humidity, direct sunlight exposure, air temperature, etc.).

3-  Never pick up or hold babies, toddlers, or small children.

• Always have the caregiver hold the baby for any photos.

Our 2020 NMA Mascot Safety Guidelines are available upon request.